[1] In 1951 Peter Gatrell, John Britten & Desmond Norman built and flew an ultra-light monoplane, their first aircraft, which made its first flight at Bembridge, Isle of Wight, on 16 May 1951.

[2] Modifications were made to the tail unit by adding small ancillary fins to improve the directional stability, inset ailerons were fitted, the JAP engine was replaced by a 55 hp (41 kW) Lycoming O-145 horizontally-opposed twin and the undercarriage was replaced with braced arrangement with rubber bungee springing.

It is now on exhibition in the Solent Sky Museum, Southampton, England, on loan from Michael Short of Austin Texas, USA.

The general arrangement of the BN-1 is similar to that of the Comper Swift in particular G-ABUS, an aircraft that Desmond Norman was associated with, along with fellow de Havilland Technical School apprentice, Tony Cole, that they jointly acquired in 1948 and restored to flying condition.

John Britten and Desmond Norman went on to form Britten-Norman Ltd which became well known for the BN-2 Islander and Trislander series of aircraft and which is still in business at Bembridge, Isle of Wight.