three new Mk Vs before selling its assets in 1982 to Norco Associates. Norco provided support services only, as Norseman aircraft manufacture was labor-intensive and very expensive. The last Noorduyn Norseman to be built was sold and delivered to a commercial customer on January 19, 1959. A total of 903 Norseman aircraft (Mk I - Mk V) were produced and delivered to various commercial and military customers. There are currently 42 Norseman aircraft on the active Canadian aircraft registry and 9 active in the United States. The number in use worldwide is not known. In recognition of the Norseman's role in serving the remote villages of northern Canada, the town of Red Lake, Ontario, a jumping-off point for remote communities in Northwestern Ontario, promotes itself as The Norseman Capital of the World. Each summer in July, the "Norseman Floatplane Festival" brings Norseman aircraft to Red Lake as the centrepiece of a community based weekend festival ranging from stage entertainment, children's games and rides, contests, cultural and historical displays and street vendors with craft and specialty booths. The Canadian Second World War "ace-of-aces" George Beurling died in a Norseman while landing at Urbe Airport in Rome, Italy, in May 1948. Beurling had been ferrying the aircraft to the nascent Israeli Air Force. The remains of another Israeli Air Force Norseman adorn the IAF's memorial to its fallen on Har Hatayasim (Pilots' Mountain) near Jerusalem. The plane had crashed during Operation Maccabi of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Norseman aircraft have appeared in the films Grey Owl (1999) and The Snow Walker (2003). Operators Major civil operators Aviación del Litoral Fluvial Argentino Austin Airways (retired) Bearskin Airlines (retired) Buffalo Airways (retired) Canadian Airways & Western Canada Airways (retired) Canadian Pacific Airlines (retired) Central Northern Airways (retired) Imperial Oil (retired) Lamb Air Ontario Central Airlines (retired) Ontario Provincial Air Service - 4 (1943 to 1947) eventually sold 1951 to 1952 Pacific Western Airlines Royal Canadian Mounted Police Saskatchewan Air Ambulance Saskatchewan Government Airways Starratt Airways Fjellfly Norving Widerøes Flyveselskap Far Eastern Air Transport Inc. (FEATI) (1946-1947) Philippine Airlines (transferred from FEATI, from 1947-1955) Military operators Royal Australian Air Force operated 14 aircraft from 1943 to 1946. No. 1 Communications Unit RAAF No. 3 Communications Unit RAAF No. 4 Communications Unit RAAF No. 5 Communications Unit RAAF No. 7 Communications Unit RAAF Brazilian Air Force operated 19 aircraft from 1944 to 1960 Royal Canadian Air