Warbird Information Exchange

Shoot!!! some of you were probably wishing I mean't something else

I'm not an authority on Finnish Air Force equipment during WW2, so I'll hope some of you will know more than I do on a few of these. According to Wiki the lists below give a good account of the Finnish Air Forces inventory during the war. Interesting combination of aircraft.

Fighters

Gloster Gamecock Mk. I 1 1927 1944 Great Britain
Gloster Gamecock Mk. II 16 1929 1944 Great Britain (Finland)
Bristol Bulldog Mk. IIA 2 1939 1944 Great Britain (Sweden)
Bristol Bulldog Mk. IVA 17 1935 1944 Great Britain
Fokker D.XXI 97 1937 1948 The Netherlands (Finland)
Gloster Gladiator Mk. II 30 1940 1945 Great Britain (Sweden)
Fiat G.50 Freccia 35 1940 1946 Italy
Jaktfalken II 3 1940 1945 Sweden
Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 77 1940 1948 France
Morane-Saulnier M.S.410 10 1940 1948 France (Germany)
Polikarpov I-15bis 5 1940 1945 Soviet Union
Brewster Model 239 "Buffalo" 44 1940 1948 USA (Sweden)
Hawker Hurricane Mk. I 12 1940 1943 Great Britain
Hawker Hurricane Mk. II 3 1944 1944 Great Britain
Gloster Gauntlet Mk. II 24 1940 1945 Great Britain (Sweden)
Polikarpov I-16/Rata 6 1940 1943 Soviet Union
Polikarpov I-153 (I-15ter) 21 1940 1945 Soviet Union (Germany)
Caudron-Renault C.R. 714 Cyclone 6 (80) 1940 1940 France (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-1 6 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-2 9 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-3 9 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-4 7 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-6 6 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Lavochkin LaGG-3 3 1943 1945 Soviet Union
Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 48 1943 1954 Germany
Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 109 (3) 1944 1954 Germany
Messerschmitt Bf 109G-8 2 1944 1954 Germany
VL Myrsky 47 1944 1947 Finland
Curtiss P-40M-10-CU Warhawk 1 1944 1945 USA (Soviet Union)
VL Humu 1 1944 1945 Finland

Bombers

VL Kotka I 1 1930 1944 Finland
VL Kotka II 5 1930 1944 Finland
Fokker C.X 39 1937 1958 The Netherlands (Finland)
Bristol Blenheim Mk. I 75 1937 1958 Great Britain (Finland)
Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV 22 1937 1958 Great Britain (Finland)
Douglas DC-2 1 1940 1955 USA (Sweden)
Ilyushin DB-3M 11 1940 1945 Soviet Union (Germany)
Tupolev SB 1 1940 1945 Soviet Union
Tupolev SB-bis 6 1940 1945 Soviet Union
Tupolev SB-3 17 1941 1945 Soviet Union (Germany)
Dornier Do 17 Z-1 4 1942 1948 Germany
Dornier Do 17 Z-2 2 1942 1948 Germany
Dornier Do 17 Z-3 9 1942 1948 Germany
Petlyakov Pe-2 7 1942 1946 Soviet Union (Germany)
Petlyakov Pe-3 1 1942 1946 Soviet Union (Germany)
Junkers Ju 88 A-4 24 1943 1948 Germany
Ilyushin Il-4/Ilyushin DB-3F 4 1943 1945 Soviet Union (Germany)

Maritime

Blackburn Ripon IIF 26 1929 1945 Great Britain (Finland)
Junkers W 34fa 1 1930 1953 Germany
Junkers K 43fa 6 1931 1953 Germany (Sweden)
Junkers W 34hi 5 1930 1953 Germany
VL E.30 Kotka I 1 1930 1945 Finland
VL E.30 Kotka II 5 1931 1953 Finland
Junkers F 13fe 2 1939 1947 Germany
Junkers F 13kä 1 1940 1947 Germany (Sweden)
Heinkel He 115A-2 2 1941 1944 Germany (Norway)
Heinkel He 115C 1 1943 1944 Germany
Beriev MBR-2-M-17 2 1941 1942 Soviet Union
Beriev MBR-2-M-34 3 1941 1942 Soviet Union
Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 3 1941 1944 Norway
Dornier Do 22Kl 4 1942 1944 Germany
Shavrov Sh-2 2 1942 1944 Soviet Union
Heinkel He 59B-2 2 1943 1944 Germany
Heinkel He 59D 2 1943 1944 Germany

Reconnaissance

Fokker C.VD 2 1940 1945 The Netherlands (Norway)
Fokker C.VE 17 1927 1945 The Netherlands (Sweden)
Aero A-32 GR 16 1929 1944 Czechoslovakia
Junkers W 34fa 1 1930 1953 Germany
Junkers K 43fa 6 1931 1953 Germany (Sweden)
Junkers W 34hi 5 1930 1953 Germany
Fokker C.X 39 1937 1958 The Netherlands (Finland)
Fokker D.XXI 97 1937 1948 The Netherlands (Finland)
Gloster Gladiator Mk. II 30 1940 1945 Great Britain (Sweden)
Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 77 1940 1948 France
Morane-Saulnier M.S. 410 10 1940 1948 France (Germany)
Koolhoven F.K.52 2 1940 1943 The Netherlands (Sweden)
Hawker Hurricane Mk.I 12 1940 1943 Great Britain
Hawker Hurricane Mk.II 3 1944 1944 Great Britain
Westland Lysander I 11 (8) 1940 1945 Great Britain
Polikarpov I-153 (I-15ter) 21 1940 1945 Soviet Union (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-1 6 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-2 9 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-3 9 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-4 7 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Curtiss Hawk 75A-6 6 1941 1948 USA (Germany)
Dornier Do 17 Z-1 4 1942 1948 Germany
Dornier Do 17 Z-2 2 1942 1948 Germany
Dornier Do 17 Z-3 9 1942 1948 Germany
Petlyakov Pe-2 7 1942 1946 Soviet Union (Germany)
Petlyakov Pe-3 1 1942 1946 Soviet Union (Germany)
Junkers Ju 88 A-4 24 1943 1948 Germany
VL Myrsky 47 1944 1947 Finland

Transport

Avro Anson I 3 1936 1947 Great Britain
Fokker F.VIII 1 1940 1941 The Netherlands (Sweden)
Fokker F.VIIa 1 1941 1943 The Netherlands (Denmark)
Airspeed AS.6E Envoy 1 1942 1943 Great Britain (Germany)
Junkers W 34fa 1 1930 1953 Germany
Junkers K 43fa 6 1931 1953 Germany (Sweden)
Junkers W 34hi 5 1930 1953 Germany
Junkers F 13kä 1 1940 1947 Germany (Sweden)
Dornier Do 22Kl 4 1942 1944 Germany
Heinkel He 115A-2 2 1941 1944 Germany (Norway)
Heinkel He 115C 1 1943 1944 Germany
Heinkel He 59B-2 2 1943 1944 Germany
Douglas DC-2 1 1940 1955 USA (Sweden)
Waco ZQC-6 1 1940 1940 USA (Sweden)

Liaison

Shavrov Sh-2 2 1942 1944 Soviet Union
Beechcraft C17L 1 1940 1945 USA (Denmark)
Cessna C-37 Airmaster 1 1939 1944 USA (Finland)
Desoutter Mk. II Sports Coupé 1 1941 1944 Great Britain (Denmark)
Fairchild G24 De Luxe 1 1939 1941 USA (Finland)
De Havilland D.H.60G Moth 18 1929 1944 Great Britain (Finland)
De Havilland D.H.60X Moth 2 1940 1944 Great Britain (Finland)
De Havilland D.H.82 Tiger Moth 1 1942 1944 Great Britain (Norway)
Junkers A.50 Junior 1 1936 1943 Germany (Finland)
Fieseler Fi 156 K-1 Storch 2 1939 1960 Germany
Focke-Wulf Fw 44J Stieglitz 35 1940 1960 Germany
Polikarpov U-2 3 1942 1950 Soviet Union
Polikarpov U-2VG 1 1943 1950 Soviet Union
Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe 1 1943 1944 Germany

Advanced trainers

Gloster Gamecock Mk. I 1 1927 1944 Great Britain
Gloster Gamecock Mk. II 16 1929 1944 Great Britain (Finland)
Aero A-32 GR 16 1929 1944 Czechoslovakia
VL Tuisku I 1 1935 1950 Finland
VL Tuisku II 30 1935 1950 Finland
Bristol Bulldog Mk. IIA 2 1939 1944 Great Britain (Sweden)
Bristol Bulldog Mk. IVA 17 1935 1944 Great Britain
VL Pyry 42 1939 1962 Finland
Junkers F 13kä 1 1939 1947 Germany
Jaktfalken II 3 1940 1945 Sweden
Fiat G.50 Freccia 35 1940 1946 Italy
Polikarpov I-15bis 5 1940 1945 Soviet Union
Gloster Gauntlet Mk. II 24 1940 1945 Great Britain
Hanriot H.232.2 3 1941 1945 France (Germany)
Polikarpov I-16UTI 1 1941 1942 Soviet Union
Airspeed AS.6E Envoy 1 1942 1943 Great Britain (Germany)

Trainers

VL Sääski II 10 1928 1943 Finland
VL Sääski IIA 22 1930 1943 Finland
De Havilland D.H.60G Moth 19 1929 1944 Great Britain
De Havilland D.H.60X Moth 2 1939 1944 Great Britain
Letov S.218 Smolik 39 1930 1945 Czechoslovakia
VL Viima I 1 1936 1943 Finland
VL Viima II 23 1928 1943 Finland
Focke-Wulf Fw 44J Stieglitz 35 1940 1960 Germany (Norway)
De Havilland D.H.82 Tiger Moth 1 1942 1944 Great Britain (Norway)
Polikarpov U-2 3 1942 1950 Soviet Union
Polikarpov U-2VG 1 1943 1950 Soviet Union

Part 1 (I'll state what I know and leave blank what I don't)






Hand Cranking the inertia starter on a Finnish Air Force Fokker D-XXI


Finnish Air Force Fokker D-XXI


Finnish Morane-Saulnier


Finnish Morane-Saulnier


Brewster Model 239 "Buffalo"


Brewster Model 239 "Buffalo"


Finnish Brewster Model 239 "Buffalo's" BW-354 over Lake Tikshozero c 1942


Finnish Bristol Blenheim


Finnish Bristol Blenheim


Finnish Bristol Blenheim


Finnish Bristol Blenheim


Finnish Bristol Blenheim bomb load


Finnish Ju 88


Bf-109G2-FAF-2LeLv34-MT-201-WNr-14718-RFUN-Finland-1943


Bf-109G2-FAF-HLeLv34-MT-227-Erkinheimo-13716-Finland-1945


Bf-109G2-FAF-1_HLeLv34-MT-222-Juutilainen-Finland-1943


Bf-109G2-FAF-1_HLeLv34-MT-222-Juutilainen-Finland-1943


Finnish 109


Pranged Finnish 109


Pranged Finnish 109's


Pranged Finnish 109

_________________
Zero Surprise!!...

Part 2

Obviously not Finnish Air Force aircraft but close to it ... as in "in the area" during the war. So much history here it's impossible to know where to start IMO. Thought you may like to see these as well as they all have some very nice detail and quality (Photo sources are many on all the posted photos so sorry for not stating )


Fieseler Fi156C-5 Storch WNr 4487


Fieseler Fi156C-5 Storch WNr 4487


Fieseler Fi156C-5 Storch WNr 4487


Fieseler Fi156C-5 Storch WNr 4487


Fw 200 Condor


Fw 200 Condor KG 40


Junkers Ju 52


Junkers Ju 52


Dornier Do 17Z


Can't recall what this is but it certainly is interesting.

_________________
Zero Surprise!!...

The odd one is a Blohm und Voss Bv 141.

Randy

Thank ya Randy

_________________
Zero Surprise!!...

As usual, some really interesting shots Mark. Thanks.

Possibly the most eclectic group of aircraft in any Air Force.

Just imagine what sitting ducks the poor guys in the Blenheim were. One fifty cal!

Andy

I'd say those pranged 109s are all of the same two that seem to have had a "meeting" on the ground. Ooops!

Some great photos there that I have never seen. I hesitate to call myself an expert but I have studied the Finnish Air Force for years. The list is very thorough in terms of types on hand but a lot of the fighters were not used in thier original role during WW2 or at least not for very long. The Gamecocks flew a few early missions in 1939 but were completely outclassed and ended up used as trainers. The Gauntlets were delivered in 1940 and were inferior to the Gladiator so they too ended up as trainers. One Gauntlet has been restored to flying condition in Finland. The Caudron 714 were so finicky and demanding and few in number they were only tested and quickly shunted aside. The Curtiss Hawks were a mix of Pratt and Whitney and Wright powered aircraft at first but eventually all the Wright engines were removed to use as spares for the Brewsters and all the Hawks were powered by R-1830s. This meant reverse engineering the engine mounts, cooling baffles and cowlings. The Moranes suffered from weak Hispano Suiza engines and by 1944 were re-engined with captured Soviet Klimov powerplants and ended up being faster and more reliable aircraft than the originals. The Brewsters were never called Buffalos in Finland but rather Sky Pearl. These early models were thousands of pounds lighter than the USMC models; were manueverable, easy to fly and rugged with excellent radios. The Finns eventually added self sealing material to the fuel tanks and armor plate. They also replaced one .30 caliber weapon with a .50 cal for a total of four. Finns racked up hundreds of kills on Brewsters and given the number built (less than 1000 all told I believe) it still ended the war with one of the better kill ratios.

Finnish fighter pilot training and tactics were way ahead of most air forces of the time. Two of thier pilots developed the two plane element, four aircraft section style of combat flying even before the German Condor Legion. They were superb marksmen; given 100 rounds a pilot was expected to put 70 into a ground target and most did better. Pilots were taught to aim at specific parts an aircraft, gunners, engines, fuel tanks. The Finns rarely conducted fighter sweeps on enemy airfields since they didn't want to lose thier aircraft and pilots to ground fire. They figured shooting down enemy aircraft also usually meant the loss of the pilot as well and gave thier outnumbered pilots a better chance to survive.

_________________
"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.

One of the Ju 523m photos is of a present day restored example flown by Ju Air in Europe.

_________________
"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.

I don't know as much about Finnish bomber forces but I do know that their Blenhiems differed from RAF models because of the physical shape of the bombs carried. Either the bomb bay doors were bigger or the mounting racks were different. The Finns also bought a number of unfinished Blenheim IVs from a Romanian production line and imported them to Finland where they were completed. Imagine breaking down a B-25 production line and sending it to Spain for completion. One fantastic but true story involves the crew of a Fokker C X light bomber. (roughly equivalent to a Fairey Swordfish) The aircraft attacked Soviet positions and received ground fire killing the pilot. The gunner sat in a completely separate cockpit with no room under the canopy to reach the pilot. Though the pilot was dead the aircraft was trimmed for level flight and continued flying deeper into Soviet territory. The gunner climbed out of his cockpit onto the wing and into the pilot's cockpit. He was able, sitting in the dead pilot's lap, to fly back to his base for a crash landing and survived.

_________________
"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.

Thx John, good stuff to read. What I didn't notice until I posted these photos was the fact that the Finnish insignia (probably incorrect to use the term "swastika") was positioned perpendicular as opposed to the Nazi swastika positioned at 45 degrees ..... But ..... I did see a photo that clearly showed Finnish planes lined up with the insignia at 45 degrees on the fuselage. I'll try to located that particular photo again. Am I wrong about this?

M

_________________
Zero Surprise!!...

Latvia used a 45 degree swastika* in maroon on a white circle. The arms are proportionately finer than either the Finnish or Nazi ones. Latvia also had a somewhat polyglot fleet before the Soviets invaded.


*The word "swastika" is derived from the Sanskrit "svastikah", which means 'being fortunate'. The Nazis may have appropriated the symbol, but the word is still good enough. Also easier to spell than than Hakenkreuz or Winkelmaßkreuz

_________________
Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

Rare subject thanks! I wish a Condor survived.

The Finns called the swastika hakaristi, literally twisted cross. The first official aircraft of the Finnish nation were a pair of Swedish Thulin D aircraft given to them by a Swedish count. He used the light blue hakaristi as a personal good luck charm and had it painted on the aircraft in 1918. In gratitude the Finns adopted it as their national marking for aircraft. They also used it on tanks but the proportions were different with the bent leg much shorter than the base. I have seen pictures from the 1920s of a row of aircraft with one aircraft having the hakaristi reversed, an obvious mistake.

_________________
"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.

An effort was made to recover a Condor but I think the remains were too far gone for restoration once brought to the surface.

_________________
"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.

The Heinkel 59s were basically leased from the Germans and operated only in German markings and were returned when Finland left the war. At some times the fighting was so fierce that new Bf 109s delivered in German markings were flown right into combat and were even lost before Finnish markings could be applied.

_________________
"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.