Kirsten here again, this time introducing the 1943 Noorduyn Norseman. This aircraft is front and center at the Museum and had quite an adventurous life, and a well deserved retirement here at the Pioneer Air Museum, if I do say so myself.
The Norseman housed at the Pioneer Air Museum is a Model Noorduym Norseman UC-64AS, built in 1943 by Noorduyn Aircraft Ltd. of Canada. These planes were introduced in 1935 and designed as a single engine bush plane; interchangeably fitted with wheels, skis, and floats for landing on a multitude of terrain types. It had a high wing monoplane airframe to facilitate loading and unloading passengers and cargo. During World War II, it caught the interest of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Army Air Force because of its abilities in rough and rugged Northern environments.
The model plane at PAM would have been the kind flown for Lend Lease Program of WWII as a search and rescue or utility plane. This particular aircraft flew for many airline companies, including Island Airways, Inc. (1946-1948) and Alaska Airlines (1956-1961). In 1192, Doug Solberg of Juneau, AK gave the Norseman to the museum. The plane had been refurbished in Washington State and flown up to Fairbanks, where it now sits center stage in the museum.
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