Archive for month: November, 2022

The restoration project of Norseman serial 668, LV-FFH in Argentina has come to a halt. Fortunately the airframe is stored in a hangar and awaits a new owner to complete it. Hopefully one day this Norseman will return to the air as the sole example flying in the southern hemisphere.

In Europe, work continues to return three UC-64 (Mk VI) Norseman to airworthy status. LN-TSN, serial 780 operated by the Norwegian Spitfire Foundation is in need of a routine engine overhaul and could be airborne in the spring of 2023. Across the North Sea in the Netherlands, serial 365 and 774 are being worked on by the Dutch Transport Museum and the Aviodrome, respectively. All three Norseman will be operated as warbirds and carry markings from their original military service.

Norseman N164UC (Note – 64UC is a play on UC-64) made another appearance at Oshkosh last summer and is presently the only flying one in the Lower 48 since N364FQ ferried up to Alaska from Minnesota in June 2022. As in Europe, there are three Norseman warbirds under restoration in the USA. These are Noorduyn serial 139, current civil registration N420QN; Noorduyn serial 163, N61853 and Noorduyn serial 797, N797TS.

Yet another project in the works is located in northern Canada at Yellowknife where owner of many Norseman airframes, Joe McBryan plans to get one flying again. This timeline was stalled by the recent chaos of the last 2 plus years and should get started shortly. Elsewhere, in Sarnia, Canada preparations continue with CF-JIN/RCAF 2482 for its inaugural post restoration flight. This aircraft originally built in 1941 as a Mk IV is on rebuild number four after sustaining major hail damage at Red Lake, Ontario in July 2017. Speaking of Red Lake, the 2022 Norseman Festival itself was absent of a flying example but C-FFUU and CF-ZMX were seen in the area over the summer. Being that they are no longer operated commercially, these private Norseman are flown on a limited basis and might not be at Red Lake during festival time.