2019 Noorduyn Norseman List

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The latest revision to the Norseman list details the status of 50 individual aircraft. There are many changes since the previous 2018 version and the trend away from commercial flying continues. Only a dozen Norseman are actively flown at this time although numerous ongoing restoration projects should result in more flying in the future. Thank you to the enthusiastic community of Norseman fans and museums in general who keep aviation history alive for people to experience the past through a present day context. This airplane has undoubtably outlived the designers expectation of longevity and has a small, loyal following a lifetime later.

AIRWORTHY NOORDUYN NORSEMAN 1 August 2019

Natural Reclamation

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Here is a reprinted sentence from the January 16, 2019 post titled Look more, Find more;

On April 27, 1970 a Mk VI, serial 478 CF-OBD burnt after an accident (no injuries) and its remains are still behind the hangars to my knowledge.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here is the proof that CF-OBD still resides in the bush beside the Selkirk, Manitoba airstrip after all these decades. This photo, taken last June 11th shows the trees growing right up through the airframe like a piece of sculpture art!

Another example of Norseman airframes morphing literally into “bushplanes” with the passage of time can be seen at Northland Aircraft in Ignace, Ontario. These frames, facing nose to nose, are identified as CF-HAU (serial 398) and CF-FCU (serial 837) although I’m not exactly sure which one is in the foreground. Photo from July 2.

As noted in the previous post, if we count these as existing Norseman in 2019 there are probably 75 or more presently in the world. No doubt there are carcasses long forgotten in the bush or barren lands being eroded to the earth as the forces of nature take hold.