Noorduyn Norseman

Norseman

Viking Outposts Noorduyn Norseman CF-FQI at Red Lake, Ontario, 2009
Role	General aviation aircraft
Manufacturer	Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd
Designer	Robert B.C. Noorduyn
First flight	November 14, 1935
Status	42 registered in Canada, unknown worldwide
Primary user	Bush plane operators worldwide
Number built	904, including prototypes

The Noorduyn Norseman is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. Distinctive stubby landing gear protrusions from the lower fuselage make it easily recognizable.

Originally introduced in 1935, the Norseman remained in production for almost 25 years with over 900 produced. A number of examples remain in commercial and private use to this day. Norseman aircraft are known to have been registered and/or operated in 68 countries throughout the world and also have been based and flown in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Design and development

Noorduyn Norseman "CF–BSB" still operating in 2006, Edmund Lakes Lodge, Manitoba.

Designed by Robert B.C. Noorduyn, the Noorduyn Norseman was produced from 1935 to 1959, originally by Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd. and later by the Canada Car and Foundry company.

With the experience of working on many ground-breaking designs at Fokker, Bellanca and Pitcairn-Cierva, Noorduyn decided to create his own design in 1934, the Noorduyn Norseman. Along with his colleague, Walter Clayton, Noorduyn created his original company, Noorduyn Aircraft Limited in early 1933 at Montreal while a successor company bearing the name, Noorduyn Aviation, was established in 1935.

Noorduyn's vision of an ideal bush plane began with a high-wing monoplane airframe to facilitate loading and unloading passengers and cargo at seaplane docks and airports; next, a Canadian operator utilizing existing talents, equipment and facilities should be able to make money using it; last, it should all-around superior to those already in use there.

From the outset, Noorduyn designed his transport to have interchangeable wheel, ski or twin-float landing gear. Unlike most aircraft designs, the Norseman was first fitted with floats, then skis and, finally, fixed landing gear.

The final design looked much like Noorduyn's earlier Fokker designs, a high-wing braced monoplane with an all-welded steel tubing fuselage. Attached wood stringers carried a fabric skin. Its wing was all fabric covered wood, except for steel tubing flaps and ailerons. The divided landing gear were fitted to fuselage stubs; legs were secured with two bolts each to allow the alternate arrangement of floats or skis. The tail wheel strut could be fitted with a wheel or tail skid.

Operational history

"Spirit of the Kenai", landing on Kenai Lake, in Alaska, August 2003.

The first Norseman, powered by a Wright R-975-E3 Whirlwind, was flight tested on floats on November 14, 1935 and was sold and delivered to Dominion Skyways Ltd. on January 18, 1936, registered as "CF-AYO" and named “Arcturus." In summer 1941, Warner Brothers leased CF-AYO for the filming of "Captains of the Clouds" starring James Cagney. Principal aerial photography took place near North Bay, Ontario with CF-AYO carrying temporary registration "CF-HGO." CF-AYO was lost in a crash in Algonquin Park in 1952. Its wreckage currently is on display at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.

Almost immediately, the Norseman proved itself to be a rugged, reliable workhorse with steady sales. The first aircraft, CF-AYO, was designated the Norseman Mk I. The next aircraft, "CF-BAU," having some minor changes required after the certification tests, and a new Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp SC-1 engine up-rated from 420 to 450 hp, was designated Norseman Mk II while the next three aircraft were Norseman Mk IIIs: "CF-AZA" going to MacKenzie Air Service, Edmonton, Alberta, "CF-AZE" to Prospector Airways, Clarkson, Ontario and "CF-AZS" to Starrat Airways, Hudson, Ontario. "CF-BAU" would be modified on June 26, 1937 to become the prototype Norseman Mk IV, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp S3H-1. The Mk IV became the "definitive" model but the production run might have ended at a few hundred examples if not for the advent of the Second World War.

Second World War

Until 1940, the Noorduyn company had sold only 17 aircraft in total, primarily to commercial operators in Canada's north and to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. With the outbreak of war in Europe, demand for a utility transport led to major military orders. The Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces became the two largest operators; the RCAF ordered 38 Norseman Mk IVWs for radio and navigational training for the Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

A USAAF 3rd Air Commando Group UC-64A in the Philippines, 1945

USAAF Colonel Bernt Balchen had been involved in establishing a staging route across Greenland to facilitate the ferrying of aircraft from North America to Europe. He required a bush plane rugged enough to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arctic. After evaluating six Norsemans diverted from a previous RCAF order, late in 1941, he recommended the purchase of the Norseman Mk IV specially modified to USAAF requirements as the YC-64A. After the US entry into the Second World War, the USAAF placed the first of several orders for a production version C-64A Norseman. The principal differences involved fitting two fuselage belly tanks bringing the standard fuel capacity to 201 Imp. gal (914 l); an additional cabin fuel tank of 32 Imp. gal (145 l) could also be installed. These changes resulted in an increase of 950 lb (431 kg) in the loaded weight of the standard Mk IV. Deliveries began in mid-1942, with the American military eventually placing orders for 749 Norseman Mk IVs as the C-64A (later UC-64A).

Throughout the Second World War, the USAAF Norseman aircraft were used in North America (primarily Alaska) as well as other in theaters of war, including Europe. Three UC-64As were used by the US Navy under the designation JA-1. Six C-64B floatplanes were used by the US Army Corps of Engineers, as well as by other Allied air forces, who placed orders for 43 Norseman Mk IVs. The RCAF ordered an additional 34 aircraft as Norseman Mk VI. Noorduyn was the sole manufacturer, but when the USAAF considered ordering a larger number of C-64As, license production of 600 by Aeronca Aircraft Corp. (Middletown, Ohio) was contemplated before the contract was cancelled in 1943.

It was a UC-64A Norseman (s/n 44-70285) flown by F/O John R. S. Morgan in which Major Glenn Miller was flying as a passenger when he disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944, possibly due to aircraft carburetor icing or from jettisoned bombs from RAF Lancasters after an aborted raid.

It was also in 1944 that a Norseman crashed into King Alfred's tower, a 50 m tall folly in Somerset, England, tragically killing all five air crew. The tower, part of the celebrated Stourhead estate and landscape, was not repaired until 1986 which included the use of a Wessex helicopter to lower a 300 kilograms (47 st) stone onto the top. As of 2013, the site of the collision is visible as a patch of newer bricks in the side of the building, 25 meters from the ground.

Postwar

Noorduyn Norseman "CF–HPY,"
Alberta Aviation Museum, Edmonton, Alberta

In postwar production, the Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario acquired rights to the Norseman design, producing a version known as the Norseman Mk V, a civilian version of the wartime Mk IV. In order to exploit the market further, the "Can Car" factory designed and built the Norseman Mk VII. This version had a bigger engine, a new all-metal wing and greater cargo capacity but was fated never to go into production. With large Korean War commitments at that time, the company put it into temporary storage where it was destroyed in a hangar fire in September 1951.

In 1953, Noorduyn headed a group of investors who bought back the jigs and equipment from Canada Car and Foundry and started a new company called Noorduyn Norseman Aircraft Ltd. Bob Noorduyn became ill and died at his home in South Burlington, Vermont, on 22 February 1959. The company continued to provide support for operating Norseman aircraft and built three new Mk Vs before selling its assets in 1982 to Norco Associates. Norco provided support services only, as Norseman aircraft manufacture was labor-intensive and very expensive.

A Mk.V "CF–BHS" originally registered to Lamb Airways in 1945, on a display stand in Thompson, Manitoba since 2008

The last Noorduyn Norseman to be built was sold and delivered to a commercial customer on January 19, 1959. A total of 903 Norseman aircraft (Mk I - Mk V) were produced and delivered to various commercial and military customers. There are currently 42 Norseman aircraft on the active Canadian aircraft registry. The number in use worldwide is not known.

In recognition of the Norseman's role in serving the remote villages of northern Canada, the town of Red Lake, Ontario, a jumping-off point for remote communities in Northwestern Ontario, promotes itself as The Norseman Capital of the World. Each summer in July, the "Norseman Floatplane Festival" brings Norseman aircraft to Red Lake as the centrepiece of a community based weekend festival ranging from stage entertainment, children's games and rides, contests, cultural and historical displays and street vendors with craft and specialty booths.

The Canadian Second World War "ace-of-aces" George Beurling died in a Norseman while landing at Urbe Airport in Rome, Italy, in 1948.

Norseman aircraft have appeared in the films Grey Owl (1999) and The Snow Walker (2003).

Operators

Major Civil operators

Huron Air Noorduyn Norseman CF-GSR at Red Lake, Ontario, 2007

Buffalo Airways Norseman on floats in Yellowknife, NWT

Argentina

Aviación del Litoral Fluvial Argentino

Canada

Norway

Philippines

Far Eastern Air Transport Inc. (FEATI) (1946-1947)
Philippine Airlines (transferred from FEATI, from 1947-1955)

Military operators

Noorduyn Tp 78 at the Flygvapenmuseum (The Official Museum of the Swedish Air Force)

Restored USAAF Noorduyn UC-64 at the USAF Museum in Dayton OH.

Australia

Royal Australian Air Force operated 14 aircraft from 1943 to 1946.
- No. 1 Communications Unit RAAF
- No. 3 Communications Unit RAAF
- No. 4 Communications Unit RAAF
- No. 5 Communications Unit RAAF
- No. 7 Communications Unit RAAF

Brazil

Brazilian Air Force operated 19 aircraft from 1944 to 1960

Canada

Royal Canadian Air Force operated 79 aircraft from 1940 to 1953
Royal Canadian Navy operated 21 aircraft from 1943 to 1957

Costa Rica

Air Surveillance Service operated one aircraft in 1948

Cuba

Cuban Air Force received one aircraft in 1951

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakian Air Force operated Norseman postwar under designation K-73.

Egypt

Egyptian Air Force operated two aircraft from 1948 to 1960

Honduras

Honduran Air Force operated two aircraft from 1945 to 1961

Indonesia

Indonesian Air Force received one aircraft in 1950

Israel

Israeli Air Force operated 17 aircraft from 1948 to 1954

Netherlands

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force operated one aircraft from 1948 to 1950

Norway

Royal Norwegian Air Force operated 22 aircraft from 1945 to 1959

Philippines

Philippine Air Force operated two aircraft from 1946 to 1952

Sweden

Swedish Air Force operated three aircraft from 1949 to 1959

United Kingdom

Royal Air Force

United States

United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Forces
United States Air Force
United States Navy purchased three Norsemans in 1945 (under designation JA-1) to support Antarctic expeditions like Operation Highjump.

Specifications (Norseman Mark V)

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Capacity: 10
Length: 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)
Wingspan: 51 ft 6 in (15.70 m)
Height: 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)
Wing area: 325 sq ft (30.2 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 2412
Empty weight: 4,240 lb (1,923 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 7,400 lb (3,357 kg) 7,540 with floats
Fuel capacity: 242
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1 9 cyl.air cooled radial piston engine, 600 hp (450 kW) Power Loading 12.3 lb/hp
Propellers: 3-bladed Hamilton Standard, 9 ft 0.75 in (2.7623 m) diameterPower Loading 12.3 lb/hp

Performance

Cruising speed: 150 mph; 241 km/h (130 kn) KTAS @ 10,000ft
Stall speed: 68 mph; 109 km/h (59 kn)
Range: 932 mi; 1,500 km (810 nmi) @ 10,000ft
Service ceiling: 17,000 ft (5,182 m)
Rate of climb: 591 ft/min (3.00 m/s)
Wing loading: 22.8 lb/sq ft (111 kg/m²)
Best rate of climb (V_y) 87 knots (161 km/h)
Maximum - Flaps extended (V_fe) 94 knots (174 km/h)
Maximum - operating (V_mo) 130 knots (241 km/h)/141 mph (wheels), 138 mph (skis), 134 mph (floats)
Stall, clean (V_s1) 65 knots (120 km/h)
Stall, landing configuration (V_so) 59 knots (109 km/h)

References

Notes

Bibliography

Grant, Robert S. Noorduyn Norseman: Red Lake, Ontario, Canada, Norseman Capital of the World. Red Lake, Ontario: Norseman Floatplane Festival, 2007. (booklet)
Mathisrud, Nils. Norwegian Wings #1: Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV & Mk. VI. Oslo: FlyGloster Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-82-92822-00-5.
Milberry, Larry. Aviation in Canada. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1979. ISBN 0-07-082778-8.
Munson, Kenneth. Bombers, Patrol and Transport Aircraft 1939-1945. London: Blandford Press, 1969. ISBN 0-7537-0919-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Noorduyn Norseman.

United States military transport aircraft designations, Army/Air Force and Tri-Service systems

Army/Air Force sequence (1925-1962)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-8 C-9 C-10 C-11 C-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16 C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20 C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-28 C-29 C-30 C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34 C-35 C-36 C-37 C-38 C-39 C-40 C-41/A C-42 C-43 C-44 C-45 C-46 C-47/T C-48 C-49 C-50 C-51 C-52 C-53 C-54 C-55 C-56 C-57 C-58 C-59 C-60 C-61 C-62 C-63 C-64 C-65 C-66 C-67 C-68 C-69 C-70/A/B/C/D C-71 C-72 C-73 C-74 C-75 C-76 C-77/B-D C-78 C-79 C-80 C-81 C-82 C-83 C-84 C-85 C-86 C-87 C-88 C-89 C-90 C-91 C-92 C-93 C-94 C-95 C-96 C-97/KC-97 C-98 C-99 C-100 C-101 C-102 C-103 C-104 C-105 C-106 C-107 C-108 C-109 C-110 C-111 C-112 C-113 C-114 C-115 C-116 C-117 C-118 C-119 C-120 C-121/F C-122 C-123/A C-124 C-125 C-126 C-127 (I) C-127 (II) C-128 C-129 C-130/J C-131 C-132 C-133 C-134 C-135/KC-135 C-136 C-137 C-138¹ C-139¹ C-140 C-141 C-142

Tri-service sequence (1962-present)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7/B C-8 C-9 C-10 C-11 C-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16¹ C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20A-D/F-H C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27/J C-28 C-29 C-30¹ C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34¹ C-35 C-36 C-37A/B C-38 C-39¹ C-40 C-41 C-42¹ C-43¹ C-44¹ C-45 C-46

Revived original sequence (2005-present)	C-143 C-144 C-145 C-146

Non-sequential designations	C-767 C-880

¹ Not assigned See also: AC-47 • AC-119 • AC-130 • DC-130 • EC-130 • HC-130 • KC-130 • LC-130 • MC-130 • WC-130 • CT-39 • CT-43

USN/USMC utility aircraft designations 1935–1955

Utility

Fokker	JA

Noorduyn	JA

Beechcraft	JB

Curtiss-Wright	JC

Douglas	JD

Bellanca	JE

Grumman	JF J2F J3F J4F

Stearman-Hammond	JH

Fairchild	JK J2K

Columbia	JL

Martin	JM

Lockheed	JO

Fairchild	JQ J2Q

Ford	JR

Waco	JW J2W

Utility transport

Beechcraft	JRB

Cessna	JRC

Grumman	JRF JR2F

Nash-Kelvinator	JRK

Martin	JRM JR2M

Sikorsky	JRS JR2S

Swedish Air Force military aircraft designations 1940–present

1-25	B/S/T/Tp 16 Sk 16 B/S 17 B/S/T 18 J 19 J 20 A/J 21 A/J 21R J/S 22 J 23 B/J 24 Tp 24 Sk 25

26-50	Sk 26 B/S 26 J/S 26 J 27 A/J/Sk 28 A/J/S 29 J 30 S 31 A/J/S 32 J 33 J 34 J/S/Sk 35 A 36 AJ/JA 37 A/Sk 38 JAS 39 Tp 45 Tp 46 Tp 47 Sk 50

51-100	Fpl 51 Tp 52 Tp 53 Fpl 54 Tp 54 Tp 55 Sk 60 Sk/Fpl 61 Tp 78 Tp 79 Tp 80 Tp 81 Tp 82 Tp 83 Tp 84 Tp 85 Tp 86 Tp 87 Tp 88 Tp 89 Tp 91

100-	Tp 100 Tp 101 Tp 102 Tp 103

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