The province of Saskatchewan in Canada and the Noorduyn Norseman played a pioneering role in the use of aircraft for air ambulance service. Though this may be a surprise to some, keep in mind the Saskatchewan government, led by Tommy Douglas, introduced the first provincial hospital insurance program in Canada during 1947. With the inaugural […]
The other ongoing Mark VI Norseman restoration in the Netherlands is at the Aviodrome Museum in hangar T2 at the Lelystad airport. This Norseman, (Noorduyn serial 774) started out with the USAAF as SERIAL NO. 44-70509, TYPE C 64 A as per the data plate. The museum is doing a very authentic job, taking their […]
A trip last month to northern Minnesota and northwest Ontario provided many parts required for a Norseman restoration in Europe. In the photo below, some may recognize the paint scheme of the former Gogal Air Norseman CF-GLI, serial number 365. About a decade ago a mishap resulted in a bent nose structure which has now […]
Red Lakers will recall the familiar sight of former Chimo Air Norseman CF-JIN and CF-KAO. These two aircraft are still present at Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport in southern Ontario, Canada. The photo above shows JIN stripped down and undergoing a major rebuild back to active flight condition. When completed, JIN will regain its title as […]
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 […]
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 […]
The annual update to the airworthy Norseman listing will be out later this summer due to many ongoing changes with the status of the Norseman fleet. Of the 903 Norseman built there are an estimated 75 still existent, but that is including burnt out fuselage bush wrecks to static museum examples to a couple still […]
Another stop on the island of Montreal during the recent trip was the Montreal Aviation Museum to check on the restoration progress of Mark VI C-FGYY. For a little background on this endeavour see https://www.norsemanfestival.on.ca/mam-norseman-project/ As reported by Mike Alain at the MAM, work is going well and they are not trying to rush the […]
A couple years ago on this blog a post about the present NORDUYN chronicled the companies involved with Norseman production. See https://www.norsemanfestival.on.ca/norduyn-now/ A recent trip to Montreal provided the opportunity for a drive around the former Cartierville airport which now has almost completed build out as Bois-Franc with new homes, shops, offices and parks. The […]
Mark V Norseman CF-GSR undergoing annual airworthiness inspection prior to another busy flying season with the Canadian Warplane Heritage based at Hamilton airport, Ontario. Being serial N29-47 and originally delivered to Canadian Forest Products in June 1950, CF-GSR is the youngest flying Norseman in the world. Thank you to Ryan Berryman for the photo.