Carl Ludvig Larsen projects (Norway)

boxkite

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In „Air Pictorial“ December 1972 p481 was a picture of an Norwegian bizjet. The fuselage in the background, photographed by D. Partington at Oslo-Fornebu, 9th August 1972, is uncompleted. I asked Birger Larsen, the curator of the Norwegian Flymuseum, for the fate of the aircraft and he answered that “the reason for this were mostly economical and lack of suitable engines for the project. The airplane was for some time in storage at Fornebu Airport. Then it was given to the Norwegian Aviation Historical Society and stored at their facility close to Oslo. After this it was moved to the museum at Gardermoen where it is now. I am not sure if it is on display.” He suggested me to contact the Gardermoen museum, but unfortunately they never answered. Now I’m looking for a three-view drawing or an artist’s impression to get an image how it could look in the end. Further details are welcome.
 

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While I can't say for certain, the lines remind me of the proposed Cessna 407.
 
Is there not only one Norwegian reader of the Secret Projects Forum? Does anybody know an e-mail address of the Gardermoen museum?
 
There are similarities to the Cessna 407, but I'm pretty sure there's
no direct connection between these two aircraft. A more rounded nose,
a steeper angle of the windshield ...
attached a photo of the Cessna 407, it seems to be a slightly larger a/c.
A bizjet isn't an undertaking for an amateur, I think.
Perhaps someone knows a norwegian company, that might have tried to
enter the field of aviation ? I don't know any norwegian company at all ...
 

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No, a bizjet is not for the amateur, but it doesn't keep them from trying. I've read Air International since issue 1, and someone with big ideas and a small wallet is trying to come up with some bizjet on the cheap. Usually there is one small article, and they're never heard from again.

Kim M
 
[quote author=boxkite]
Is there not only one Norwegian reader of the Secret Projects Forum? Does anybody know an e-mail address of the Gardermoen museum?
[/quote]
Not able to read norsk, but able to google up "Gardermoen museum":
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Gardermoen+museum
The 1st link http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mus/europe/norway/luftfartmus.htm tells you that the Gardermoen museum is now part of the Norwegian Aviation Museum , and gives a link to it:
http://www.luftfart.museum.no/ with a kontakt page http://www.luftfart.museum.no/Kontakt/default.htm

Firmanavn: Norsk Luftfartsmuseum
Besøksadresse: Olav V gate, Bodø
Postadresse: Postboks 1124 - 8001 Bodø
Telefon: +47 75 50 78 50
Telefax: +47 75 50 78 51
Email: flymuseum@luftfart.museum.no

Voilà...
 
My dear Jemiba,

there was many of Norwegian aircraft companies,such as pre-war Marinens MF series,
and for Cessna-407 it was projected as presurized five seat cabin version of Model-318
(T-37) for excutive use,powered by two Continental C-356-9 turbojets.
 
Hi,

this beast was appeared in JAWA 1971-1972,if someone has this issue,please
send it.
 

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Hello, just looked it up in the Jane's 71-72; it only refers to a previous project, the LN-11 two-seater, powered by a Continental O-200. (see also attached scan, apologies for the quality).
 

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Unfortunately it's 'just' the entry on Larsen LN-11 - not the bizjet design :-\ .
 
boxkite said:
Unfortunately it's 'just' the entry on Larsen LN-11 - not the bizjet design :-\ .

That's right my dear Boxkite,

and for LN-11,it was a light aircraft,there is online Norwegian magazine about Aviation
called Info,but nothing in it about this Project.

http://luftfartsmuseum.no/fly/larsen-special-ii/
http://www.nfo.no/nyinfo/Main/Tidligere_artikler/INFO_Blader/2002_1.pdf
 

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I just stumbled upon this thread and I'm most intrigued by the fact that that anyone outside of Norway has ever heard about Larsen, let alone his bizjet project. :)

Anyway, for those still interested:

Carl Ludvig Larsen, DFC was a Norwegian pilot and for decades a senior captain for the airline Braathens S.A.F.E. Like many other young men of his generation, he went to sea and eventually jumped ship and joined the Norwegian air force training center in Toronto after war broke out, but only after about one year of convoy service. In Norway, he's known as "Bombe-Larsen", a nickname he earned while serving as an aircraft commander with 76 sqn RAF. After the war, he was one of the first pilots to join the new Braathens airline, where he stayed on until retirement.

Always quite the entrepeneur and inventor, Larsen went on to design and build his own single-engine light aircraft, dubbed the "Larsen Special" (mentioned above). The aircraft went through major development throughout its life, and eventually became quite efficient and fast. The range was astonishing compared to other light aircraft at the time, and Larsen is known to have filed Tromsø, Norway (ENTC) as alternate once, while planning a flight (hop?) between Malmö, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark. A quick glance at a map surely will reveal the joke. Larsen passed away in 2005, leaving most of his archive to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Museum.

Now, for the business jet project. Larsen reportedly followed the development of light jet engines with great interest, and started playing with the idea of designing and building a 4-6 place jet aircraft by himself. As elmayerle says, it looks vaguely similar to the Cessna 407, but it was also heavily influenced by the Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris, powered by Turbomeca Marboré engines. Indeed, Larsen placed an order for two of the power plants, but it has been said that when his wife learned of this she demanded he buy her jewelry for the same amount as the engines were worth, and the Turbomeca order was cancelled. While a good story, the more plausible reason for the project to be put on ice is that Larsen was out of his depths, without the competence needed to design an advanced aircraft like the C407 or the Paris. We have been trying to find any kind of documentation of what the end result was going to look like, or how it was supposed to perform, but without any success so far. Some people believe that Larsen approached the task in the same way he did with his first design; quite intuitively and without a clear specification.

After Larsen abandoned the project, the unfinished hull was left for kids (like myself) to play with and eventually ended up at the Royal Norwegian Air Force Museum reserve collection (today a great museum in itself) at Oslo Gardermoen airport (OSL/ENGM). It didn’t really fit in there and was almost thrown away, but was saved (again) by some enthusiasts from a flying club up in the mountains. And there it resides to this day, waiting to be brought back to the small museum at the old airport at Fornebu (former FBU/ENFB) were we want to display it to commemorate CL Larsen, but also the local aerospace industry.
 

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