The Noorduyn Norseman, also known as the C-64 Norseman, is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. Distinctive stubby landing gear protrusions from the lower fuselage make it easily recognizable.
Introduced in 1935, the Norseman remained in production for almost 25 years with over 900 produced. A number of examples remain in commercial and private use to this day. Norseman aircraft are known to have been registered or operated in 68 countries and also have been based and flown in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
Design and development
Noorduyn Norseman CF-BAM as a Mk.IV , after conversion from Mk.III in 1937
With the experience of working at Fokker, Bellanca and Pitcairn-Cierva, Noorduyn decided to create his own design in 1934. Along with his colleague, Walter Clayton, Noorduyn created his original company, Noorduyn Aircraft Limited, in early 1933 at Montreal, which then was reorganized in 1935, as Noorduyn Aviation.
Noorduyn's ideal bush plane was a high-wing monoplane airframe to facilitate loading and unloading passengers and cargo at seaplane docks, where the high wing provided the best clearance from docks and seaplane ramp fencing, and least opportunity for damage, and from conventional airports, with a structure that could be easily repaired in the bush. Noorduyn designed it to have interchangeable wheel, ski or twin-float landing gear. Unlike most aircraft designs, the Norseman was first fitted with floats, then skis and, finally, wheels.
The final design looked much like Noorduyn's earlier Bellanca Skyrocket, a strut-braced high-wing monoplane with a welded steel tubing fuselage. Attached wood stringers carried a fabric covering that faired out the more refined shape. Its wing had a wood structure covered in fabric, except for steel tubing in the flaps and ailerons. The divided landing gear were fitted to fuselage stubs with the legs secured with two bolts each to allow the alternate arrangement of floats or skis. The tail could be fitted with a wheel or skid.
Operational history
"Spirit of the Kenai", landing on Kenai Lake, in Alaska, August 2003
The first Norseman, powered by a Wright R-975-E3 Whirlwind, was flight tested on floats on November 14, 1935, and was sold and delivered to Dominion Skyways Ltd. on January 18, 1936, registered as "CF-AYO" and named “Arcturus." In summer 1941, Warner Brothers leased CF-AYO for the filming of "Captains of the Clouds" starring James Cagney. Principal aerial photography took place near North Bay, Ontario with CF-AYO carrying temporary registration "CF-HGO." CF-AYO was lost in a crash in Algonquin Park in 1952. Its wreckage currently is on display at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.
Almost immediately, the Norseman proved itself to be a rugged, reliable workhorse with steady sales for the era. The prototype, serial number 1, CF-AYO, was designated the Norseman Mk.I.
The next four aircraft (serial numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5) were Norseman Mk.IIIs. CF-AZA went to MacKenzie Air Service, Edmonton, Alberta, CF-AZE to Prospector Airways, Clarkson, Ontario, CF-AZS to Starrat Airways, Hudson, Ontario, and CF-BZM to Mackenzie Air Service, as CF-BAM. Several additional aircraft were to have been Mk.IIIs but were completed as Mk.IVs.
CF-BAU, serial number 6, had minor changes that were required for it to be certified, and had a customer supplied 450hp (340kW)Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp SC-1 engine as the Norseman Mk.II, but was later re-engined with a 600hp (450kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp S3H-1, its original intended engine, on June 26, 1937 as the prototype for the Norseman Mk.IV.
The Mk.IV was the definitive per-war model but the production run might have ended at a few hundred examples if not for the advent of the Second World War.
USAAF 3rd Air Commando Group UC-64A in the Philippines, 1945
USAAF Colonel Bernt Balchen was establishing a staging route across Greenland to ferry aircraft to Europe. He required a transport rugged enough to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arctic. After evaluating six Norsemans diverted from the RCAF order, late in 1941, he recommended the purchase of the Norseman Mk.IV specially modified to USAAF requirements as the YC-64A. After the US entry into the Second World War, the USAAF placed the first of several orders for a production version C-64A Norseman. The principal differences included two fuselage belly tanks raising the standard fuel capacity to 201impgal (910L; 241USgal), and an additional cabin fuel tank of 32impgal (150L; 38USgal) that could also be installed. These changes resulted in an increase of 950lb (430kg) in the loaded weight. Deliveries began mid-1942, with the US military eventually ordered 749 Norseman Mk.IVs as the C-64A (later UC-64A).
Throughout the Second World War, the USAAF Norseman aircraft were used in North America (primarily Alaska) as well as other in theaters of war, including Europe. Three UC-64As were used by the US Navy under the designation JA-1. Six C-64B floatplanes were used by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Other Allied air forces also placed orders, for 43 Norseman Mk.IVs. The RCAF ordered an additional 34 aircraft as Norseman Mk.VIs. Noorduyn was still the sole manufacturer, but when the USAAF considered ordering a larger number of C-64As, license production of 600 by Aeronca Aircraft Corp. (Middletown, Ohio) was planned before being cancelled in 1943.
Major Glenn Miller was a passenger on a UC-64A Norseman (s/n 44-70285) flown by F/O John R. S. Morgan which disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944, possibly due to being struck by bombs jettisoned from RAF Lancasters after an aborted raid.[1]
Another Norseman crashed into King Alfred's Tower, a 50m (160ft) tall Stourhead estate folly in Somerset, England, killing all five air crew in 1944.
Postwar
413 (P) Squadron RCAF Noorduyn Norseman Mk.VI QT 787, based at RCAF Station Rockcliffe
Postwar, the Canada Car and Foundry acquired the rights to the design and produced the Norseman Mk.V, a civilian version of the UC-64. To further improve the basic design, "Can Car" designed and built the Norseman Mk.VII with a bigger engine, a new all-metal wing and greater cargo capacity but it never went into production. With large Korean War commitments at that time, the company put it into temporary storage where it was destroyed in a hangar fire in September 1951.
In 1953, Noorduyn headed a group of investors who bought back the jigs and equipment from Canada Car and Foundry and started a new company called Noorduyn Norseman Aircraft Ltd. Bob Noorduyn became ill and died at his home in South Burlington, Vermont, on 22 February 1959. The company continued to provide support for operating Norseman aircraft and built three new Mk.Vs before selling its assets in 1982 to Norco Associates. Norco provided support services only, as Norseman aircraft manufacture wasn't seen as being likely to be profitable.
The last Noorduyn Norseman built was sold to a commercial customer on January 19, 1959. 903 Norseman Mk.I to Mk.V were produced and delivered to commercial and military customers. There are currently 42 Norseman aircraft on the active Canadian aircraft registry and 9 active in the United States.[when?] The number in use worldwide is not known.
In recognition of the Norseman's role in serving northern Canada, the town of Red Lake, Ontario, a jumping-off point for remote communities in Northwestern Ontario, promotes itself as The Norseman Capital of the World. Each summer in July, the "Norseman Floatplane Festival" brings Norseman aircraft to Red Lake as the centrepiece of a community based weekend festival ranging from stage entertainment, children's games and rides, contests, cultural and historical displays and street vendors with craft and specialty booths.
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↑ Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1947). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1947. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. p.96c.
Bibliography
Grant, Robert S. (Winter 1993). "Finland's Elephant: A Norseman's Life". Air Enthusiast. No.52. p.52. ISSN0143-5450.
Grant, Robert S. Noorduyn Norseman: Red Lake, Ontario, Canada, Norseman Capital of the World. Red Lake, Ontario: Norseman Floatplane Festival, 2007. (booklet)
Harding, Stephen (November–December 1999). "Canadian Connection: US Army Aviation's Penchant for Canadian Types". Air Enthusiast (84): 72–74. ISSN0143-5450.
Mathisrud, Nils. Norwegian Wings #1: Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV & Mk. VI. Oslo: FlyGloster Publishing, 2007. ISBN978-82-92822-00-5.
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