Miloch
August 2nd 19, 02:43 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_N-3PB
The Northrop N-3PB Nomad was a single-engined American floatplane of the 1940s.
Northrop developed the N-3PB as an export model based on the earlier Northrop
A-17 design. A total of 24 were purchased by Norway, but were not delivered
until after the Fall of Norway during the Second World War. Exiled Norwegian
forces used them from 1941, operating from Iceland, for convoy escort,
anti-submarine patrols, and training purposes from "Little Norway" in Canada.
Within two years of delivery, the design was effectively obsolete in its combat
role, and the remaining N-3PBs were replaced by larger aircraft in 1943.
Following increased international tension surrounding the German annexation of
the Sudetenland in 1938, the Norwegian parliament granted extraordinary
appropriations to modernize the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Royal Norwegian Navy
Air Service (RNNAS) and the Norwegian Army Air Service were prioritized for
funds from the 50,000,000 kr Norwegian Neutrality Fund. The RNNAS' share of the
funds were designated to buy 12 Heinkel He 115 torpedo bombers and 24
reconnaissance aircraft, as well as several new naval air stations. The Dornier
Do 22, Northrop 8-A, Northrop 2GP and Vultee V-11 GB were considered and
proposals retrieved. The commission quickly decided the Vultee V-11 GB was the
best aircraft to satisfy both air services' needs. On the part of the Royal
Norwegian Air Service, the requirements were for a reconnaissance aircraft with
a range of 1,500 kilometres (930 mi), a top speed of no less than 320 kilometres
per hour (200 mph) and a payload of a 900 kilograms (2,000 lb) torpedo or the
equivalent in bombs.
On 30 December 1939, Norway sent a purchasing commission to the United States,
consisting of a Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service contingent headed by Cmdr.
Kristian Østby, and a Norwegian Army Air Service contingent led by Birger
Fredrik Motzfeldt. The goal of the commission was to inspect the Vultee V-11,
which would serve as a new common reconnaissance bomber for the two air
services. Amongst the requirements the commission hoped to fill was replacing
the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service's M.F.11 biplane patrol aircraft. Once in
the US, the commission found that Vultee would not be able to deliver the V-11
within a reasonable amount of time so another aircraft had to be found.
Motzfeldt quickly found that the Douglas 8A-5N would satisfy the NOAAS'
requirements. As the Douglas 8A-5N could not be fitted with floats, Østby
continued to look for an aircraft suitable for the RNNAS. After visits to many
of the aviation companies in February 1940, Østby determined that only one
manufacturer had both a design and available production capacity, Northrop
Aircraft Incorporated. The commission ordered 24 floatplanes based on the Model
8-A, renamed the N-3PB, "off the drawing board" (literally, the aircraft being
ordered prior to the type having flown) from Northrop on 8 March 1940, at a
total cost of 6,550,000 kr to meet this requirement. Half the amount was paid
shortly before the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940.
The Model 8-A, the export model of the Northrop Attack Bomber series was never
intended to serve as the basis of a floatplane and had to be redesigned to meet
the requirements of the Norwegian order. The new N-3PB was the first product of
Northrop Aircraft, which had reformed in 1939, and was a low-winged cantilever
monoplane fitted with twin floats. First intended for a lower powered engine,
the N-3PB was ultimately powered by a Wright Cyclone radial engine, of the same
type specified for the Douglas 8A-5N bombers and Curtiss Hawk 75A-8s ordered by
Norway at the same time, simplifying the eventual maintenance and operation
requirements for the entire Norwegian military aircraft fleets.
With the Norwegian operation requirements drawn up for a coastal reconnaissance
floatplane, a series of modifications were requested to the original design. The
changes included a redesign of the float structure to accommodate either a
torpedo or bomb load carried under the center fuselage to supplement five
underwing bomb racks. Additional armament changes led to a combination of six
machine guns replacing the four machine gun (two fixed forward, two flexible
rear-mounted 7.9 mm)/one cannon (forward facing, fixed 20 mm) arrangement that
was in the initial design. Provision for a rear under-fuselage gun was also
made. Further equipment requirements including fitting a rear fuselage-mounted
camera as well as changes to instrumentation and radio equipment.
Before Northrop could complete any aircraft, Norway was invaded by Germany. The
invasion and occupation of Norway necessitated that the armament of the N-3PB,
originally to be installed in Norway, had to be changed. Initial specifications
listed one Oerlikon 20 mm cannon in each wing, as well as two 7.9 mm Fabrique
Nationale machine guns each in both fuselage and rear gunner stations. Owing to
the lack of availability of the originally specified armament,
Norwegian-manufactured Colt heavy machine guns were substituted with four Colt
MG53A .50 cal. machine guns in the wings and two .30 cal. Colt MG40s mounted in
dorsal and ventral positions of the gunner's rear cockpit.
Role
Patrol bomber/torpedo bomber floatplane
Manufacturer
Northrop Aircraft Inc.
First flight
22 December 1940
Introduction
1941
Primary user
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
Number built
24
Developed from
Northrop A-17
Northrop's Chief Test Pilot Vance Breese flew the first N-3PB (c/n 301) on 22
December 1940 from Lake Elsinore, California. The flight test and customer
acceptance trials were successfully completed using the first production
aircraft. Due to the use of the more powerful Cyclone engine, all performance
estimates were exceeded and flight characteristics including maneuverability
were considered "excellent." All 24 aircraft were delivered to the exiled Royal
Norwegian Navy Air Service by the end of March 1941.
In an effort to publicize the N-3PB operations, the British Air Ministry
circulated a report that two Norwegian-flown aircraft had been involved in the
attack on the German battleship Bismarck on 21–22 May 1941, but it was merely an
example of wartime propaganda. Despite many aviation historians disputing the
claim, it still appears in current accounts of the sinking of the Bismarck. No.
330(N) was formed on 25 April 1941 and received its first of 18 N-3PBs on 19
May, two days before the attack on the Bismark but didn't fly until 2 June 1941
and their first official operational flight wasn't until 23 June 1941. No.
330(N) Squadron began supplementing the N-3PBs with Consolidated Catalina flying
boats in 1942, and both the Catalina and the N-3PB began to be displaced in
February 1943 by the arrival of the more capable Short Sunderland. Flying boats
allowed for longer patrols to be carried out, and had superior seakeeping
qualities to the N-3PB. The surviving N-3PBs continued to operate alongside the
Catalinas, flying fighter patrol, escort and antisubmarine operations off
Iceland's east coast until early 1943. Throughout the transition to other types,
the squadron's C-Flight maintained an "all-Northrop" unit, predominately
involved in secondary roles including army cooperation, transport, air-sea
rescue, ice reconnaissance and ambulance roles. In early 1943, No. 330(N)'s
crews relocated to Oban, Scotland, aboard the troop ship Leinster. Two of the
remaining N-3PBs flew to Oban. The eight aircraft left behind on Iceland were
scrapped in Reykjavik between December 1942 – April 1943.
Throughout its combat service from 23 June 1941 – 30 March 1943, No. 330(N)'s
N-3PBs carried out 1,1011 operational sorties, totalling 3,512 hours flying
time. Although the eight attacks they carried out on U-boats proved
inconclusive, N-3PB escort patrols and antisubmarine sweeps were an important
part of the Allied effort in keeping the North Atlantic sea lanes open. After
the end of the type's combat service on Iceland, the Norwegian naval authorities
considered basing two N-3PBs on Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago previously known
as Spitzbergen. A German naval raid on 8 September 1943 resulted in the
deployment being cancelled.
Specifications (N-3PB)
General characteristics
Crew: Three (pilot, navigator/bombardier and wireless operator/rear gunner)
Length: 36 ft (11 m)
Wingspan: 48 ft 11 in (14.91 m)
Height: 12 ft (3.7 m)
Wing area: 376.8 sq ft (35.01 m2)
Empty weight: 6,190 lb (2,808 kg)
Gross weight: 8,500 lb (3,856 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 10,600 lb (4,808 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Wright GR-1820-G205A 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine,
1,200 hp (890 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 257 mph (414 km/h; 223 kn) at sea level
Cruise speed: 184 mph (296 km/h; 160 kn)
Range: 1,000 mi (869 nmi; 1,609 km)
Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,300 m)
Time to altitude: 15,000 ft (4,600 m) in 4.4 minutes
Armament
Guns: 4 × fixed forward firing 0.50 in (12.70 mm) machine guns
2 × 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns in dorsal and ventral positions
Bombs: 1 × 2,000 lb (910 kg) torpedo or equivalent weight of bombs or depth
charges
*
The Northrop N-3PB Nomad was a single-engined American floatplane of the 1940s.
Northrop developed the N-3PB as an export model based on the earlier Northrop
A-17 design. A total of 24 were purchased by Norway, but were not delivered
until after the Fall of Norway during the Second World War. Exiled Norwegian
forces used them from 1941, operating from Iceland, for convoy escort,
anti-submarine patrols, and training purposes from "Little Norway" in Canada.
Within two years of delivery, the design was effectively obsolete in its combat
role, and the remaining N-3PBs were replaced by larger aircraft in 1943.
Following increased international tension surrounding the German annexation of
the Sudetenland in 1938, the Norwegian parliament granted extraordinary
appropriations to modernize the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Royal Norwegian Navy
Air Service (RNNAS) and the Norwegian Army Air Service were prioritized for
funds from the 50,000,000 kr Norwegian Neutrality Fund. The RNNAS' share of the
funds were designated to buy 12 Heinkel He 115 torpedo bombers and 24
reconnaissance aircraft, as well as several new naval air stations. The Dornier
Do 22, Northrop 8-A, Northrop 2GP and Vultee V-11 GB were considered and
proposals retrieved. The commission quickly decided the Vultee V-11 GB was the
best aircraft to satisfy both air services' needs. On the part of the Royal
Norwegian Air Service, the requirements were for a reconnaissance aircraft with
a range of 1,500 kilometres (930 mi), a top speed of no less than 320 kilometres
per hour (200 mph) and a payload of a 900 kilograms (2,000 lb) torpedo or the
equivalent in bombs.
On 30 December 1939, Norway sent a purchasing commission to the United States,
consisting of a Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service contingent headed by Cmdr.
Kristian Østby, and a Norwegian Army Air Service contingent led by Birger
Fredrik Motzfeldt. The goal of the commission was to inspect the Vultee V-11,
which would serve as a new common reconnaissance bomber for the two air
services. Amongst the requirements the commission hoped to fill was replacing
the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service's M.F.11 biplane patrol aircraft. Once in
the US, the commission found that Vultee would not be able to deliver the V-11
within a reasonable amount of time so another aircraft had to be found.
Motzfeldt quickly found that the Douglas 8A-5N would satisfy the NOAAS'
requirements. As the Douglas 8A-5N could not be fitted with floats, Østby
continued to look for an aircraft suitable for the RNNAS. After visits to many
of the aviation companies in February 1940, Østby determined that only one
manufacturer had both a design and available production capacity, Northrop
Aircraft Incorporated. The commission ordered 24 floatplanes based on the Model
8-A, renamed the N-3PB, "off the drawing board" (literally, the aircraft being
ordered prior to the type having flown) from Northrop on 8 March 1940, at a
total cost of 6,550,000 kr to meet this requirement. Half the amount was paid
shortly before the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940.
The Model 8-A, the export model of the Northrop Attack Bomber series was never
intended to serve as the basis of a floatplane and had to be redesigned to meet
the requirements of the Norwegian order. The new N-3PB was the first product of
Northrop Aircraft, which had reformed in 1939, and was a low-winged cantilever
monoplane fitted with twin floats. First intended for a lower powered engine,
the N-3PB was ultimately powered by a Wright Cyclone radial engine, of the same
type specified for the Douglas 8A-5N bombers and Curtiss Hawk 75A-8s ordered by
Norway at the same time, simplifying the eventual maintenance and operation
requirements for the entire Norwegian military aircraft fleets.
With the Norwegian operation requirements drawn up for a coastal reconnaissance
floatplane, a series of modifications were requested to the original design. The
changes included a redesign of the float structure to accommodate either a
torpedo or bomb load carried under the center fuselage to supplement five
underwing bomb racks. Additional armament changes led to a combination of six
machine guns replacing the four machine gun (two fixed forward, two flexible
rear-mounted 7.9 mm)/one cannon (forward facing, fixed 20 mm) arrangement that
was in the initial design. Provision for a rear under-fuselage gun was also
made. Further equipment requirements including fitting a rear fuselage-mounted
camera as well as changes to instrumentation and radio equipment.
Before Northrop could complete any aircraft, Norway was invaded by Germany. The
invasion and occupation of Norway necessitated that the armament of the N-3PB,
originally to be installed in Norway, had to be changed. Initial specifications
listed one Oerlikon 20 mm cannon in each wing, as well as two 7.9 mm Fabrique
Nationale machine guns each in both fuselage and rear gunner stations. Owing to
the lack of availability of the originally specified armament,
Norwegian-manufactured Colt heavy machine guns were substituted with four Colt
MG53A .50 cal. machine guns in the wings and two .30 cal. Colt MG40s mounted in
dorsal and ventral positions of the gunner's rear cockpit.
Role
Patrol bomber/torpedo bomber floatplane
Manufacturer
Northrop Aircraft Inc.
First flight
22 December 1940
Introduction
1941
Primary user
Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service
Number built
24
Developed from
Northrop A-17
Northrop's Chief Test Pilot Vance Breese flew the first N-3PB (c/n 301) on 22
December 1940 from Lake Elsinore, California. The flight test and customer
acceptance trials were successfully completed using the first production
aircraft. Due to the use of the more powerful Cyclone engine, all performance
estimates were exceeded and flight characteristics including maneuverability
were considered "excellent." All 24 aircraft were delivered to the exiled Royal
Norwegian Navy Air Service by the end of March 1941.
In an effort to publicize the N-3PB operations, the British Air Ministry
circulated a report that two Norwegian-flown aircraft had been involved in the
attack on the German battleship Bismarck on 21–22 May 1941, but it was merely an
example of wartime propaganda. Despite many aviation historians disputing the
claim, it still appears in current accounts of the sinking of the Bismarck. No.
330(N) was formed on 25 April 1941 and received its first of 18 N-3PBs on 19
May, two days before the attack on the Bismark but didn't fly until 2 June 1941
and their first official operational flight wasn't until 23 June 1941. No.
330(N) Squadron began supplementing the N-3PBs with Consolidated Catalina flying
boats in 1942, and both the Catalina and the N-3PB began to be displaced in
February 1943 by the arrival of the more capable Short Sunderland. Flying boats
allowed for longer patrols to be carried out, and had superior seakeeping
qualities to the N-3PB. The surviving N-3PBs continued to operate alongside the
Catalinas, flying fighter patrol, escort and antisubmarine operations off
Iceland's east coast until early 1943. Throughout the transition to other types,
the squadron's C-Flight maintained an "all-Northrop" unit, predominately
involved in secondary roles including army cooperation, transport, air-sea
rescue, ice reconnaissance and ambulance roles. In early 1943, No. 330(N)'s
crews relocated to Oban, Scotland, aboard the troop ship Leinster. Two of the
remaining N-3PBs flew to Oban. The eight aircraft left behind on Iceland were
scrapped in Reykjavik between December 1942 – April 1943.
Throughout its combat service from 23 June 1941 – 30 March 1943, No. 330(N)'s
N-3PBs carried out 1,1011 operational sorties, totalling 3,512 hours flying
time. Although the eight attacks they carried out on U-boats proved
inconclusive, N-3PB escort patrols and antisubmarine sweeps were an important
part of the Allied effort in keeping the North Atlantic sea lanes open. After
the end of the type's combat service on Iceland, the Norwegian naval authorities
considered basing two N-3PBs on Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago previously known
as Spitzbergen. A German naval raid on 8 September 1943 resulted in the
deployment being cancelled.
Specifications (N-3PB)
General characteristics
Crew: Three (pilot, navigator/bombardier and wireless operator/rear gunner)
Length: 36 ft (11 m)
Wingspan: 48 ft 11 in (14.91 m)
Height: 12 ft (3.7 m)
Wing area: 376.8 sq ft (35.01 m2)
Empty weight: 6,190 lb (2,808 kg)
Gross weight: 8,500 lb (3,856 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 10,600 lb (4,808 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Wright GR-1820-G205A 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine,
1,200 hp (890 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 257 mph (414 km/h; 223 kn) at sea level
Cruise speed: 184 mph (296 km/h; 160 kn)
Range: 1,000 mi (869 nmi; 1,609 km)
Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,300 m)
Time to altitude: 15,000 ft (4,600 m) in 4.4 minutes
Armament
Guns: 4 × fixed forward firing 0.50 in (12.70 mm) machine guns
2 × 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns in dorsal and ventral positions
Bombs: 1 × 2,000 lb (910 kg) torpedo or equivalent weight of bombs or depth
charges
*