1926 Norge-expedition. Norge

The airship Norge, originally named N-1, was constructed by the italian airship designer Umberto Nobile at the Stabilimento di Construzioni Aeronautiche di Roma (SCA), the italian state airship factory outside Rome, in 1924.

The airship was a semi-rigid type, a type between the one without inner framework underneath the balloon envelope, and the fully rigid airship with a complete metal skeleton. The semi-rigid airships had a keel-formed frame under the gas ballon. Along the keel the crew could move from the gondola and back to the engines during flight. The keel was built with strengthened aluminum and covered with rubberized fabric.

N-1 was originally built for passangers. It had a large gondola, placed in the front part of the airship, that included both the pilot`s seat and the passanger area. Here it was placed 20 armchairs on the floor, flowers on the walls, “and also a small well-equipped bedroom reserved for Italys king Vittorio Emanuele III”, Nobile wrote.

It had its first flight on the first of March 1924, but just a month later on April 4th, Roald Amundsen was given the opportunity to join the airship on one of the test flights.

Before the flight across the Arctic Ocean, Nobile and his men did several adjustments on the ship. One of the changes was done ot the gondola, which was completely rebuilt. They also had to brace some parts to make it possible to make use of the mooring mast that were built on Ekeberg, Vadsø and Ny-Ålesund.

The airship N-1 before it was rebuilt and changed its name to “Norge”. Photo: The National Library of Norway.

The airship during the stopover in Oslo 14th of April 1926. Here we se the name “Norge” painted on the ship and the norwegian flag on the rear end. The gondola has been significantly shortened compared to the airship`s original design. Photo: The National Library of Norway.