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| Restored UC-64 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. |
by Keith Svendsen
On 15 December 1944, at 1355 hours, a single engine utility plane left Twinwood Field in Britain for Bordeaux, France. The craft climbed into the gray English sky with Flight Officer John Morgan at the controls. The aircraft, a USAAF UC-64A (serial number 44-70285), was never to be heard from or seen again. A lieutenant colonel and a major were Morgan's passengers. The colonel was Normal Baessall. The major was Glenn Miller, leader of the Army Air Force band. Miller was on his way to Paris to make arrangements for the band's tour of the continent. The band members would arrive on a later flight. On the 16th the "Battle of the Bulge" was to begin and most radio transmitters were silenced. The weather was poor—low overcast and fog—and most Transport Command Aircraft ware grounded. No wreckage of the Norseman has ever been found and the cause of the disappearance is still a mystery. Unfortunately for Robert Noorduyn's Norseman, this is the only event of the war for which many remember the hardy little workhorse.
Noorduyn was an engineer who had worked for Sopwith and Armstrong Whitworth in England, and Fokker and Bellanca in the USA. He moved to Canada with the hope of forming his own company and set about designing an aircraft that could take on the Canadian north country. Noorduyn talked with many bush pilots and members of the mining community. No one cared what the plane looked like so long as it could get into the otherwise inaccessible areas in the north, survive the Canadian winters, and last a decade or two.
The resulting Norseman was first rolled out at Cartierville Airport in 1935. The plane was convertible from wheels to floats or skis, and many air operators in Canada bought the Norseman in addition to the individual bush pilots. Some of the companies that operated the Norseman were Canadian Airways, Dominion Skyways, Mackenzie Air Service, and Skylines Express. For all its popularity, the design would be the only one to carry the Noorduyn name.
With the outbreak of World War II the Norseman was inducted into the RCAF as the Norseman Mk. IV. While Norseman production continued into the war years, the Noorduyn company converted much of its facilities to the production of North American Harvards (both aircraft used the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp engine).
In 1940, the USAAC obtained several of these aircraft as the YC-64 Norseman. Three of these aircraft were operated by the 21st Air Base Squadron at Gander Airbase, Newfoundland (see Figure 1). Maximum operating weight for the Norseman varies with the source of information, but the most quoted number, and the one the U.S. Navy used for its JA-1, was 7,440 pounds. This number may have been for paper work only—when the crews from Gander picked up their YC-64s, they were told unofficially by the Noorduyn people, "If you can get it in, it'll fly with it."
When the U.S. entered the war, the Army acquired Norsemen under the designation UC-64. The RCAF used it's Norsemen primarily for training radio operators, but the USAAF C-64 became an ambulance, cargo transport, glider tug, liaison aircraft, and station hack.
The UC-64 operated in all theaters during the war. In most cases it was assigned to Air Depot Groups in the repair squadrons, but it also operated with transport squadrons and many composite type groups, one of these being the 1st Air Commando Group in the CBI theater. Many of the UC-64s in this group served as glider tugs. Photos taken at Ansansol, India, show the Norseman in the standard Olive Drab/Gray scheme with standard marks and oversize serial on the tail (Figure 2), but apparently some carried the five white diagonal fuselage stripes associated with the commando group.
In the ETO, the Norseman saw extensive use with transport units after D-Day. In the days following D-Day and through the drive to the Rhine, Norsemen carried supplies, provided Air-Evac, and served as couriers. Norsemen carried drums of fuel to Patton's Third Army at strips too small for a C-47. Norseman usage was generally the case where only small landing sites were available and a heavy cargo was required. Useful load for the UC-64 was supposed to be just under 3,000 pounds, but several times pilots estimated that they had flown with half again above what the specs called for.
On Air-Evac missions, five stretcher patients could be carried with two or three medics. During the approach to the Rhine, Norsemen were used extensively to bring critically wounded soldiers out to field hospitals. For these missions a detachable panel with a red cross was carried over the fuselage star and bar.
Some information implies that some UC-64s may have been used for covert activities similar to those performed by the RAF's Westland Lysander, delivering agents to the Continent and supplying them and the resistance. No hard information could be found to support this, however.
The UC-64B was the floatplane version of the Norseman using EDO Y floats. This version was used in Alaska for search and rescue missions. These aircraft carried markings like those on the UC-64A shown in photo elsewhere.
Shortly after the war most, if not all, of the USAAF Norsemen were sold as surplus. A few of which are still flying. The RCAF purchased a small number of improved Norseman Mk. VI aircraft after the war as communications and rescue aircraft. In 1945, the U.S. Navy purchased three UC-64s (designated JA-1) to support Antarctic expeditions.
Production of the Norseman ended in 1959 after 928 of the example had been built. A total of 762 of these had been purchased by the USAAF and USN (thirty-four and fourteen of which were lend-leased to the RCAF and Australia respectively). Brazil operated seventeen UC-64s, but it is uncertain if these were lend-leased aircraft or purchased from the USAAF after the war.
Research and pleas through magazines and newspapers for information on the markings of this aircraft turned up the information for this article. But what about the Miller Norseman? Well, it was definitely Olive Drab/Gray or Natural Metal Aluminum Doped. All markings were probably standard with the only unique feature being the serial number. Apparently the color of the plane was not the major concern for those that saw Miller off from Twinwood Field as they never recorded it, and I have been unable to track them down if they are still living. All photos of Norsemen with serials higher than 44-70285 show them to be Aluminum Doped. All those with lower serial numbers are Olive Drab and Neutral Gray.
Acknowledgments
Mitchell J. Mulholland, Lt. Col. USAF (Ret)
R. M. Bascom
Walter W. Spencer
Robert E. Moist
Wm. L. Musladin
Herbert L. Ballard, Maj. USAF (Ret)
The Air Force Museum Research Section
References
Flying, June, 1976
United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911 by Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Putnam & Co. Ltd.
History
The Noorduyn 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.
Originally 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 and/or operated in 68 countries throughout the world and also have been based and flown in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
Designed by Robert B.C. Noorduyn, the Noorduyn Norseman was produced from 1935 to 1959, originally by Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd. and later by the Canada Car and Foundry company.
With the experience of working on many ground-breaking designs at Fokker, Bellanca and Pitcairn-Cierva, Noorduyn decided to create his own design in 1934, the Noorduyn Norseman. Along with his colleague, Walter Clayton, Noorduyn created his original company, Noorduyn Aircraft Limited in early 1933 at Montreal while a successor company bearing the name, Noorduyn Aviation, was established in 1935.
Noorduyn's vision of an ideal bush plane began with a high-wing monoplane airframe to facilitate loading and unloading passengers and cargo at seaplane docks and airports; next, a Canadian operator utilizing existing talents, equipment and facilities should be able to make money using it; last, it should be all-around superior to those already in use there.
From the outset, Noorduyn designed his transport 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, fixed landing gear.
The final design looked much like Noorduyn's earlier Fokker designs, a high-wing braced monoplane with an all-welded steel tubing fuselage. Attached wood stringers carried a fabric skin. Its wing was all fabric covered wood, except for steel tubing flaps and ailerons. The divided landing gear were fitted to fuselage stubs; legs were secured with two bolts each to allow the alternate arrangement of floats or skis. The tail wheel strut could be fitted with a wheel or tail skid.
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. The first aircraft, CF-AYO, was designated the Norseman Mk I. The next aircraft, "CF-BAU," having some minor changes required after the certification tests, and a new Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp SC-1 engine up-rated from 420 to 450 hp, was designated Norseman Mk II while the next three aircraft were Norseman Mk IIIs: "CF-AZA" going to MacKenzie Air Service, Edmonton, Alberta, "CF-AZE" to Prospector Airways, Clarkson, Ontario and "CF-AZS" to Starrat Airways, Hudson, Ontario. "CF-BAU" would be modified on June 26, 1937 to become the prototype Norseman Mk IV, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Wasp S3H-1. The Mk IV became the "definitive" model but the production run might have ended at a few hundred examples if not for the advent of the Second World War.
Until 1940, the Noorduyn company had sold only 17 aircraft in total, primarily to commercial operators in Canada's north and to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. With the outbreak of war in Europe, demand for a utility transport led to major military orders. The Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces became the two largest operators; the RCAF ordered 38 Norseman Mk IVWs for radio and navigational training for the Commonwealth Air Training Plan.
USAAF Colonel Bernt Balchen had been involved in establishing a staging route across Greenland to facilitate the ferrying of aircraft from North America to Europe. He required a bush plane rugged enough to survive in the harsh conditions of the Arctic. After evaluating six Norsemans diverted from a previous 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 involved fitting two fuselage belly tanks bringing the standard fuel capacity to 201 Imp. gal (914 l); an additional cabin fuel tank of 32 Imp. gal (145 l) could also be installed. These changes resulted in an increase of 950 lb (431 kg) in the loaded weight of the standard Mk IV. Deliveries began in mid-1942, with the American military eventually placing orders for 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, as well as by other Allied air forces, who placed orders for 43 Norseman Mk IVs. The RCAF ordered an additional 34 aircraft as Norseman Mk VI. Noorduyn was 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 contemplated before the contract was cancelled in 1943.
It was a UC-64A Norseman (s/n 44-70285) flown by F/O John R. S. Morgan in which Major Glenn Miller was flying as a passenger when he disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944, possibly due to aircraft carburetor icing or from jettisoned bombs from RAF Lancasters after an aborted raid.
It was also in 1944 that a Norseman crashed into King Alfred's Tower, a 50 m tall folly in Somerset, England, tragically killing all five air crew. The tower, part of the celebrated Stourhead estate and landscape, was not repaired until 1986 which included the use of a Wessex helicopter to lower a 300 kilograms (47 st) stone onto the top.
In postwar production, the Canada Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario acquired rights to the Norseman design, producing a version known as the Norseman Mk V, a civilian version of the wartime Mk IV. In order to exploit the market further, the "Can Car" factory designed and built the Norseman Mk VII. This version had a bigger engine, a new all-metal wing and greater cargo capacity but was fated never to go 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 was labor-intensive and very expensive.
The last Noorduyn Norseman to be built was sold and delivered to a commercial customer on January 19, 1959. A total of 903 Norseman aircraft (Mk I - Mk V) were produced and delivered to various commercial and military customers. There are currently 42 Norseman aircraft on the active Canadian aircraft registry. The number in use worldwide is not known.
In recognition of the Norseman's role in serving the remote villages of 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 centerpiece 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.
The Canadian Second World War "ace-of-aces" George Beurling died in a Norseman while landing at Urbe Airport in Rome, Italy, in May 1948. Beurling had been ferrying the aircraft to the nascent Israeli Air Force. The remains of another Israeli Air Force Norseman adorn the IAF's memorial to its fallen on Har Hatayasim (Pilots' Mountain) near Jerusalem. The plane had crashed during Operation Maccabi of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Norseman aircraft have appeared in the films Grey Owl (1999) and The Snow Walker (2003).
Norseman Mark V
Role: General aviation aircraft
Manufacturer: Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd
Designer: Robert B.C. Noorduyn
First flight: November 14, 1935
Status: 42 registered in Canada, unknown worldwide
Primary user: Bush plane operators worldwide
Number built: 904, including prototypes
Crew: 1
Capacity: 10
Length: 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)
Wingspan: 51 ft 6 in (15.70 m)
Height: 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)
Wing area: 325 sq ft (30.2 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 2412
Empty weight: 4,240 lb (1,923 kg)
Maximum takeoff weight: 7,400 lb (3,357 kg) ; 7,540 with floats
Fuel capacity: 242
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1 9 cyl. air cooled radial piston engine, 600 hp (450 kW); Power Loading 12.3 lb/hp
Propellers: 3-bladed Hamilton Standard, 9 ft 0.75 in (2.7623 m) diameter; Power Loading 12.3 lb/hp
Cruise speed: 150 mph; 241 km/h (130 kn) KTAS @ 10,000ft
Stall speed: 68 mph; 109 km/h (59 kn)
Range: 932 mi; 1,500 km (810 nmi) @ 10,000ft
Service ceiling: 17,000 ft (5,200 m)
Rate of climb: 591 ft/min (3.00 m/s)
Wing loading: 22.8 lb/sq ft (111 kg/m2)
Best rate of climb:
(Vy) 87 knots (161 km/h)
Maximum - Flaps extended (Vfe) 94 knots (174 km/h)
Maximum - operating (Vmo) 130 knots (241 km/h)/141 mph (wheels), 138 mph (skis), 134 mph (floats)
Stall, clean (Vs1) 65 knots (120 km/h)]
Stall, landing configuration (Vso) 59 knots (109 km/h)
Operators
Major Civil Operators
Argentina: Aviación del Litoral Fluvial Argentino
Canada
Austin Airways
Bearskin Airlines
Buffalo Airways
Canadian Airways & Western Canada Airways
Canadian Pacific Airlines
Central Northern Airways
Imperial Oil
Lamb Air
Ontario Provincial Air Service
Pacific Western Airlines
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Saskatchewan Air Ambulance
Saskatchewan Government Airways
Starratt Airways
Norway
Fjellfly
Norving
Widerøes Flyveselskap
Philippines
Far Eastern Air Transport Inc. (FEATI) (1946-1947)
Philippine Airlines (transferred from FEATI, from 1947-1955)
Military Operators
Australia: Royal Australian Air Force operated 14 aircraft from 1943 to 1946.
No. 1 Communications Unit RAAF
No. 3 Communications Unit RAAF
No. 4 Communications Unit RAAF
No. 5 Communications Unit RAAF
No. 7 Communications Unit RAAF
Brazil: Brazilian Air Force operated 19 aircraft from 1944 to 1960
Canada
Royal Canadian Air Force operated 79 aircraft from 1940 to 1953
Royal Canadian Navy operated 21 aircraft from 1943 to 1957
Costa Rica: Air Surveillance Service operated one aircraft in 1948
Cuba: Cuban Air Force received one aircraft in 1951
Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovakian Air Force operated Norseman postwar under designation K-73.
Egypt: Egyptian Air Force operated two aircraft from 1948 to 1960
Honduras: Honduran Air Force operated two aircraft from 1945 to 1961
Indonesia: Indonesian Air Force received one aircraft in 1950
Israel: Israeli Air Force operated 17 aircraft from 1948 to 1954
Netherlands: Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force operated one aircraft from 1948 to 1950
Norway: Royal Norwegian Air Force operated 22 aircraft from 1945 to 1959
Philippines: Philippine Air Force operated two aircraft from 1946 to 1952
Sweden: Swedish Air Force operated three aircraft from 1949 to 1959
United Kingdom: Royal Air Force
United States
United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Forces
United States Air Force
United States Navy purchased three Norsemans in 1945 (under designation JA-1) to support Antarctic expeditions like Operation Highjump.
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| UC-64A (serial number 44-70534) at the National Museum of the USAF in the markings scheme of the aircraft seen in the previous photo. |
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| UC-64A (serial number 44-70534) converted to skis for operations in Alaska. Finish is Aluminum Dope/Natural Metal overall with high visibility red tail and outer wing sections. Unit is unknown. Emblem on rear fuselage is that of the USAAF Air Transport Command. |
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| A crewman gives a hand to a new passenger after practicing an air snatch pick-up. The right side door has been removed and the recovery pole anchored to the plywood floor. The hook arrangement on the rear fuselage is for securing the recovery pole when not in use. The rods mounted in front of the main gear are to prevent the ground hook-up lines from becoming tangled in the landing gear. Note that the lower gear fairings and wheel covers have been removed. |
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| UC-84A (44-70433) Eastern India Air Depot, Panagarh, India, 1944. The cowl and the area immediately aft are reported to be a very faded olive drab. |
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| Norseman cockpit drawing. Note that right side controls have been removed. |
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| Group portrait of members of No. 7 Communications Unit RAAF (previously No. 35 Squadron at Pearce, Western Australia) in front of an MK IVA Vultee Vengeance aircraft (left), an Avro Anson aircraft (center) and an A71-14 Norseman aircraft (right), drawn up outside a hangar. 1944. |
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| Norseman Mk. IVW, 679, RCAF, 1938. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk IV, 693, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, 792, RCAF, c/n 14, Reg. No. CF-IGX. Built as USAAF (Serial No. 43-5150), but transferred via Lend-Lease to the RCAF. Delivered 10 June 1943 as aircraft No. 792 and assigned to No. 12 Squadron, Rockcliffe, Ontario. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, 2477, RCAF. No. 2477 went to No. 12 (Communications) Squadron, RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario by 1 November 1941. Category C damage at Rockcliffe on 1 January 1942, in a wind storm. Loaned to RAF Ferry Command at Dorval, 6 February to 4 April 1942, for re-supply flights to USAAF weather stations in Labrador. Category C accident at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario on 21 August 1943. To No. 1 Training Command on 28 October 1943, and then on 9 November 1943 to No. 2 Training Command, No. 3 Wireless School. On 1 December 1944 it was transferred to No. 2 Air Command and on 12 April 1945 to Reserve Storage. Sent to No. 10 Repair Depot, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan for overhaul 15 May 1946. Sold on July 18, 1946. Registration CF-PAB was allotted to Alberta Department Of Public Works 23 July 1946 but they did not complete the purchase. Overhauled by Western Airmotive, Edmonton, Alberta. Test flown at Edmonton 26 January 1947. Sold to Noel. D. Lambert, operating as Northern Mannix Companies, Vancouver, BC. and registered 1 February 1947. On 25 March 1949 registered to Northwest Territories Power Commission, Ottawa, Ontario. Registered to Yellowknife Airways Ltd., Yellowknife, NWT. 23 April 1951. As of May 11, 1954 total time was 4,350 hours. On 2 August 1951 it was registered to Associated Airways Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta. Reported damaged beyond repair 11 August 1954 when floats dug in during a glassy water landing. Location unknown. |
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| Norseman Mk. IV, 2456, RCAF, Rockcliffe, Canada, December 23, 1940. Lockheed Hudsons can be seen in the background. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, 3523, RCAF, 24 Feb 1944. In 1953, 3523 was transferred to Royal Norwegian Air Force, their serial R-AO. Later to Norwegian civil register, as LN-BFP. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, 3523, RCAF. |
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| Norseman 2491, RCAF. |
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| Norseman 2?85, RCAF. |
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| Norseman 369, No. 1 Air Support Unit, RCAF. |
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| Norseman 3528, RCAF, Watson Lake, Yukon, Canada, June 15, 1944. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, 3528, RCAF. 3528 was with No. 6 (Communications) Squadron. It crashed on 10 July 1945. The crew of two were transporting freight. The aircraft stalled in a turn shortly after take-off at a height of about 200 feet-300 feet then proceeded to strike the water in the mouth of the Liard River at Fort Simpson, NWT. The aircraft immediately sank. The pilot Flying Officer C. T. Wheeler was listed as missing. His remains were never recovered. LAC S. B. Ladell the crewman, was seriously injured. |
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| Norseman 2482, RCAF. Delivered to the RCAF as aircraft No. 2482 on May 2, 1941 and assigned to No. 1 Training Command Communications Flight Aylmer, Ontario on June 27, 1941. Sent to Noorduyn Aviation on February 19, 1945 for complete overhaul, the aircraft being time expired. It later appears on civil registry as CF-JIN. With Austin Airways, Sudbury, Ontario from 1957 to 1969. Registered to Chimo Air Service, Red Lake, Ontario on December 7, 1995. Featured in the movie “Snow Walker” which was filmed in the Churchill, Manitoba area. This aircraft was removed from Service June 2018 for complete restoration to Canadian Air Force colors which are All Over Yellow with RCAF Insignia. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 2496, RCAF, c/n 378, docked at a lake while on a Canadian photo-mapping mission, ca 1944-45, ex USAAF UC-64 (Serial No. 43-5387), RAF (Serial No. FZ442). |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 2496, RCAF, c/n 378, docked at a lake while on a Canadian photo-mapping mission, ca 1944-45, ex USAAF UC-64 (Serial No. 43-5387), RAF (Serial No. FZ442). |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 791, RCAF. 791 was an ex-US UC-64 (Serial No. 43-5149). Converted to Mk. VI on 7 July 1943. It flew with No. 13 (Photographic) Squadron at RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario. It was on operations around Ungava Bay in July 1944. It went on to the US civil register as N55444, registered to Fleetway Inc. of Burbank, California. To Lineas Aeras de Transporte Nacional of Paraguay in 1954, registered as ZP-CAZ. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 372, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 372, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 372, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman 3538, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk., IV, 695, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 787, RCAF, June 1943, Upper Green Lake, Ontario. |
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| Norseman Mk. IVW, 680, RCAF. |
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| Norseman 3538, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IVWA, 2488, RCAF, crash, 14 Jan 1943. 2488 was assigned to No. 3 Training Command, Montreal, Quebec and put in Reserve Storage until transferred to No. 3 Training Command Communications Squadron 26 June 1941. Category B accident at St. Hubert, Quebec 30 October 1941, turned over on landing, the pilot and crew suffered minor injuries. Repaired by Noorduyn Aviation, to No. 3 Training Command, Rockcliffe, Ontario 5 May 1942. On 9 June 1942 loaned to Dominion Skyways Ltd., Montreal, Quebec and returned 10 October 1942. While on loan registered as CF-BXB, not clear if this was actually marked. On 13 January 1943 Category B accident at Rockcliffe, Ontario, landing with a hanging port ski. The crew was slightly injured and the aircraft sent to Noorduyn Aviation for repairs on 27 January. Rebuilt using a Mark VI fuselage and redesignated Mk. IV-WA. To Western Air Command 27 December 1943. Operated by No. 166 (T) Squadron, RCAF Station Sea Island, 1943/1945. Sold at Vancouver, BC. 15 January 1948. Registered as CF- GHH to Queen Charlotte Airlines Ltd., Vancouver, BC. 22 May 1948. Registered to Pacific Western Airlines, Vancouver, BC. in 1956 when they bought out Queen Charlotte Airlines. Registered to R.H. Laidman, Vancouver, BC. 6 June 1958 and then on 10 April 1959 to Celgar Ltd., Vancouver, BC. In June 1959 a fire control water drop system was installed, did not perform well and was removed. As of March 25, 1964 total time was 5,920 hours. Destroyed at Nakusp, BC. 4 June 1964. Hit floating debris on takeoff and overturned. Pilot and five passengers escaped injury. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IVW, 679, RCAF. |
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| Pilot in a Royal Canadian Air Force Norseman, June 1943. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 365, RCAF, coded GA-A with RCAF Station Goose Bay's Station Flight. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 364, RCAF, 16 September 1948. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, RCAF (Serial No. 678) and Northrop Delta, Cartwight-Hopedale, Labrador. Both of these aircraft were flown as part of 'Operation Labrador'. The flight commenced on 20 July 1939. The objective was to fly secret photo-reconnaissance missions over the Labrador coast in efforts to locate potential airfield locations. The RCAF detachment formed to conduct this reconnaissance was designated as the Labrador Flight. The operation was authorized by Eastern Air Command and was flown in conjunction with an Royal Navy survey ship, HMS Franklin. It was completed by 9 August 1939. The aircraft involved were Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV (Serial No. 678) and Northrop Delta (Serial Nos. 676 and 677). The two communities are 152.49 nautical miles apart. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, 681, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. VI, 2496, c/n 378, coded AP-Q, No. 413 Squadron, on a Canadian photo-mapping mission ca 1944-45. It is docked on the water at Sawmill Bay, on the East side of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories. Ex-USAAF UC-64 (Serial No. 43-5387), RAF (Serial No. FZ442), 2496 was in RCAF service from 1944 until 1952. On 23 Jun 1952 it was reduced to spares and scrapped. Taken on strength 24 Mar 1944. Assigned to No. 1 Training Command, Ontario 24 Mar 1944 and placed in Reserve Storage. Activated 5 May 1944 and transferred to No. 1 Air Command 15 Jan 1945. To No. 9T Group, No. 13 (later No. 413) (P) Squadron, RCAF Station Rockcliffe, Ontario 4 May 1946. Coded AP-Q. Transferred to Air Transport Command 1 Apr 1948. On 14 Oct 1948 sent to No. 6 Repair Depot for reconditioning. Returned to ATC, No. 413 (P) Squadron, 5 Mar 1949. On 31 Jan 1950 to No. 6 Repair Depot for refinishing and returned 17 Feb 1950. Sent to N0. 11 TSU (Canadian Car And Foundry) 24 Apr 1950 for door installation, returning 27 Apr and going to No. 6 Repair Depot "pending allotment to contractor". On 27 Jul 1951 to No. 11 TSU (Canadian Car) for reconditioning. Returned to No. 6 Repair Depot, reduced to spares and produce. Struck off and scrapped 23 June 1952. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, 681, RCAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman Mk. IV, RCAF, 25 Jul 1945, Maple Leaf. |
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| Norseman A71-4, KF-B, No.5 Communications Unit, RAAF, Townsville. |
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| Norseman A71-4, KF-B, No.5 Communications Unit, RAAF, Townsville. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman A71-4, RAAF. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman, 33 OBU, RAAF. |
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| Norseman A71-10, No.1 Aircraft Performance Unit, RAAF, at RAAF Laverton in 1944. |
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| Norseman A71-10, KF-H, No. 5 Communications Unit, RAAF, Garbutt Field, Townsville. |
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| Norseman A71-10, KF-H, RAAF, Mascot, April 1949, awaiting civil conversion. |
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| Norseman A71-7, RAAF, at right in a line of aircraft awaiting disposal, Tocumwal. |
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| Norseman A71-13, RAAF, at RAAF Tocumwal, early 1946, after arrival for storage. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman A71-10, RAAF. |
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| C-64. |
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| UC-64A Norsemans on the shop floor at Noorduyn during the war. Note the unfinished frame nearest. Once its wooden formers and stringers were added, it would be covered in fabric and moved along the line. |
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| Norsemans built for the USAAF on the flight test ramp at Cartierville, Canada. |
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| A USAAF 3rd Air Commando Group UC-64A in the Philippines, 1945. |
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| UC-64 Norseman 43-35417, USAAF. |
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| This UC-64A was used for developmental programs at the U.S. Army test center at Wright Field, Ohio. Here it is fitted with a 3-blade propeller, which was found to improve general performance. The postwar Norseman V adopted this feature. |
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| UC-64B, USAAF. |
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| UC-64 43-35395, May 4, 1944. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 44-70370, marked with a red cross for medical evacuation missions, Palo Alto, California, September 30, 1945. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 44-70370, marked with a red cross for medical evacuation missions, Palo Alto, California, September 30, 1945. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 44-70370, marked with a red cross for medical evacuation missions, Palo Alto, California, September 30, 1945. |
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| UC-64A 44-70394. |
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| Supermarine Spitfire Mk. XI PA842, 14th PRS, 7th PRG, Eighth Air Force shares the pan with Noorduyn C-64A Norseman 43-5368 at Mount Farm. C-64A 43-5368 delivered to the USAAF as aircraft No. 43-5368 on February 26, 1944 and flown to Fort Dix, New Jersey on March 1. Sent to Newark, New Jersey on March 31 for shipment to the 8th Air Force in Europe. Reported involved in an accident at Booker Field, UK. on July 21, 1944. No details. Pilot – Earl K. Stamey. Assigned to the Foreign Liquidation Corporation on June 17, 1947 for disposal as surplus. |
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| UC-64 43-5174 floatplane. This Norseman has just been fitted with a fine pair of Edo floats and is seen taxiing in the lee of the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, just up from Edo's facility at College Point, Long Island. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 43-5174. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 43-5174. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 43-5174. |
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| UC-64 Norseman, USAAF. |
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| A typical UC-64A in the field. 43-5396 ended somewhere in the European Theatre of Operations with the Ninth Air Force. Little is known about most such US Army Norsemans, this one included. It is listed as being "condemned" in January 1946, which usually meant that a plane would be scrapped. |
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| UC-64 43-5347. |
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| C-64A 43-5379 "Rigor Mortis". |
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| UC-64 42-5046. |
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| Noorduyn C-64 Norseman towing CG-4A glider, Asansol, India, 14 August 1944. |
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| C-64 Norseman near Karachi, Pakistan. |
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| UC-64 42-5046. |
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| UC-64 43-5438, KY-B, 305th Bomb Group utility aircraft. |
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| UC-64 44-70351. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 43-5113. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 43-5113. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 43-5116. |
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| UC-64 43-5199, September 7, 1943. |
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| UC-64A, USAAF, 43-5199. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman 43-5192 on the tarmac at Dover AFB after its accident, March 22, 1944. Delivered to the USAAF as aircraft 43-5192 on August 26, 1943 and flown to Olmstead AFB, Pennsylvania, on September 11. Flown to Dover, Delaware, on December 21, 1943 and assigned to the First Air Force on January 2, 1944. |
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| UC-64, group utility transport, Headquarters Squadron, 55th Fighter Group. |
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| Norseman, USAAF. |
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| A ski-equipped U.S. Navy Noorduyn JA-1 Norseman is loaded aboard ship at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia (USA) for Operation Highjump in Antarctica. 1946. |
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| UC-64 Norseman, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn C-64 Norseman in the United Kingdom. |
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| C-64 Norseman is carefully unpacked for assembly at Karachi Air Base. |
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| Leigh Capreol (left) and Robert Noorduyn with Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman of the USAAF, Cartierville, QC, c. 1943. |
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| Noorduyn C-64 Norseman I. Manufactured by Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd. (Noorduyn Aviation). June 1943. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman on assembly line, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman on assembly line, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman engine cowlings, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman on assembly line, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman on assembly line, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman on assembly line, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman on assembly line, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman on assembly line, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman on assembly line, March 1941. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman, RCAF 3538, Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan, Canada, March 1945. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman, RCAF 2480, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, September 1944. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman, RCAF 2480, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, September 1944. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman 335443, USAAF. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman 43-35438 KY-B assigned as a "hack" aircraft to the 366th Bomb Squadron, 305th BG at Grafton Underwood. circa late 1942. |
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| View of the control tower at RAF Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England, UK, 1945. Note line of 91st Bomb Group “hack” aircraft: Piper L-4 Grasshopper, Noorduyn UC-64 Norseman, P-47 Thunderbolt, and Cessna UC-78 Bobcat. |
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| Marmite cans with blood collected from rear echelon troops in England, United Kingdom, were being transferred from Dodge WC54 Ambulance to waiting Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman for air transport to Normandy. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64 Norseman interior setup for stretcher cases, 15 January 1944. |
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| Noorduyn UC-64 Norseman 43-5121. |
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| Noorduyn Norseman cockpit. |
