Vingtor

AKA Skattøra. Built by the Norwegian Naval Air Arm in the late 1930s, but finished but the Germans. Painted in Widerøe's green livery, but actually owned and operated by the CIA..... Nils

I am very happy to see your "Dakota" finished, Terry (yes, the C-47s were called Dakota in Norwegian service). I am the one to blame for the dodgy decal sheet, and that you did not get it finished in time. Some of the sheets came from the printer without carrier film. Unfortunately some seem to have slipped the quality check, and I have now discharged the rest of the faulty ones. Nils

Oops, I now see that it was mentioned a couple of posts earlier....

The Mk.V was basically a civil version of the Mk.VI/UC-64. Noorduyn had reserved the "number" V (for Victory), hoping to sell a great number of aircraft after the war. However, the large number of surplus Mk.VIs, and a number of Mk.IVs available made it hard to sell the Mk.V. I must confess my interest in the Norseman comes from writing this book some years ago: https://www.europeanairlines.no/product/noorduyn-norseman-mk-iv-mk-vi/. It covers the type in Norwegian service, but also general history and describes the two variants, with profiles and plan drawings.

From the top of my head - I built three Norseman models some years ago, two Mk.IVs and one Mk.VI/UC-64. The stub wings are Mk.IV. The cabin doors are Mk.VI. The nose and engine cowling are Mk.VI. The cowling shape is not good, so I replaced this with one from a Harvard kit. The fuselage shape is Mk.IV. The Mk.VI was a bit "fatter" (although there is a dispute about this). The floats are not correct for any version. They have a closer resemblance to the Mk.IV than to the Mk.VI. The skylight window is in incorrect position. The structure of the wings and fin is terrible. But that you have corrected. The luggage hatch behind the cabin door was only on the Mk.VI, and on the port side only. The Mk.IV had a luggage hatch below the port side cabin door extension. There are of course details to be added, if you like.

Good work on the wings! Note that the kit is a mix between the Mk.IV and the Mk.VI, with various details/configurations from either version. Nils

It is good to see the decals finally on the model, Terry. And that you are satisfied with them. Nils

Great work Andy! It has been interesting to follow your build. Nils

Nice! Bring it on.

I am sorry that the decals have not arrived, Terry. Post deliveries seem to take longer time these days, as most aircraft are grounded. Nils

The Norwegian Coast Guard has been without helicopters since the Lynxs were retired. Significantly restricting the operational capabilities. The AW101s (not named Merlin in Norway) are for civilian SAR operations only, not Coast Guard. They are owned by the Department of Justice, but operated by the Air Force. Nils

Reading my post over again, the term "the radomes stay rather late" should be "the radomes stay rather light".....

Did I read "Norwegian"? The Norwegian Coast Guard did have Lynx helicopters, operated by the RNoAF 337 Squadron. These were withdrawn from service some 10 years ago, to be replaced by NH90 helicopters - which are not yet operational.....

Way back in 2013. You must have a good memory! Unfortunately the book is not yet published. My friend - Cato Guhnfeldt - has for the last 10 years (or so) worked on a 7 volume series on the two Norwegian fighter squadrons in the RAF (331 & 332 - each volume in the 2-3 kg category). This project is eventually finished, and although he has collected material for another 20 books (!), the next two will probably (hopefully) be air operations of respectively the Norwegian Campaign and the liberation of Norway. The best book on 263 Sqn in Norway so far is Alex Crawford's "263 Squadron - Gladiators over the Fjords" (MMP Books). The content seems to be accurate, but Cato has so much more material.

From the ones that I have knowledge about: Norwegian camouflaged (433) - Wrong camouflage pattern, wrong colours, wrong markings. RAF 263 Sqn (HE-K) - Wrong camouflage pattern, wrong colours. Should be standard shadow compensating TLS, as for KW-T. Swedish F8 (8/49) - Wrong colours. Should be olive green and light bluegrey. Swedish F19 (both) - Wrong colours. Should be olive green and light bluegrey, with silver winter camouflage. The errors in the captions are too many to mention here. Nils