The NAC-1 Freelance, originally the BN-3 Nymph, is a British four-seat touring monoplane.

Development

Desmond Norman Nigel Desmond Norman, (13 August 1929 – 13 November 2002) was an aircraft designer and aviation pioneer. Norman co-founded Britten-Norman in 1954, was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, and served as chairman a ...

when with

Britten-Norman Britten-Norman (BN) is a privately owned British aircraft manufacturer and aviation services provider. The company is the sole independent commercial aircraft producer in the United Kingdom. Britten-Norman has so far manufactured and sold almost ...

, the BN-3 Nymph was an all-metal high-wing braced monoplane powered by a 115 hp

Lycoming O-235 The Lycoming O-235 is a family of four-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed piston aircraft engines that produce , derived from the earlier O-233 engine.Textron Lycoming: ''Operator's Manual, Textron Lycoming Aircraft Engines, Series O-23 ...

engine. It was designed to allow it to be assembled in under-developed countries which would build the aircraft under a technology transfer scheme.Taylor 1969, pp. 198–199. With the demise of the original Britten-Norman company, Norman took the design with him to his new company NDN Aircraft. NDN planned to build and sell the Nymph with a lengthened cabin as the NAC-1 Freelance. The Nymph was reworked as the prototype Freelance and first flew in that configuration on 29 September 1984.Simpson 2001, p. 400 In 1985 NDN Aircraft was renamed the Norman Aircraft Company (NAC) and components and fuselage sections for six aircraft were built. Following the failure of the company to win a military order with the

NDN Firecracker The NDN Firecracker is a single-engine aircraft designed as a military trainer. Design and development In 1976, Nigel Desmond Norman, one of the founders of Britten-Norman, the manufacturers of the Islander, set up NDN Aircraft to build the F ...

military trainer the company was closed down.

Specifications (BN-3)

References

* * * *

External links

Photo of the sole Norman NAC-2 Freelance 180
{{Britten-Norman aircraft 1960s British civil utility aircraft BN-3 Nymph

Freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1969