Found a website that supports the info on the one posted here.
http://www.samoloty.ow.pl/str161.htm
(great pic's, never mind the language, one can read numbers and places from the text) Wonder why NK-172 sports a Swastica?
The Norwegian "Mine Factory" was licensed to produce Armstrong Siddeley Panther II engines from 1934 (made better than the original) a total of 17 engines. Their first one proved its reliability on a flight to/from arctic Svalbard (4500 km) without snags. Couldn't keep up with demand, and purchased outdated English engines for £50 (!) Panther II had 14 cylinders delivering 575 HP (aircraft weight 3.000 kg).
The MF-11 was constructed and produced at "Marinens Flyvebåtfabrikk" (Navy Flying Boat Factory). It's wingspan of 15,4 meter was set by the width of the factory doors! Cruise speed 108 kts, climb rate a mere 545 fpm. Ceiling 15000'.
Some of these a/c were flown to Scotland and thereafter to north of Finland. Found some info about that in old books at the library. Seems they refuelled somewhere and flew a wide track out to sea to avoid the Germans who by then had reached the north of Norway.
Regards and a happy new year to you all!
