page_title: Nord Aviation
section_title: Aircraft production (for SNCAN and Nord Aviation)
hierarchical_section_title: Nord Aviation / Aircraft production (for SNCAN and Nord Aviation)
caption_attribution_description: English: ​​"Noratlas 53-228 on training mission at Ellinikon. Operated by the Hellenic Air Force and based at Athens Elefsis AFB from 1970 until the mid 80's". The Nord Noratlas was a 1950s French military transport aircraft intended to replace the older types in service at the end of World War II. Several hundred were produced in a run lasting over a decade, finding a wide variety of uses. In 1970, the Hellenic Air Force received 50 surplus Noratlases from Germany as World War II compensations and NATO help. These Noratlases were based at Elefsis AFB near Athens, with the 354th Tactical Airlift Squadron. 53-228 wore the marking 53+28 during her military career with the German Air Force. Accordingly, in 1947 Direction Technique Industrielle organized a design competition for a medium-weight cargo aircraft offering great flexibility in use. Société Nationale de Construction Aéronautique du Nord (SNCAN) answered with the Nord 2500, while their competitors, Breguet and SNCASO, offered the BR-891R Mars and SO-30C respectively. The Nord 2500, with its rear-opening clamshell doors allowing ease of loading, was considered the most promising, and DTI ordered two prototypes on April 27, 1948. The first prototype took to the air on September 10, 1949 powered by two Gnome-Rhône 14R engines of 1,600 hp driving 3-bladed variable-pitch propellers, but it was found to be too slow for most applications. The second prototype replaced the 14Rs with two SNECMA-built Bristol Hercules 738/9 2,040 hp engines driving four-bladed propellers, and this model was rechristened the Nord 2501. DTI ordered 3 more preproduction Nord 2501s, which they flight-tested extensively against the similar Fairchild C-82 Packet. The N-2501 was found superior, and the first 34 were ordered on July 10, 1951. After an eventual production run of some 425 planes, the last Noratlas was constructed in 1961.
context_page_description: Nord-Aviation was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The bulk of its facilities were based on the site of Bourges airport, in the département of Cher, in central France.
  On 1 October 1954, Nord Aviation was created as a result of the acquisition of SFECMAS by SNCAN. The company's name, Nord, also became commonly used as a generic name referring to the Pingouin light aircraft. It manufactured numerous aircraft; perhaps Nord Aviation's most successful aircraft was the Nord Noratlas, a utility transport used by both military and civilian customers. Other aircraft included general aviation, trainers and experimental aircraft, as well as other transports. Nord Aviation also developed and produced its own range of missiles; perhaps the most famous of these was the Exocet, a sea-skimming anti-ship missile.
  On 1 March 1970, Nord Aviation merged with Sud Aviation to create Société nationale d'industrie aérospatiale, which was promptly renamed Aérospatiale. In turn, this company would ultimately merged into European aerospace corporation EADS in 2000, which was subsequently rebranded as the Airbus Group.
caption: Noratlas military transport
exif: {"Image Software": "Picasa", "Image DateTime": "2016:03:08 19:55:16", "Image Artist": "Picasa", "Image ExifOffset": "96", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "364", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4738", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:03:03 12:58:52", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1169", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "727", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "1439", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "959", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "228", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "b9e3bb7b47df7597222602c570c58462"}