FINNISH AIR FORCE |
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Fighters |
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. Brewster B-239 (Model 239) naval fighters were bought from USA in December 1939. They were originally intended for the US Navy designated as Brewster F2A-1 but when new F2A-2 version was already on the production lines older model was classed "obsolete" and planes were sold to Finland. They were delivered with Wright Cyclone export model engines. Later Brewster versions were much heavier and clumsier, hence they earned the nickname "Buffalo" given by the British. Finnish nicknames were "Pearl of the Sky" [Taivaan helmi] or "Butt-Walther" [Pyllyvaltteri] instead. From the US BWs arrived in Stavanger, Norway by ship and were transported to Trollhättan, Sweden where they were completed and flown to Finland. Only six planes were in Finland by 13.3.1940 and the last one arrived on 1.5.1940. Initially planes were plagued with many kinds of technical problems and weaknesses but these were solved in Finland before the summer 1941. Planes were also improved in Finland, for example they received better armour protection, new reflector sights and larger rear wheel. Later in 1943 the mediocre performance of BW was boosted dismantling armour protection because Soviet planes already had MGs and guns which could penetrate armour anyway. During the early months of Continuation War BW was rated the best of all Finnish fighters because of its great agility and ruggedness. In 1941 Finnish BWs became legendary fighters shooting down 135 Soviet aircraft while losing self only two - both without enemy influence! By 1943 Brewster had although become obsolete and could not match the best Soviet fighters anymore. BWs were used in Finland until 1948 and all of them have been scrabbed. Fortunately a restored prototype of the Finnish VL HUMU [literally "Rumble", also "Madcap"] fighter prototype which was supposed to be an improved Finnish-made BW copy and had the original American fuselage is on display in Central Finland Aviation Museum at Tikkakoski (Luonetjärvi) north from Jyväskylä. It looks much alike B-239 but has Finnish-made wooden wings, Soviet Shvetsov M-63 engine (Wright Cyclone copy) and only three HMGs in front fuselage above engine. A few
years ago former Finnish BW-372 was
lifted from the lake in Russia. In photos plane seemed
very complete and well spared because it had sunk slowly into the
shallow water through ice on where Lt. L. Pekuri
had first forced-landed. The destiny of this plane, which
should be in Finland, is so far unclear. Producer
Brewster
Aeronautical Corporation, USA Engine
Wright
R-1820-G5 Cyclone / 950 hp, 9 cylinder air-cooled radial
engine
Equipment Armament Codes
BW-351...394 Named
aircraft Remarks Sources:
KESTE1, RAUJU2, SAAAH2, HAAAT2 |
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. 17 BU IVAs were bought from Great Britain in 1934. At the beginning of Winter War Flying Squadron 26 (LLv.26) had ten BUs in working order and since 6.12.1939 Detachment Heinilä fought with about five to seven planes. By 2.2.1940 they all were handed over to Supplement Flying Regiment 2 (T-LentoR 2) and used as (advanced) fighter trainers until 1944. Two obsolete BU IIAs were donated from Sweden on 15.12.1939 and were used only as trainer fighters. The stored
BU-59 is under restoration. Producer
Bristol
Aeroplane Company, Filton, United Kingdom Engine
Equipment Armament (in fuselage) 2 - 7.7 mm Vickers Mk. I MG Codes Remarks Sources:
KESTE12, RAUJU2, HAAAT2 |
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. France promised to donate a total of 80 Caudron-Renault C.R. 714 light fighters during Winter War but only six planes arrived in Finland between 24. and 28.5.1940. Already the initial evaluation flights revealed the difficult and dangerous take-off and landing characters of the plane. All CAs were grounded permanently and they were not used during the war. One survived plane is stored for future restoring. Source:
KESTE4 |
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. Curtiss Hawk 75A-1, -2, -3 and -4 were export versions of Curtiss P-36. In 1939 and 1940 France ordered several hundred aircraft of these four versions which all were equipped to meet French standards having for example metric gauges. Additionally they had been re-equipped in Germany. Finnish planes were both brand new or second-hand. A-6 was an export variant for Norway. Although otherwise similar to A-2 it was armed like A-1 but with Colt MGs. These planes were captured intact by Germans in 1940. All CUs were bought from Germany. The first batch of 16 CU fighters (CUc-501...507 and CUw-551...559) arrived from Germany between 23.6 and 30.6.1941. Second batch of 11 aircraft (CUw-560...570) arrived between 28.7. and 2.8.1941. On 5.12.1941 two more (CU-571 and -572) were received. 15 planes were bought in spring 1943: the first four arrived on 13.6., five on 4.7., two on 11.11., one on 18.11.1943 and the last three ones on 4.1. and 5.1.1944 (CU-573...587). Plane was very pleasant to fly and highly manoeuverable in the hands of a well-trained pilot. Wright Cyclone engines although suffered from constant bearing failures and after 6.10.1941 they all were decided to replace by inferior but more reliable Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines. Thus the CUw and CUc signs were replaced by abbreviation CU in December 1941. Planes
were used until 1948 and all have been scrabbed after the
war. Producer
The
Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Buffalo, USA Engine
Equipment Armament Codes Remarks Sources:
KESTE5, RAUJU2 |
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. One P-40M aircraft was captured on 27.12.1943 in Karelian Isthmus after its pilot had landed on ice of a lake. Plane was used for evaluation only. Faulty plane code (KH-51) was given without authority in Mechanics School meaning "Kittyhawk" because the type was called in that way in Finland. Plane belonged to the last production batch of "Warhawks". (SIL magazine tells that the plane was flown by Sub-Lt. Vitaliy Ryevin who - according to a report of Finnish liaison officer in Luftflotte 1 - had probably landed on Finnish side on purpose i.e. he would have been a German spy.) Source:
KESTE5, SIL 1/2004 |
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. 25 FIAT G.50 fighters were bought from Italy on 23.10.1939. When Winter War broke a week later ten more were ordered. The first two were transported by rail to Sweden through Germany. These planes arrived in Finland on 18.12.1939 and 2.1.1940 but others were delayed because Germany forbade further transports and returned planes back to Italy. The rest of the FA fighters were then shipped to Sweden and flown to Finland after completing. The first one arrived on 11.2.1940 after two had been lost a few days earlier in accidents in Sweden and enroute to Finland. A total of 13 planes arrived during February in small batches and 17 during March. The last one was in Finland as late as on 19.6.1940. Seven FAs coded FA-3...6, -16, -19 and -32 had originally closed cabin but they were soon converted to usual open ones. Generally FIAT fighters were easy to fly but a nightmare to maintain. Due to numerous initial technical problems most planes were mostly grounded during Winter War. In Continution War the most serious problem was the lack of spare engines reducing the amount of working planes occasionally only to a few. In the
early summer 1944 FAs were handed over
to a fighter training squadron. All have been scrabbed
after the war. Producer
FIAT-Aeritalia,
Torino and C.M.A.S.A., Marina di Pisa, Italy Engine
FIAT A.74
R.C.38 / 840 hp, 14-cylinder air-cooled twin radial
engine
Equipment Armament 2 - 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT HMG (in fuselage), 300 rounds / MG Codes
FA-1...35 Remarks Sources:
KESTE8, RAUJU2, HAAAT2,
SAAAH2 |
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. FAF ordered seven Forkker D.XXI fighters from Holland in 1936. Plane was originally designed for Dutch East Indian Air Force and was therefore very sturdy, easy to maintain and reliable. It was equipped with streamlined fixed undercarriage or skiis which actually didn't effect to the top speed radically due to their more reduced weight. Five more FR batches were produced in Finland under licence. Because of the lack of Bristol Mercury engines (Mercury VII and VIII were actually the same basic engine with different gear ratio) needed also for Bristol Blenheim bombers during the war the last two batches were powered with inferior Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Junior engines and coded as FRw although in planes the code was still FR. After summer 1941 planes were mainly used in the roles of the short-range reconnaissance and trainer fighter. Planes
were used until 1948. One completely destroyed FR
with skiis was restored/re-built by 1989 and is now on
display at Central Finland Aviation Museum at
Tikkakoski (Luonetjärvi) north from Jyväskylä. This plane
is the only "original" FR in
the world. Producer
N.V.
Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek Fokker, Amsterdam,
Holland and Engine
Equipment Armament Codes
(when
relieved from factory): Remarks Sources:
KESTE3(A/B), RAUJU2, HAAAT2 |
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. On 12.12.1939 Great Britain donated ten Gloster Gladiator II fighters to Finland and additional 20 were also bought. Planes were completed in Sweden and they arrived in Finland between 18.1. and 16.2.1940. At first GLs were used as fighters and they managed quite well but soon after heavy losses it was noticed that unarmoured and slow planes were too vulnerable in dogfight. At the beginning of March 1940 planes were handed over to reconnnaissance squadrons which urgently needed faster planes. During Continuation War they were still used as short-range reconnaissance planes. They were used until 1945. All planes were scrabbed after the war. 12 Gloster
Gladiator I fighters (Swedish designation J8)
were used by the Swedish volunteer unit F19
starting from 10.1.1940. Unit returned back to Sweden
after Winter War with its planes. Producer
Gloucestershire
Aircraft Company, United Kingdom Engine
Equipment Armament Codes Remarks Sources:
KESTE12, RAUJU2, HAAAT2 |
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. 12 Hawker Hurricane I fighters were bought from Great Britain in January 1940. Planes arrived in Finland between 7. and 10.3.1940. Although very fast HCs were considered clumsy and vulnerable fighters in Finland and the lack of spare parts and new engines plagued them through the war restricting their efficient use. In February 1942 a more advanced Soviet Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIA was captured after forced landing near Uhtua. It was repaired mainly for evalutions using the wings of Mk. IIB. HC-452 (HC
I) has been on display in Central Finland
Aviation Museum at Tikkakoski (Luonetjärvi) in its original
war-paint but without engine which was later got from UK.
In 1990 plane was stored for a future restoration but it
has been on display recently. Producer
Hawker
Aircraft Company, United Kingdom Engine
Equipment Armament Code Remarks Sources:
KESTE12, RAUJU2, HAAAT2 |
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. During 1942 - 1943 three forced landed Soviet Lavochin(-Gorbunov-Gudkov) LaGG-3 fighters captured in 1942 were repaired in Finland. Planes were used since March 1943 until 1944. On 16.2.1944 WO E. Koskinen (HLe.Lv.32) shot down a Soviet LaGG-3 while flying LG-1. None of
this type has survived in Finland. Producer
?,
Soviet Union Engine
Klimov
M-105PF / 1.260 hp, 12 cylinder liquid-cooled inline V
engine
Equipment Armament
(since
20.4.1943): Codes
LG-1...3 Remarks Sources:
KESTE7, HAAAT2 |
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. On 1.2.1943 FAF bought 30 Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 fighters from Germany. 16 planes (MT-201...216) were brand new while the next 14 (MT-217...230) were overhauled or repaired second-hand machines. To replace losses Germans promised additionally to sell more second-hand aircraft which were delivered by German Feldluftpark at Pori, Western Finland. Finnish
pilots flew 16 new MTs from Wiener-Neustadt
to Helsinki (Malmi) between 10.3. - 13.3.1943. The second
batch of 13 planes arrived on 16.5.1943. Second-hand but
fully overhauled replacement G-2s were
delivered as follows: On 15.3.1944 FAF bought 30 new Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 fighters from Germany. 15 planes (MT-401...415) were flown from Anklam and they arrived in Finland between 16. and 18.3.1944 flown by Finnish pilots. 10 planes (MT-416...425) arrived on 8.4.1944 and the last 5 (MT-226...430) on 1.5.1944. New Finnish fighter delivery program for the period of 1.4.1944 - 1.7.1945 consisted of seven full fighter squadrons of 30 MTs each and replacement aircraft for the destroyed ones. Plan was in principle accepted by the Germans at the beginnning of June 1944. After the Soviet main attack in Karelian Isthmus had begun on 9.6.1944 Germany promised to sell more weapons and aircraft to Finland. Among the delivered MTs there were a total of three G-8 photo reconnaissance fighter versions converted from G-6 but only two of them arrived in Finland. These were used like G-6 fighters during the war because their promised cameras were not delivered. During 18.6. - 19.6.1944 the first batch of 14 G-6s (MT-431...444) arrived from Insterburg and during June a total of 27 G-6(/-8)s (MT-445...471) more. In July 1944 deliveries continued from Insterburg with 17 planes (MT-472...490). The last 24 MTs (MT-490..513) were flown from Anklam by 30.8.1944. Although delivered in bigger quantities than any other aircraft type flown by FAF the need for fighters in the summer 1944 was so severe that most units were constantly under-equipped and had to continue using older inferior types. The bunch given to Soviets by FAF would although have been much smaller without MTs which were anyway at least as capable as any of the best Soviet fighters in 1944. These late war machines were produced to fly only a very limited amount of hours and were thus technically more unreliable and needed good care to work well. Today two
Finnish G-6s are on display in Finland.
MT-452 which was recently restored and re-painted is in a
large vitrine next to Utti military airbase and garrison
in South-Eastern Finland and is really worth seeing. MT-507
which is probably in full working order is in Central Finland
Aviation Museum at Tikkakoski (Luonetjärvi) north from Jyväskylä.
This museum is maintained by FAF. The remnants
of the destroyed G-2 MT-? rescued from
the sea in the late 1990's is now on display in Finnish Aviation
Museum at Vantaa close to Helsinki International Airport. Producer
Messerschmitt
G.m.b.H., Augsburg (etc.), Germany Engine Mercedes-Benz DB
605A-1 / 1.475 hp, reversed 12-cylinder liquid-cooled
inline V engine or
Equipment Armament
in fuselage: Codes Remarks Special
characters in individual planes: * According to KESTE6 MT-225 would have been G2/R1 Trop. Of the original Finnish G-2s MT-226 (with German markings at that stage) was damaged due to technical problems at the beginning of the flight and never arrived in Finland. G-6 MT-479 was returned back to Germans because it was equipped with GM-1 or MW 50 injection not used in Finland. These planes were replaced by new planes with the same code. Additionally three G-6s of the first batch had been left to Germany due to technical failures and damages but had not yet been coded in Finland. These were replaced by new MTs. G-6 MT-473 suffered from 50% damage at Insterburg and MT-514 (coded later) was damaged at Pernau [Pärnu]. Also G-8 MT-474 was damaged at Riga before arrival to Finland. These planes never arrived in Finland and were not replaced by the new ones. Sources:
KESTE6(A/B), VALHA8, RAUJU2, HAAAT2 |
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. France donated 50 planes during Winter War but only 30 new Morane-Saulnier M.S. 406 fighters (MS-301...330) arrived from France during February 1940: the first two planes on 4.2. and the last ones on 29.2.1940. Further planes were bought from Germany and Vichy France in several batches. There were also differently armed M.S. 410 versions. The first ten (MS-601...610) arrived between 18.12.1940 and 4.1.1941, another ten during the summer 1941 (MS-611...620) and five more by the end of November 1941 (MS-621...625). In July 1942 30 second-hand aircraft (MS-626...655) were bought from Germany. Planes arrived in Finland in three batches between 27.7. and 9.9.1942. The last two aircraft (MS-656, 657) arrived on 5.10.1942. MS was the second numerous Finnish fighter used during the Continuation War. Mörkö-Morane [Ghost Morane] conversion was designed in Finland between 1942 and 1944. It was a much improved modified M.S. 406 with more powerful Soviet Klimov engine (Hispano-Suiza copy) and German 20 mm Mauser gun. Its maiden flight was on 4.2.1943 and its greatly improved performance was noticed at once. Only three MSv aircraft were combat-ready until the end of the Continuation War in September 1944. Several planes were completed during the early phases of Lapland War and by 1946 all the remaining 41 planes had been converted. Planes retained their original serial register numbers. They were used since 1948. All have
been scrabbed after the war. Producer Engine
Equipment Armament Codes Remarks Sources:
KESTE4, RAUJU2, HAAAT2 |
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. During Winter War a total of eight Polikarpov I-153 fighters (VH-101 re-coded in June 1941 as VH-/IT-11, VH-/IT-12...18) were captured and later repaired for FAF. The next three were captured in the summer 1941 (VH-/IT-19...21) and eleven planes [IT-22...31] were bought from Germany in November 1942. Eight planes arrived in December 1942 and three later on 8.1.1943 (IT-25), on 13.4.1943 (IT-24) and on 20.9.1943 (IT-31) due to slight damages and technical problems. During
Continuation War ITs served initially in
3rd (Fighter) Flight / Flying Squadron 6 (3./Le.Lv.6).
On 16.11.1942 flight was attached to Flying Squadron
30 (Le.Lv.30) as its 2nd Flight until
squadron was re-equipped with MTs by 20.3.1944. ITs
were now handed over to 1st Flight / Reconnaissance
Squadron 16 (1./TLe.Lv.16) between 25.6. -
27.6.1944. On 3.9.1944 flight was attached to Fighter
Squadron 26 (HLe.Lv.26). Producer: ?, Soviet Union Engine
Shvetsov
M-62 (Wright
Cyclone copy) / 850 hp, 9 cylinder air-cooled radial
engine
Equipment Armament
(in
fuselage) Codes
VH-/IT-11...31 Remarks Sources:
KESTE7, HAAAT2 |
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. VL Myrsky [Storm] was a Finnish-designed and built fighter. Prototype MY-1 was first flown on 23.12.1941 but it had serious faults and was heavily modified in four phases during 1942. Pre-production
planes (series I) were completed (and destroyed) as
follows: The first series II serial aircraft was completed in December 1943. Compared to its underpowered engine MY was actually a rather agile and fast plane - faster than MSv (Mörkö-Morane) conversion and as fast as LaGG-3; only Messerschmitt Bf 109G was faster aircraft in Finland. MY was also far better to fly than most planes used by FAF so they were given to recon squadrons Reconnaissance Squadron 12 and 16 (TLe.Lv.12 and 16) which needed faster planes. Only 15 MYs were completed before the end of the Continuation War. They flew only 66 sorties without own losses before the war ended. More planes partisipated in Lapland War. The lack of steep diving ability had destroyed several planes because nasty flutter effect (vibration) tore particles from the tail away. Structural weaknesses, surface coatings made mainly of plywood, inferior glues and other weak war-time materials used led to the early retirement of MY fighters after the war in 1948 when it was obvious that planes could not stand moisture any longer. All
produced planes have been scrabbed. Producer
Valtion
lentokonetehdas (VL, State Aircraft Factory), Tampere,
Finland Engine
Pratt
& Whitney R-1830-SC3-G Twin Wasp / 1.065 hp, 14-cylinder
air-cooled twin radial engine
Equipment Armament Codes Remarks Sources:
KESTE14, RAUJU1, ANTOS3, HAAAT2 |
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© 2002 - 18.8.2004 Harri Anttonen