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A short trip through Montreal in late September confirmed the end of a chapter in the Norseman story. For context the following is a complete reprint of a blogpost from 7 and a half years ago;

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NORDUYN now

No that is not a typo, Norduyn the company still exists today in Montreal, Quebec near where the Norseman was assembled at Cartierville airport.  Check out their website to see what aerospace products they make and be sure to click on company, then history.  www.norduyn.com

Here is a brief chronological overview of companies involved with the Norseman;

1933 – Robert B. C. Noorduyn founded Noorduyn Aircraft Limited.

1938 – Name change to Noorduyn Aviation Limited.

1946 – Canadian Car & Foundry Co. Limited acquires rights for manufacturing and sales of Norseman aircraft.

1953 – Norseman goes full circle back to designer Bob Noorduyn and a new company name, Noorduyn Norseman Aircraft Limited.  Today this company is known as NORDUYN and has no connection to the airplane other than in a historical sense.

1982 – Norseman rights sold to Norco Associates.  By this time the company had moved on from the Norseman and was more involved with the areas of business they continue with in 2017. Unfortunately, Norco only lasted a couple of years then folded.

Nobody in the Norseman community seems to know exactly who owns the type certificate or production rights today. Perhaps it is simply in the public domain and the chances of a new build Mark V Norseman are slim to none anyway. Being of sound basis, it could be the skeleton for a much modified 21st century version, but could you still call it a Norseman?  Is a Basler BT-67 still a Douglas DC-3 to a purist?

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As of today the website norduyn.com still appears on the internet but the company is called TRANSTEX.

The dual branded Norduyn/Transtex building was sold and Transtex now operates from a location closer to the Montreal-Trudeau airport. This business specializes in aerodynamic solutions for semi-trailers by using experience gained with lightweight composites to improve efficiency and thereby reduce fuel consumption.

So with Norduyn gone the last tangible link to the company’s past is gone after a nine decade connection to the site of the former Cartierville airport and buildings where the Norseman was assembled.

Actually about two weeks ago, Norseman N45TG was loaded on a trailer in Baudette, Minnesota and had a long road trip angling into Canada then west to Red Deer, Alberta.

This Mark V model was CF-BSH in northwest Ontario with the last Canadian operator being Pikangikum Air Service.

New owner, Joe McBryan will probably use the aircraft for spares to keep his personal Mark V CF-SAN flying. If Joe’s plans come together he would also like to rebuild another Norseman from his collection and have a second one active. The next blogpost will take a quick review of the collection located in Red Deer and the three additional Norseman in Yellowknife. Thanks to Dave From for sending me some photos.

 

 

 

 

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.

On this day 95 years ago, the first aero engine developed by Pratt & Whitney (USA) was first run. This being the R-1340, a single row nine cylinder air cooled radial piston engine. Also known as the wasp series on the civilian side this family of engines ranged from 450 to 3,500 HP and eight of the largest R-4360 powered the Spruce Goose flying boat.

85 years ago on November 14, 1935 the very first Mark 1 model of the Norseman flew, Canadian registration CF-AYO. Originally powered by a 420 HP Wright R-975 Whirlwind, this was soon changed to the R-1340 on production models developing up to 600 HP because the Whirlwind was to small for the new design.

In todays world, where most things are considered obsolete in 5 to 10 years I simply find it amazing that we have an airplane still in use, basically unchanged with 100 year old technology! This speaks to the thought and ingenuity put into the Norseman design. On the other hand, Noorduyn wanted an airplane that used the tried and true methods of the day, that was simple and easy to repair when away from base and incorporated the ideas from daily operations of bush planes in the 1920’s to “30’s.

Another Norseman was recently resurrected and is back in commercial service! (subject for the next blogpost). Even 2020 can’t keep the Norseman grounded and many warbird enthusiasts continue their work on projects with plans to get them flying again.

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 been carefully repaired by the present owners. This airframe is located in Nieuw Vennep, near Amsterdam at the Dutch Transport Museum in the Netherlands.

Like most Norseman, this Mk VI started out with the USAAF during World War II and was assigned aircraft number 43-5374. The museum intends to not only give serial 365 its original identity back, plans include flying it to airshows in Europe as an operational piece of history as soon as all the pieces come together.