The Norsk Flyindustri Finnmark 5A (named for the Norwegian county) was an amphibious flying-boat airliner built in Norway in the late 1940s. The single prototype was operated by the VLS airline, but no orders for additional aircraft were received, and a refined version designated 5A-II was never built. The Finnmark was a conventional high-wing cantilever monoplane with twin engines housed in nacelles on the wings, and the first twin-engined aircraft constructed in Norway.Hagby, Kai (1998): ''Fra Nielsen & Winther til Boeing 747 : norske sivilregistrerte fly 1919-1998'', p. 59 A specially-designed combination wheel-ski undercarriage retracted into wide sponsons on the sides of the flying boat hull. This undercarriage (built by Dowty in England) was the subject of patents in Norway, Sweden, and Canada, and was constructed in such a way that the skis would be properly aligned for retraction and extension, and while lowered in flight, but would be free to move under landing forces, pivoting and deflecting to facilitate a smooth landing on rough snow or ice.''Flight'' 2 January 1953, p. 12. The prototype Finnmark made its first flight on 17 September 1949, as a pure flying boat, being fitted with its retractable undercarriage in the winter of 1951–52. Before 1954, it was modified by removing its undercarriage, and replacing the sponsons by wing-mounted stabilising floats. It entered service with

Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap A/S, trading internationally as West Norway Airlines, was an airline based in Bergen, Norway, which operated from 1946 to 1957. The company operated almost entirely a fleet of seaplanes out of its base at Bergen Airp ...

that year, flying a service between

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...

and

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. It was later sold to Norrønafly.Stroud ''Aeroplane Monthly'' August 1993, pp. 62–63. The

airworthiness certificate A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spraye ...

expired in 1961, and the aircraft was scrapped in 1965. Only one of the

Cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

s avoided scrapping and is on display at the

Norwegian Aviation Museum The Norwegian Aviation Museum ( no, Norsk luftfartsmuseum) was opened by King Harald V on May 15, 1994. It is the Norwegian national museum of aviation and also the largest aviation museum in the Nordic countries, covering around . Situated in Bod ...

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

Specifications (5A-II, as designed)

References

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External links

{{Commonscat
"A Norwegian Amphibian"
a 1946 ''Flight'' article 1940s Norwegian airliners Flying boats Amphibious aircraft

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...

High-wing aircraft Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft