Nord Aviation 2501 Noratlas | Noratlas de Provence
- STATUS: Airworthy
- LOCATION: Marignane
- OWNER: Noratlas de Provence
- ROLE: Cargo
- BUILT: 1956
- LENGTH: 21.96 m/72 ft 1 in
- WINGSPAN: 32.5 m/106 ft 8 in
- ENGINE: 2 Bristol Hercules 759 radial engines
- MAXIMUM SPEED: 270mph/440 km/h
- RANGE: aproximately 1,600miles/2,500 km
- CARRYING CAPACITY: Up to 5 tonnes of equipment or 35 parachutists
F-AZVM/105 is the sole surviving airworthy Noratlas in the world. Built in 1956 with serial number 105, the Nord Aviation 2501 Noratlas filled the need for a robust, versatile aircraft specifically designed for troop and equipment parachuting missions to replace the C-47 Dakotas.
The Noratlas is characterised by its double-girder silhouette and pot-bellied, wagon-shaped fuselage, and its innovative ‘petal-shaped’ opening rear ramp, which makes it easier to load equipment flat. Powered by two 1,615 hp Bristol Hercules 759 engines, built under licence by SNECMA, it combines ruggedness, reliability and range. Capable of covering almost 2,500 km and flying for almost 10 hours, it quickly became a mainstay of military transport in France, but also in Germany, Greece, Israel and Portugal. In all, 426 aircraft were produced.
Retired from active service in 1986, after more than 30 years of missions around the world, the Noratlas remains engraved in the collective memory as a tireless transporter, operating in war zones as well as on humanitarian missions.
Today, Noratlas no. 105, registered F-AZVM, is the last flying example in the world, entrusted to the Le Noratlas de Provence association
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