Wideroe C.5 Polar LN-DBWThis is a really rare aircraft, in the museum at Bodo, Norway. Before WW II the Wideroe company, founded by Viggo Wideroe in 1934, had operated a couple of Stinson Reliants and obviously liked them so much that they issued a contract for the design of a similar machine to be built locally. The C.5 Polar was designed by Birger Honningstad and built by Wideroes Flyveselskap A/S. The national airline D.N.L. fell out with his company, so Wideroe transferred his operations to the far north of Norway where he operated a badly needed mail service to Kirkenes. By the time his contract was up, the Germans had invaded Norway and he was imprisoned by the Gestapo. In 1950 he took over Polarfly, a small company based in Narvik, and recommenced services in northern Norway. Today the airline flies as far afield as Bergen to Aberdeen, Manchester, and Copenhagen as well as extensive services in Norway.
This is believed to be the only example of Honningstad's Reliant look-
alike, having been built in the Wideroe workshops in the mid 1940s).
Picture added on 02 January 2008
