DRD is Back !

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Kurtis Weddel photo.

As we start a new year, our thoughts often focus on change, new beginnings, new habits and goals. By now, most people in Red Lake will have seen the town’s beloved Norseman floatplane on display again by the head of Howey bay. Carefully, on October 15, 2021 it was put back up in the park where it previously “flew” for nearly 26 years. Having been off its perch for over three years, the reappearance is like a soft reopening for the popular annual festival.

For the background story on what happened to DRD and why it needed to be taken down and rebuilt see these posts from this blog; http://www.norsemanfestival.on.ca/red-lake-hailstorm/ and http://www.norsemanfestival.on.ca/red-lake-hailstorm-update/

Also; http://www.norsemanfestival.on.ca/pedestal-drd-2-0-calling-all-norseman-enthusiasts/

June 20, 2018 DRD’s wings were trailered to Northland Aircraft Service in Ignace, Ontario for refurbishment. Gord Hughes and Duane Riddell discuss their condition. Note Gord’s yellow Mk IV Norseman CF-DTL in the background.

A major fundraising drive went into effect to not simply patch DRD up, but rather to have the foresight to do a proper job and tailor the restoration for longevity in the elements as a static display. As such, the airplane is no longer operational and access points, inspection panels and spaces for opportunistic birds are sealed or netted off. The airplane should easily last another 23 years and celebrate its 100th birthday! DRD first went up and was dedicated at the first official festival in July of 1992 attended by Bob Noorduyn Jr., son of the Norseman designer.

Red Lakers and enthusiasts worldwide can be justifiably proud of all the hard work that went into the team effort to have this community symbol and historic aircraft start a new chapter in its legacy. Having served the area at various times before retirement, the decision was made to keep the restoration work as local as possible. The wooden wings went to Ignace, Ontario where Gord Hughes tackled the damage and this resulted in his usual excellent craftsmanship. Those that have expertise in critical wood aircraft structures are getting few and far between. Superior Airways of Red Lake donated hangar space for work on the floats and Red Lake Seaplane Service brought the end result all together as we see it now. Of note, in 1992 and 2021 this was the same final assembly location and when DRD is rededicated next summer it will be almost exactly 30 years later.

So Norseman Festival 2022 will sort of be reinvigorated and there is talk of a pilots/AME reunion among the events. Thank you to all who donated and/or volunteered in the rebuild project and we can look forward to a fun, successful festival next summer full of community spirit!

Noorduyn serial 831, CF-DRD in mid-December 2021. Photo credit – Kurtis Weddel.

Yanks Air Update

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Progress is looking great and future plans are to eventually have this aircraft airborne in military markings.

Another Norseman project ongoing rebuild among many at the moment is Noorduyn serial 139 with the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California. Many thanks to a sharp eyed friend who recognized it being a Norseman and sent these recent photos.

Serial 139 was originally built for the USAAF as serial 43-5148 but was immediately transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force as 790, a Mark VI in mid-1943. After military service this Norseman went to Georgian Bay Airways of Parry Sound, Ontario in August of 1955 becoming CF-IJG on the Canadian Civil Register. Unfortunately, the aircraft sank on July 18, 1966 after a hard glassy water landing on Antiguois Lake, Quebec. Fortunately, there were no injuries.

Apparently in the 1970’s, Lloyd Street bought the Norseman “as is” from the insurance company, made temporary repairs with the assistance of Gordon Hughes and ferried the aircraft out from the lake. For many years it languished on a farm near Gravenhurst, Ontario until being moved to the FAA registry for Yanks in the summer of 2010, now N420QN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all ! Best wishes for 2022 wherever you call home.

Airworthy Norseman List 2022

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AIRWORTHY NOORDUYN NORSEMAN as of 1 November 2021 Page 1 of 3

(Double) click the above PDF link for this years list.

Note – As of October 24, the Transport Canada website has not been updated to show CF-BSB when doing a quick search so only 25 records will be found.

The list (page 1 and 2) reflects the policy change where Norseman with a cancelled Certificate of Registration can only be found on the historical register search. This is why page 2 is considerably shorter than the 2020 list.

With the airworthy status of individual Norseman often changing there can be ambiguity as to how many are airworthy. If one has not flown for more than one year I consider it not active and will move it to page 2. A couple have moved back to page 1 as they become active again. The number of airworthy Norseman appears to be growing at this time.

Anyway, enjoy Norseman fans! If you have a question send me an email – c46commando@hotmail.com or call.  Thanks!

Norseman Revivals!

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Fuselage of CF-NJK leaving Red Deer, Alberta for the long road trip north to Yellowknife.

There has been a flurry of Norseman activity lately as another Canadian winter approaches. This post will touch on three more exciting events that bode well for the continuation of Norseman activity in the skies.

Joe McBryan of Buffalo Airways fame is a serious enthusiast of the type and for the last few years I have heard he was planning to revive another Norseman to airworthy condition and we appear to have the proof. Joe already has CF-SAN, a Mk V in Yellowknife for personal use and for reference regarding his Red Deer airframes, see; https://www.norsemanfestival.on.ca/keep-them-flying/ from February 2019. Update – The Norseman in that blogpost thought to be CF-GTM was identified near Winnipeg, Manitoba in April 2021 belonging to the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada. So the best guess as to the silver fuselage airframe at Red Deer is now CF-GOB, Serial 421. Recently CF-NJK, Mk VI Serial 242 was moved to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and early reports indicate that it will be restored to operational status!

In another post from 2019 (https://www.norsemanfestival.on.ca/look-more-find-more/) we see a picture of a Mk IV, Serial 44 airframe. This was also recently moved, from Silver Falls, Manitoba to the Saskatchewan Aviation Museum at the Saskatoon airport/CYXE. If dreams take flight, this Norseman will fly again and would become the oldest airworthy example in the world.

Over in Ontario, CF-BSB flew again in the Sioux Lookout area after approximately 10 months on the ground at Selkirk, Manitoba. Usually this float equipped Norseman winters at Selkirk so it should fly back there any day now.

“Pouring the coals” to CF-BSB, a post WW II Mk V model, Serial N29-15.  BSB photo credits – Dominic Kozar.

On a somber note, the first owner of BSB was Eldorado Mining & Refining Co Ltd. in 1946. This company supplied uranium from northern Canada to develop nuclear weapons that forced Japan to surrender during the summer of 1945.

Airworthy List 2021

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The annual listing of airworthy Norseman will be out later than usual this year. Transport Canada has made a major change with the civil aircraft register and no longer shows aircraft with a cancelled registration. Getting more specific, there are Norseman that exist, but their Certificate of Registration is cancelled so they no longer appear on the current register. C-FOBR and C-FSAP are examples of this. However, if you search the historical registry you can find them. With this policy change, a quick search of the register now shows 25 Norseman, down from 37.

Also, there are a few pending developments that are awaiting confirmation and these are the highlights;

Serial N29-17, Mark V CF-BSC has been sold to a northern Canadian operator that will likely keep the airplane for private use representing its historical value to Canadian aviation.

Another Norseman apparently going north to a different owner is N364FQ from Minnesota to Alaska. This Norseman was completely rebuilt eight years ago and was previously CF-FQI in Canada.

In southern Ontario, CF-JIN is coming together and hopefully will fly soon after being restored to its original identity of RCAF 2482 from World War II. This will be the oldest flying Norseman in the world at an age of 80 years!

When more details come to light, a new listing will be posted.

The (dis)Information Age

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We appear to live in a time when the volume of superfluous information has degraded quality or accuracy and this often leads to skimming as an instant answer is sought without attention to details. Technology addiction and information manipulation, one may argue, are becoming serious issues in society and we need to look deeper into the longer term ramifications.

Those big thoughts aside, how does this relate to the old Norseman bushplane you ask? There are a few examples I will touch on and hopefully clarify the subjects.

Time and again, I see on social media people posting pictures and writing about Norseman CF-BHS on the pylon in Thompson, Manitoba not realizing it is a replica. Occasionally someone will interject with factual information yet it seldom seems to be absorbed. The actual BHS, a Mark V, serial N29-7 was on the Canadian register from 1945 to 1990. In October 1989 this aircraft was destroyed by fire on Cree Lake in Saskatchewan. The “BHS” in Thompson was put together from a few Norseman wrecks and the wings were fabricated to match the original.

Next we have CF-BHU. The confusing part here is that two different Norseman have carried that registration in Canada. Sometimes details will get crossed up and the wrong serial number and/or model is attributed to the other. The first BHU was a Mark V, serial N29-8 and rolled off the production line right after CF-BHS! It came to its demise on June 19, 1974 in a crash at Sachigo Lake, Ontario. The second BHU, a Mark VI, serial 506 came to Canada from the USA in 1999 and is presently flown commercially by Wings Over Kississing in northern Manitoba.

Another potential mix up involves the very first Norseman, serial 1, CF-AYO. The twisted remains of AYO can be viewed at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Currently at the Montreal Aviation Museum work on the restoration for static display of Norseman serial 427, C-FGYY continues with tentative plans to depict this airframe as CF-AYO considering the Norseman was developed at Montreal, Canada in the mid 1930’s. Again, if there is no clear communication about it being a replica of AYO then we can probably count on some keyboard surfers getting it wrong from lack of oversight.

*NOTE* – With regard to correct information, the Red Lake Norseman Festival will take place on August 6, 7, and 8, 2021 instead of the usual July weekend. This summers event will be small as planning is more complex during what we hope will be the tail end of the pandemic.

Down The Rabbit Hole

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Identifying old airframes can be a lot of fun when a mystery is solved to one’s satisfaction and it can be a dive deeper into confusion at the same time! This was the case when visiting a museum storage facility at the end of April.

The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada is waiting to move into a brand new, purpose built location at the Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At present, the aircraft collection is stored at various indoor and outdoor sites. Immediately west of St Andrews airport are a couple buildings and storage yard where three Norseman airframes are located and the goal was to positively identify the two weathered frames out in the yard.

Initially the airframe we thought was CF-CRT turned out to be CF-GTM! The mystery airframe right beside it was actually CF-CRT.

CF-GTM, Serial 828 is a Mark VI and the next picture shows what remains of its fuselage airframe.

Now it gets more interesting because CF-GTM was believed to belong to Joe McBryan and stored at his Red Deer, Alberta maintenance base. See Keep them Flying? from February 2019. So now another project starts! Although trying to be accurate and confident in identifications, there’s always the possibility records will be crossed up and some parts will just need to languish in the mystery category.

Last airborne over 72 years ago, CF-CRT is a Mark IV model, Serial 15 and was also with the RCAF as 696 and prior to then registered as CF-BFR.

Inside the storage building is CF-BTC, Serial 29 and longer term plans are to have this Norseman fully restored for static display to complement the museums extensive focus on the early days of Canadian commercial aviation.

CF-BTC fuselage. The wings appear to be in great shape and are on an upper storage shelf.

Noorduyn Serial 365

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Steady progress is being made on the restoration of Norseman Mk VI, serial 365 last registered in Canada as CF-GLI until 2014. For some background on the project see; www.norsemanfestival.on.ca/norseman-pickers/

These recent photos were sent by Arno van der Holst of the Nederlands Transport Museum and show the top quality work that will send this Mk VI back into the sky after a mishap in northern Manitoba, Canada during 2010.

When completed this Norseman will have the number 35374 across the rudder and fin as it was USAAF serial number 43-5374 upon completion at the Noorduyn factory in Montreal. This reflects a growing trend in the Norseman community where airframes are being restored to their original appearance and identity from military service. Of all the 903 Norseman ever built it is estimated close to 90% left the production facility directly to the two largest military customers, the United States Army Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) from 1938 to 1945.

For a look at the ongoing restoration of a RCAF Norseman that will hopefully fly before the end of 2021 see; www.huronvintageaircraft.ca

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Kississing update, Part two

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C-FOBR, on the left, and C-FSAP appear to be parts sources for now.

Here is a brief update on the status of the other Norseman with Wings Over Kississing after a visit to Flin Flon, Manitoba on October 28, 2020. For some background information on the fleet, see Flin Flon Visit from November 2017 and CF-BHU was featured in last months post. The following is in order of production;

C-GRZI, Mk VI Serial number 175. Airworthy. Stored for the winter at Flin Flon airport, Bakers Narrows, Manitoba.

C-FSAP, Mk VI Serial number 231. Not airworthy. Stored at Channing airstrip, Flin Flon.

C-FENB, Mk VI Serial number 324. Written off in a landing accident at Big Sand Lake, Manitoba on June 18, 2019. The pilot was the only occupant and thankfully escaped with minor injuries.

CF-BHU, Mk VI Serial number 506. Airworthy. Stored for the winter at Flin Flon airport.

C-FOBR, Mk V Serial number N29-35. Not airworthy. Stored at Channing airstrip, Flin Flon.

Also featured in a recent post, the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 that powers these wooden winged aircraft passed its 95th birthday and the following two pictures are close ups of the engine in OBR.

Kississing update, Part one

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The latest Norseman to return to commercial service is CF-BHU after extensive refurbishing started in 2019 into 2020. Operated by Wings Over Kississing in northern Manitoba, Canada, the floatplane was utilized for about two months in the later half of the season before freeze up. To avoid any confusion, this is the second Norseman to be registered in Canada as CF-BHU. The first was a Mark V model, serial N29-8 operated by Ontario Central Airlines that crashed at Sachigo Lake, Ontario in June of 1974 and was damaged beyond repair and reportedly completely scrapped. Link here.

BHU of today is a Mark VI, Noorduyn serial 506 that in common with most Norseman started out with the United States Army Air Force during WW II. Subsequently the aircraft was on the U.S. civil register as N13340 and highlights include service with the U.S. Forest Service from 1949 to 1955, Parachutes Incorporated from 1960 to 1984, and the Lone Star Flight Museum in Texas before coming to Canada in 1999. From April 2001 to July 2006 “BHU number 2” was registered to Grass River Lodge in Manitoba then entered a long period of dormancy until airborne again last year. The owner of the lodge had previously flown the original BHU so he asked Transport Canada if the mark was available!

USAAF data plate shows TYPE as UC64A – ND and SERIAL NO. 43-35432. The military took delivery in June 1944.

Beside the above data plate is the Noorduyn one showing SERIAL NO. 506. All the numbers, type designations and marks for one airplane can get a little confusing!

CF-BHU in winter hibernation at Flin Flon airport, Bakers Narrows, Manitoba on October 28, 2020.