way to a brown/green scheme. Two aircraft
were assigned to 356 Sqn for calibration
duties and wore a smart white and orange
inish. The HAF Noratlases were retired in
the late 1970s, as C-130B and ‘H models
of Hercules replaced them. Examples
are preserved at Eleis, Tatoi and Sedes
Air Bases, whilst the rest were still extant
dumped at Eleis in the mid-90s
When Portugal decided to supplement
its C-47 leet with a heavier, more capable
aircraft in 1960, it was offered six N2502As
by Union Aéromaritime de Transport (UAT),
(formerly F-BGZB to F-BGZG – becoming
6401 to 6406). These aircraft, which were
itted with wing tip jet booster engines, were
based in Douala, Cameroon, and had been
operated in Francophone Africa under
grueling and harsh conditions. They were
lown to Le Bourget, outside Paris, during
the irst half of 1960 for overhaul, training
Portuguese pilots who would accept the
aircraft and maintenance personnel. These
six aircraft were deployed to Angola in
November 1960 as part of Squadron 92
and began operating from Luanda. Another
aircraft of the same model followed directly
from Nord Aviation.
In 1962, six more Noratlases were
acquired from the Israeli Air Force and, after
overhaul, were designated N2502Fs. In the
same year, the three N2502Bs owned by
Air Algérie were also added to the leet. The
primary drawback of the nine civil models
was an absence of personnel doors in the
rear of the fuselage for paratroop drops. This
shortcoming was corrected during their irst
major overhaul at Alverca. Between 1965 and
1970, 13 N2501Ds were acquired from the
Luftwaffe, (serialled 6413 to 6430) bringing
the total procurement to 28.
On balance, the Noratlas delivered good
service for Portugal and was a tactical airlift
mainstay. If it had a single weakness, it lay
in its acquisition from four different sources
with four very different instrumentation and
electronics suites (the same issue as alreadyidentiied by West Germany earlier). This
caused signiicant difficulties for the aircrews
and maintenance personnel.
Portugal’s air force extensively deployed
the Noratlas in the three African theatres of
operations of the Portuguese Colonial War,
from 1961 to 1975 (Angola, Portuguese
Guinea and Mozambique). They were mainly
used in intra-theatre tactical transportation
missions and for dropping paratroopers in
airborne assault operations.
Initially lown in an overall metal inish,
those aircraft acquired from the Luftwaffe
retained their West German grey/green
camoulage with orange trim for a while and
even adopted the ‘Elephant’ badge of LTG-62.
In the Portuguese Air Force, the Noratlas
was operated by the following units: Esquadra
32, Tancos Air Base, from 1970 to 1977;
Esquadra 92, Luanda Air Base (Angola),
from 1961 to 1975; Esquadra 102, Beira
Air Base (Mozambique), from 1962 to 1975
and Esquadra 123, Bissalanca Air Base
(Portuguese Guinea), from 1969 to 1974.
With the independence of Angola and
Mozambique in 1975, six ex-Portuguese
Noratlases were given to the governments of
the two new countries. Remaining Noratlashttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 67
Above: The lightdeck of Noratlas, F-AZVM.
The aircraft is based at Aix-les-Milles and
regularly lies at airshows across France.
AirTeamImages.com/Philippe Noret
Below: Israel originally purchased three
Noratlas and having been impressed with
their performance in the 1956 Suez Crisis, it
acquired another 19 from France and West
Germany. Adrian M Balch Collection