Keep them Flying?

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There are only a couple places left in Canada with a sizeable cache of Norseman airframes and parts. Buffalo Airways’ location at the Red Deer airport, Alberta is presently home to six stripped down airframes salvaged or collected over the years by owner and Norseman aficionado Joe McBryan. Not only does Joe personally fly his Norseman, Mk V CF-SAN in the northern summers, he has worked with Alberta museums to bring the history of the aircraft to the people in recognition of that province helping develop the north through its geographical then infrastructure connections.

Recent Mk VI acquisition C-FFQX, serial 625 is complete with wings and would be a relatively easy restoration project for those in the know.

As someone who loves to see these vintage transports in their airborne element, Joe has also prevented many Norseman from fading into oblivion and would like to see the population of active flying examples increase.

With Red Deer airport only about a 75 minute drive north of Calgary International (CYYC), it is worth checking out the collection if you are in the area and share a passion for the airplane.

If you want a Norseman project to buy or are looking for that elusive part, “Buffalo Joe” likely has what you need at their Red Deer maintenance and storage facility. email buffalo@buffaloairways.com or phone Katherine, communications director at 867-765-6029.

Backed by Joe, in 1994 CF-EIH was recovered from Allen Lake, Northwest Territories after spending some 46 years at the crash site. Serial 94, a Mark IV is immaculate now at the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton.

CF-ECD collecting dust at Red Deer. This Mark V last flew in June 1982. During a forced landing at Dogskin Lake in Manitoba the airplane overturned in the water.

Ghosts from the past. CF-NJK on the left and C-FFQX to the right. Click on the photo to expand it and a small portion of CF-GTM’s structure can be seen in the far left background and CF-NJV’s left main gear in the corner foreground. Get the picture?

This UC-64A (Mark VI), serial 242 eventually became CF-NJK on the Canadian civil register. Note the modification of additional aft windows and the green fuselage airframe of CF-NJV behind.

Look more, Find more

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Continuing the theme from the previous post about many inactive Norseman for every flying one, for example here is the present status in the Province of Manitoba, Canada according to my research. Many of these Norseman have already appeared in the blog so this will be a short overview with links provided to said blogs. In no particular order, here we go;

At the Brandon airport, the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum has two Norseman; the fuselage of UC-64A (Mk VI) serial 810 and non-flying Mk V, serial N29-43 registered CF-ECG.

Beside St. Andrews airport the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada has a storage building and adjoining compound; in the building resides Mk IV, serial 29 CF-BTC awaiting restoration for static display. In the compound are two unidentified Norseman in very poor condition.

Not far to the northeast at the Selkirk airport there are four Norseman; airworthy machines CF-BSB, CF-IGX and CF-ZMX. For more details see blogs Born Again BSB, Hibernation, and Showstopper. 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.

Moving farther northeast we arrive at the Silver Falls airport; located here in a building is Mk IV, serial 44 that originally went to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 as #2471.

In northern Manitoba there are five Norseman associated with air charter operator Wings Over Kississing; C-FENB, C-GRZI, C-FSAP, C-FOBR and CF-BHU. See Flin Flon Visit.

Over in Thompson, Manitoba’s “Hub of The North” we find a replica of Norseman CF-BHS. See There’s Three to See for more info.

So this overview counting airframes, a replica to prized flying examples comes to a total of 16 and one or two could still be unacknowledged in the bush or hiding in a farmyard barn. Only five are airworthy; ENB, RZI, BSB, IGX and ZMX. If anyone has more information for this post please email me at c46commando@hotmail.com Thanks!

Serial 44, a Mk IV is a restoration project on hold. Will it grace the sky again? Unlike the models after it, the Mk IV is without a separate motor mount resulting in the longer nose tubing.

 

‘Til Rust Do Us Part

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For every active airworthy Norseman in the world there are probably five in various states of non flying status from immaculate museum restorations to fuselage airframes one trip away from the scrapheap.

On March 21, 1995 C-FKAS literally landed in the water after a spreader bar float failure near Chemainus, British Columbia. Unfortunately for serial 367 the salty seawater later caused corrosion in the airframe tubing that made future repairs uneconomical for continued commercial use.

This Mk VI started as a UC-64A with the USAAF (43-5376) and is reported to even have carried U.S. President John F. Kennedy in South America. Other more recent unique features are the oval shaped panoramic windows and having its fuselage skinned with metal at some point allowed for murals to be painted on both sides like seen on semi-trailer trucks!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and NEW YEAR 2019 to ALL!!

Arno van der Holst from the Dutch Transport Museum stands by KAS on November 13, 2018. The frame is near Dryden, Ontario and at the aft bottom of the fuselage can be seen a sliver of a mural. The last commercial operator was West Caribou Air, Savant Lake, Ontario.

CF-BSH / N45TG

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From 1947 to 1966 CF-BSH was operated by Algoma Steel Corp. Limited of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Below the right triangular window is a metal plate with that name and registration.

In northern Minnesota at the Baudette airport sits Norseman serial N29-23, N45TG. Having remained on the ground for well over a decade out in the open this Mark V is definitely starting to show deterioration from the elements.

Unlike many Norseman, this postwar model spent its life with only a handful of operators and mostly flying in Ontario, Canada including Red Lake based Green Airways, then Pikangikum Air before going stateside in 1990 with Tom Griffen. A couple points of interest in the picture below are the added ventral fin at the bottom of the empennage (not a common feature) and the TG in the FAA registration representing the current owner. Rather obvious is the missing air rudder and the fabric on the fin looks particularly rotten.

Will this Norseman return to the sky one day? The prognosis looks unlikely, but never say never when considering those seemingly timeless machines still existent.

Photos taken on November 11, 2018.

 

Showstopper

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CF-ZMX is the first Norseman to be repaired since the violent hailstorm that hit Red Lake in July of 2017 only one week after the festival.  Recently seen in storage at its Selkirk, Manitoba wintertime home, ZMX (serial #669) is looking factory fresh. In fact, Park Rapids Aviation of Minnesota did such a precise, beautiful finish it pains me to think of bug impacts when this classic flies over to Red Lake again next float season.

A complete exterior fabric recovering was done and observers will note the same colours and paint scheme were applied. The only difference upon a second review appears to be a slightly changed font for CF-ZMX.

The Green family was without their heirloom aircraft for a year, but we now look forward to seeing this star attraction at the 2019 Norseman festival.

The other damaged Norseman are CF-DRD, CF-JIN, and CF-KAO. In due course, it is planned to have these three fully repaired as well.

JEC Update

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Work is progressing slow and steady at Northland Aircraft in Ignace, Ontario on the restoration of Norseman CF-JEC. Not having flown for many years and being outside in the weather has deteriorated the fabric and now some woodwork of the wings needs to be replaced. Originally plans were to have the airplane flying to its new home in Quebec this fall but that has been pushed ahead until the next float season. JEC, serial 469 is a Mk VI, military model designation UC-64AS and in 1976 the fuselage fabric was replaced with aluminum. Thus, when it is back in the air, JEC will be one of two metal fuselage Norseman flying (N164UC in the United States is the other).

At this time, there are numerous projects ongoing and within the next couple years more Norseman should be returning to the sky. Not bad for a design from 83 years ago! In Europe alone there might be three Norseman warbirds flying at museums and airshows.

Back on topic, thanks to the new owner of JEC, Olivier Lemieux for sending a couple pictures that give us a good look at the internal wing structure of wood ribs and spar in the Norseman. We wish him well with this restoration and many more years of service as JEC starts another chapter in the larger story of the Norseman saga.

BSB Northern Tour

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Recently CF-BSB made a tour “north of sixty” and next float season of 2019 might see this Mk V model return to the Yellowknife area. Owner, Tom Phinney normally has the aircraft overwinter at Riverside Aircraft Maintenance in Selkirk, Manitoba.

The only other Norseman flying in that area of Canada is Joe McBryan’s CF-SAN and it has been many decades since two active Norseman have flown there!

Beautiful picture of BSB at Sawmill Bay on Great Bear Lake.

Hanging out in Cowtown

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In a somewhat unusual setting and geographic local, a Mk V Norseman can be seen in downtown corporate Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

CF-MAM, serial N29-26 started out with the Manitoba Government Air Service in September 1946. A civil, post WW II model it spent most of its working life with various operators in the Province of Manitoba after nearly ten years of duties with the government. During the mid to later 1970’s it became a common sight with Ignace Airways in northwestern Ontario.

The Certificate of Airworthiness expired 37 years ago and the aircraft was purchased by the Aero Space Museum of Calgary in 1982, then refurbished for display. For many years now, it can be found hanging in the atrium lobby of the Suncor Energy Centre “flying” over the lush vegetation on straight skis!! To me, this seems a mismatch and seeing this type of bush plane in the concrete jungle far from the lakes and boreal country of northern Canada is at odds with the cowboy cultural roots of the area. Then again, the Norseman is Canadiana wherever it is and the business people probably just glance at it as a piece of public art, not totally realizing it as a real aircraft intertwined with the history of the nation and their livelihood.

Here’s the irony, the Norseman and other aircraft types were paramount in developing Canada’s vast north and natural resources that the corporate headquarters in the south represent. To a large degree, our big southern cities, our wealth and standards of living depend on resources and aircraft to this day. Do you agree? e-mail me at c46commando@hotmail.com about anything Norseman related. Thanks!

Festival 2018

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With CF-ZMX not ready in time to participate in this years festival we had no Norseman arrive for the flypast!  Also, sometimes logistics come into play during the busy summer flying season and it can be a challenge to have aircraft in the right place at the right time so only three floatplanes were present.  In another twist, all three were De Havilland DHC-3 Otters, but with different powerplants;

Superior Airways (Ex. Chimo Air) C-GYYS, original R-1340 600 HP engine.

Superior Airways (Ex. Chimo Air) C-FODQ, PT6 turbine engine.

At the tail end was Lac Seul Airways/Amik Outposts C-FHXY with a PZL 1,000 HP engine.

Next year should see a return of a couple Norseman to the line up.

On a brighter note, the expanded Superior Airways water operations were busy giving rides over the festival site in Centennial park and around the townsites in De Havilland DHC-2 piston Beaver C-GEZU and Otter C-GYYS carrying a total of some 100 passengers over two days.

Restoration work has started on CF-DRD and the fuselage on floats could be seen at the former Chimo Air yard located at the head of Howey bay.

On June 20, 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.

CF-LZO, Serial 535 sits dormant at the Red Lake airport as a Ontario CL-415 water bomber takes off in the background for a mission.

 

 

Further sleuthing around town turned up the only full metal Mk VI Norseman, C-FOBE.

It last flew in July of 2004 until grounded by an accident.

The main wing metal structure can be seen in the following photo. See Metal Makeover from July 2016 for more detail.

End of an Era

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Chimo Air of Red Lake, Ontario was recently purchased by and merged into another local operator, Superior Airways. The two Norseman, CF-JIN and CF-KAO were not part of the deal and recently left town for a new venture (more news to come as the aircraft are refurbished).

These were the last commercially operated Norseman in Red Lake and their daily summer presence in Howey bay will be missed by local aviation fans and tourists from afar. Privately operated CF-ZMX is expected to be back for the 2018 festival after repairs are finished from last summers crazy hailstorm. ZMX usually takes up residence in the bay for the open water season so at least one Norseman will continue to fly from Red Lake. Also, private Mk IV, C-FFUU occasionally flies into the area on a fishing lodge resupply run.

Happy plane spotting!