We are the North
Nord Aviation
In the late 1940s, France was trying to rebuild its industrial base after the near-destruction caused by the Second World War. Part of that effort was to re-establish aircraft manufacturing.
The French government compelled many small firms to join forces, the impetus that led to the formation of Sud Aviation (Southern Aviation) of Toulouse, which in turn spawned many innovative aircraft and the giant Airbus Group of today. The same forces formed Nord Aviation, which was based at Bourges airport in central France.
The need for a new aircraft
Post-WW2 the French Air Force (Armée de l’Air) was wholly reliant for transport on ex-Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 52s, which had been produced in France during the war, and surplus Douglas C-47s (aka Dakotas or DC-3s). The French were keen to rebuild their military capabilities and were also intent on preserving their colonies — through wars of suppression if necessary. With opposition to colonial rule growing in Algeria and Vietnam (both of which would lead to war and eventual defeat of the French) the Armée de l’Air decided to replace the tailwheel Junkers and Dakota transports with a more modern tricycle-gear aircraft, with good performance out of short, rough, unimproved airfields.
The design called for a large cargo door, more payload than the types it was replacing, and better performance. The winning design was from a small company known as SNCAN (Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Nord) or ‘the National Company for building aircraft in the North’ — a.k.a ‘Nord’.
Before the Nord 2500 was built, SNCAN acquired another firm, SFECMAS (Société française d’étude et de construction de matériels aéronautiques spéciaux; the French company for the study and construction of special aeronautical equipment) and renamed itself ‘Nord Aviation’ — francophone naming habits and acronyms were obviously improving.
Nord Noratlas
The Nord 2500 was of a twin-engine, twin-boom design with a large pod cabin suspended from a shoulder-mounted wing. It was similar in concept to the Fairchild C-82 Packet, which was developed into the successful C-119 Flying Boxcar. The Nord 2500 had wide-spaced, tall landing gear and large low-pressure tyres, all designed for operating out of unimproved airstrips. The Bristol Hercules sleeve-valve radial engines (built under license by SNECMA — now Safran, maker of the CFM LEAP engine) powered four-bladed Rotol propellers chosen to ensure sufficient ground-clearance.
The newly designed aircraft suffered an early setback when the prototype crashed on its test flight. Despite this impediment, development proceeded with the type renamed ‘Noratlas’ by the widow of the deceased pilot.
The Noratlas was a capable aircraft, and served with many air forces, primarily the French, German, Israeli, Greek and Portuguese. The type saw action with most users, serving in Algeria, the Suez, Angola, Cyprus, and, for many years, with the Israeli Air Force. A total of 425 were built between 1949 and 1961, with the last example retired in 1989.
Manned and unmanned aircraft
Nord Aviation dabbled in a variety of projects, some of which never reached fruition. Primary trainers, the 3200 series, and the Nord 3400 military observation aircraft, approximately 250 in total, were produced for the French forces. The NC.850 series of general aviation touring airplanes were built in small numbers during the 1950s.
An innovative ramjet design would never reach production, but a number of guided missiles did. A series of target drones, based on the German V-1 pulse-jet-propelled flying bomb design from WW2, were produced for many years. One design in particular, an anti-ship missile named the Exocet, was manufactured in large numbers. The latter weapon earned a place in history when Argentinean forces used Exocets to sink Royal Navy ships during the ten-week ‘undeclared war’ that was the Falklands Crisis of 1982. Iraqi aircraft also attacked a US Navy ship using Exocets in the first Gulf War of 1991.
Nord 262
The Noratlas, however, had limited non-military applications. A version made for civil use and fitted with wingtip turbojets to assist take off was never successful, with only ten being produced.
Max Holste, a French aeronautical engineer who would later be lead-designer for Embraer of Brazil, had designed an aircraft he named the MH.250. This basic design was adopted by Nord Aviation (which would soon be renamed Aérospatiale following a merger with Sud Aviation) with modifications, and given the official type name Nord 262. A pair of French-produced Bastan turboprop engines, produced by Turbomeca (now also part of Safran), which primarily manufactured helicopter powerplants, provided propulsive power for the 262.
The Nord 262 entered a congested, competitive market space which included the Fokker F.27 Friendship (which the Nord 262 resembled albeit being dimensionally smaller than the Dutch airplane), the Hawker Siddeley (Avro) 748 , and other types with similar profiles. Sales were not spectacular, and only a few examples were placed in Europe. Dan-Air of Britain was an early user.
In 1967, Air Ceylon bought an early-model N 262A to supplement a HS 748 in service since 1964. The decision to choose the Nord instead of another 748 seemed mystifying at the time, given Air Ceylon’s success and satisfaction with the Avro. Not surprisingly, the 262’s Bastan engines proved unsuitable for operating in the tropical climate, and the aircraft, registered 4R-ACL, served in Ceylon for less than two years before returning to Aérospatiale in France in 1969.
Eventually the same aircraft (msn 29) was among a group that was fitted with the peerless Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6A engine. These aircraft were modified by Mohawk Aviation in the USA, which led to the type being dubbed the ‘Mohawk 298’. They flew with Allegheny Airlines (later USAir and now part of American Airlines), and several other small commuter outfits in North America.
Four of these ex-Allegheny aircraft found their way to Australia in 1987, where they were confusingly known as ‘Nord Mohawks’. Initially imported by Lloyd Aviation based in Adelaide, the aircraft had many operators, including Ansett Express which leased three for varying durations, before being decommissioned in the mid-1990s. One example is at the Queensland Air Museum in Queensland Pacific Airlines livery.
Of the 110 Nord 262s built, none appear to remain in service. It was the last type Nord aviation built before the company became Aérospatiale, which in turn would join forces with Spain’s CASA and Germany’s Daimler Aerospace to form what is now known as Airbus. A joint venture between Aérospatiale and Aeritalia of Italy named ATR (Avions de transport regional in French; Aerei da Trasporto Regionale in Italian) is the world’s last remaining major propliner manufacturer.
This is part of a series on the historic propliners that are on Propliner magazine. We follow the birth to the airline industry, the aircraft that made it possible and the slow transition to the jet age. It all began with the DC-3 of course, and my columns move through the other Douglas propliners, the Boeing 377, Lockheed’s Electras and the elegant Constellation. The Brabazon Committee which sparked such a wave of innovation in the UK with the Vickers Viscount, the Bristol Britannia and the ill-fated de Havilland Comet. Many other significant aircraft, such as Avro Canada’s innovative but aborted C-102 passenger jet and the Sud-Aviation Caravelle, which led us into the start of the Jet Age have columns too. Soviet types with their simple and robust characteristics have not been neglected, with Tupolev’s designs paid homage to as well.
A few quirky segues I couldn’t resist: the ‘Double Sunrise’ flights between my two homelands Ceylon and Australia; the wonderful Carvairs and that very British habit of taking your car on holiday. I also had to write a paean to my beloved A380 and all my pilot friends in the Gulf as COVID ended that little dream.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the series as much as I have relished writing them. My special thanks to my old friend, mentor, editor and repository of knowledge Roger Thiedeman, for all the encouragement and support throughout this project.
