Designed as a military transport for service with the French air force, the Nord 2500 Noratlas prototype (F-WFKL) was flown for the first time on 10 September 1949. Of similar twin-boom configuration to the Fairchild C-82 and C-119 Flying Boxcar, the prototype was powered by two 1212kW SNECMA-built Gnome-Rhone 14R radial engines. This was followed by two N 2501 prototypes which introduced the powerplant intended for production aircraft, comprising two 1521kW SNECMA-built Bristol Hercules 739 radial engines, and the first of these (F- WFRG) was flown on 28 November 1950. Satisfactory testing led to the initiation of production, and the Noratlas became standard equipment in the air forces of France, West Germany and Israel, providing valuable long-term service. Operated normally by a crew of four or five, the Noratlas has the capacity for 7.5 tons of cargo, or can accommodate 45 troops (or passengers in civil use), 36 fully-equipped paratroopers, or 18 stretchers and medical attendants when used for casualty evacuation. The German Luftwaffe received a total of 186 of these transports, 25 built by Nord and the balance produced under licence in Germany by the Flugzeugbau Nord. When production ended in October 1961, French and German sources had built a total of 425 Noratlas aircraft in several versions, and the type remained in service until the late 1980s.

3-View

A three-view drawing (592 x 654)