Boeing performed the first flight of a Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) P-8A Poseidon jet last Monday (09). The aircraft took off from Renton Municipal Airport at around 10:03 am PST (14:03 pm Eastern Time), made a flight of 2 hours and 24 minutes and landed at Boeing Field, Seattle. During the flight, the maritime patrol aircraft reached an altitude of 41 feet.
Watch Norway's very first #P8 take to the skies for its inaugural flight! Later this year, this multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft will be delivered to @FMateriell — the first of five for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. pic.twitter.com/3XyBW4RfwN
- Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) August 10, 2021
The flight took place exactly one month after the manufacturer presented the first Norwegian P-8 with full livery, shortly after the aircraft was taken from the workshop in Renton.
"This maiden flight is an important milestone for Norway, and the Boeing team remains committed to delivering the P-8 fleet to the Norwegian Defense Materials Agency (NDMA) on schedule," said Christian Thomsen, P-8 program manager in Europe.
The first flight marks the next phase of this aircraft's production cycle as it is moved to the Installation and Checkout facility, where mission systems will be installed and further testing will be performed before final delivery to NDMA still in 2021, informs the company.
“The P-8 is a capability that will help Norway improve anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and search and rescue missions, as well as promote valuable regional collaboration and interoperability with NATO nations,” completed Thomsen.
The Poseidon registration 9582 received the baptismal name Vingtor, being one of five units acquired by Norway to replace six P-3C Orion and three Dassault DA-20 Falcon in patrol missions. The other P-8s will be called Viking, Ulabrand, Hugin e Munin, continuing a Norwegian tradition of almost 80 years. The same names, drawn from Norse mythology, were used on Norway's PBY-5 Catalina aircraft during World War II.
Boeing points out that theTo date, it has delivered 136 P-8 aircraft to the US Navy, Royal Australian Air Force, Indian Navy and UK Royal Air Force. Norway is one of eight nations that have chosen the P-8A as their maritime patrol aircraft, along with the United States, India, Australia, United Kingdom, South Korea, New Zealand and .
