The Myrsky II restoration project is getting on well. At the moment they are, among other things, working on putting the skin on the airplane (aluminium on the front part of the fuselage and plywood on the rear and the wings, which are still not attached), so it's really starting to look like an airplane. Considering the starting point was a mangled steel frame, it really is a huge undertaking of manual craft and skill, as basically every single structural part has to be hand made.
- Ideal for use against Soviet ground troops and lightly armored vehicles. The American engines would have been difficult to get, Wright R-1820, If I'm not mistaken.
@@gingernutpreacher There were actually plans to copy the Mosquito and fit it with DB 605-engines for Finnish air force, but the war ended before the design work was finished.
The performance of the Finnish fliers is truly inspiring and definitely proved that quality of pilots is more important than quality of aircraft. One realizes just how experienced they were, top to bottom, when you see that guys with the seniority of a squadron commander in larger airforces were element leaders for their entire career. This also meant that new pilots were surrounded by experts. It's a pity the Western allies weren't closer with the Finns because they sure could have taught us a bunch about exploiting the strengths, while avoiding the weaknesses, of our planes.
Those resourceful Finns. Kinda looks like an early LaGG design. But yeah, one can imagine the pilot's horror when the plywood panels start coming off under moderate G loads.
I can't agree with you more mate if the Fins had the proper materials to build this fighter aircraft it would have pretty decently maybe making it in the top 20 maybe mid 30s category but if I was designing it it would be 2 20mm cannon and 4 machine guns+ can you please do a video on the boomerang fighter it's an Australian icon and I would love to see a video on it and your opinion of it also I wouldn't mind seeing some videos on more Swedish aircraft as well..
There is probably a British sitcom sketch in this story somewhere. Brit Pilot - Sorry to bother you wingman? But my left wing seems to have - um - well, vacated my aircraft. Brit Wingman - Really? Bad show. Brit Pilot - Rather. Oh bloody hell. There goes the other one. It just decided to bugger off. Any suggestions old chap? Wingman - How much of your wings are left? Pilot - Ummm...well....sort of...on the lesser side of zero I'm afraid. Wingman - That's a spot of bad luck, what? Pilot - Yeeess. Oh damn...I seem to be about to hit the ground in a rather accelerated manner. Wingman - Oh I ammm sorry. Well...remember to roll when you hit. Maybe everything will be fine. Pilot - Right oh...good advice. I'll give it a whirl. Thank you Ed. ☮
Unfortunately for modelers, There does not seem to be plastic model kit of it available , However , AZ models seem have issued a VL Pyry PY-1 trainer that looks like a two seater Myrsky.
There is the relatively recent (2008) 1:72 scale Special Hobby kit of Myrsky II, # SH72161. Seemingly discontinued by now unfortunately, but very well might pop up on the 2nd hand market every now and then.
For context, the reconnaissance squadrons were flying for example Gloster Gladiators, Westland Lysanders and Fokker CX’s all through the wars and getting attacked by planes like Tomahawks
Just when you think, that finally now Ed is out of his unknown WWII planes... Ed: "Here is another one..." :) Please, do more Soviet one, and thanks for these hidden gems. You've made my own knowledge miserable.😃
I second that. Somewhat ironically, the Soviets got their wooden fighters right, although the Finns where the pioneers in manufacturing and using weather-resistant plywood. It's just that the crucial ingredient, phenolic resin, couldn't be had during the war.
brilliant vid could we see a video on the Leyland armored car, the only military vehicle built in Ireland for Ireland and used from the 30s right to the 80s
I hope they are not so obsessed with being faithful to the original Myrsky production specifications that they are willing to use modern wood glue for the restoration.
With only one left in the world,a related issue is,should it ever be flown? Even with oh,aviation grade resorcinal glue,if anything at all goes wrong,that is a pretty big oops. Restore the thing by all means. Document each step for posterity. But fly it ? Not sure about that. The guys who took them up knowing of possible structural failure were unbelievably brave.
What is considerd obsolete might be better than modern equipment. The chesna for example is a verry old design concept . even in ww2 many recon planes where of this design. sturdy , reliable safe . easy to fly.
@@EdNashsMilitaryMatters I happen to be Finnish as well. The restoration project is nearly done covering the left side of the fuselage in plywood and seems to be almost done with seperate demostration wing as well. This wing when finished, will be a separate exhibition showcasing the inner mechanics of the wing and will not have the other side of the cover to let you see in. The project also has english site in case you are interested in following it firsthand, though i did not check if it has all the news as the finnish side does.
D.XXI was a stable gun platform & had excellent diving characteristics, the FiAF tactics developed in the last half of 1930s focused on attacking from above & opening fire only when the pilot was sure he could hit the target, so a good diver that isn't affected by the recoil of its guns was exactly what the FiAF needed, D.XXI's greatest shortcoming was its speed, but everything else about the plane (perhaps most importantly the fact that the plane had been designed specifically for operations in rough conditions-) was good enough that it remained in service with FiAF far longer than it should have in an ideal world, that and the fact that Fokker sold Finland the plans and tooling to build the aircraft domestically, if only Finland could have bought the tooling to build Thunderbolts (I know, I know, The Jug didn't exist at the time when FiAF went shopping for the next frontline fighter in late 30s...), that would have been epic.
@@EdNashsMilitaryMatters Some extra hints: 'y' in Finnish sounds more like 'ou' as in 'you' or 'through' and is the same for both the first and second y in Myrsky. Finnish spelling is phonetic and consistent, so you speak every letter in a word with a slight stress at the beginning of every word, so now you know how to say 'Valtion lentokonetehdas'. An English word that no Finnish person can say is 'squirrel'. Great video.
I was once involved with a Finnish woman. I seem to recall that the Pyörremyrsky is pronounced along the lines of Pir-ror-mursk. The Myrsky is Mursk, I understand. No 'ee' sound. I recall from my teens (the mid-70's), a very good article on this aircraft in the Air International magazine. This led to a fascination with the Soviet attempts to invade this country and the Finn's fight back. Incredible David and Goliath stuff on an epic scale. Apparently the Finnish execution of the battle of Suomussalmi (I think pron Sue-oor-sal-mi) is taught in the US West Point military academy to this day. Finland was the only one of the states that gained independence from Czarist Russia that remained independent post WW2. Fascinating history. Sheer bloody minded determination not to give in. Worthy of a programme all in its own right.
"...An aircraft well past its sell-by-date, which in typical Finnish fashion was still being used effectively." Is somehow an extremely hilarious line to me. It's a bit like... "This aircraft is essentially a piece of jetsam, piece of flying junk... BUT LET'S FLY IT ANYWAY AND SEE WHERE IT TAKES US!!"
The Finns were quite underrated in the air combat department. Ilmari Juutilainen is prolly one of my favourite fighter aces during the conflicts, him and loads of other Finnish aces were just cool
@@mikepxg6406 It's a phonetic truncation and is common in some English dialects. It's an alternate spelling and pronunciation of "probably." Language has always evolved, and with the internet dialects, changes, additions, and adaptations spread faster than ever.
Lesson: when you use the Tibetan "good fortune" form of the swastika in baby blue instead of the twisted form in black, you have a better chance of surviving bad times as an intact nation.
I believe that it's originally Indian 2500 BC. Symbol for goodluck and it is a symbol of a sun. But it came in Finland from Sweden when 6.3.1918 Count Eric von Rosen donated Finlands first airplane and Blue Swastika was his familys lucky symbol and to honour Count Rosen FAF adopted this symbol.
@@XtreeM_FaiL I'm not sure if you can read but I'm pretty sure I wrote 'German', which is a language he is more likely to be familiar with than Finnish.
VL also developed an improved fighter called the "Pyorremyresky". Unfortunately, it was powered by the Daimler-Benz DB-605 engine which, after Finland "changed sides", was no longer available. However, the prototype "Pyorremyrsky" was said to have been better than the Me 109 and would have been a formidable fighter if it had been available sooner.
There were reported no glue issues when we are talking about The VL Pyörremyrsky. It seems that glue, plywood and lacquer were all better quality than before. This video is good, but It does not tell about The aeroelastic vibration that VL Myrsky suffered above 3000 meters when diving. This vibration with a poor glue quality could easily broke wings and elevators when speed exceeded 630 km/h. This problem was mostly solved after wings and rudder were strenghened. Test pilot Leutnant Hamalainen could dive with a one Myrsky around 750 km/ h without any problems. This did not solve the poor guality glue and lacquer issues. Sorry my poor English skills.
These videos about the lesser-known fighters of WW2 are fantastic. Have you considered doing one on the PZL P.11? Not only was it used by Poland at the start of the war and put up a brave fight, but it was exported to quite a number of other European countries.
Awesome video. That's a really great source you used from Plane's Encyclopaedia... That chap must know his stuff... Certainly not self promoting or anything. Just came across your channel, will be binging the videos.
One of the ongoing issues with various marks of Messerschmidt was vibration when the nose guns fired. Later marks had two heavy machine guns plus the 20 mm cannon. There is an enormous difference between 30 cal/8 mm and 50 cal . Having 4 of them going off at the same time would I think define the word vibration. Not saying you are wrong,no indeed,but I think this was the only fighter with such a configuration over top of an engine. Probably for good reason.
@@paulmanson253 nose guns have 3 other disadvantages: complicated sinc gear, size limitations (of the gun and ammo load) and a very tight patern of shots. Fighters with all the guns in the wings can expect more hits, by firing a wider cone of shot, even with gun harmonization. _Otoh_ , wing guns require a strong wing, and the Fins limitation of building materials might have constrained this. Nose guns are also easier to aim and don't require range harmonization.
@@jlvfr Lack of engine power was the main issue as the Twin Wasp was only radial engine available at the time. Prototype was originally armed two 12,7mm guns in fuselage and four 7,7mm guns in wings, but it was changed to at first to three and later to four fuselage mounted 12,7mm guns as one of the attempts to make aircraft lighter and aerodynamically cleaner.
@@jlvfr Yes. Look up the term, Dowding spread. More hits on an airplane, but not in a critical area,do not knock down that airplane. Successful fighter pilots harmonized their guns to suit their abilities.
This video proves, if nothing else, how hard it can get pronouncing certain languages XD But this whole Myrsky development makes me think of the phrase "when you try to finnish a plane".
That part about license-built copies of the Twin Wasp from Sweden. Not possible, because there was no licensed building of Twin Wasps in Sweden. They were all reverse-engineered, and pirated. But the US was building reverse-engineered and pirated Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns as fast as they could, so I guess it all evens out! 🙂
i dunno about that if the US reverse engineered all those Bofors then thats literally 10's of thousands of Bofors on various mounts made during WW2. I'm certain there must have been some post war compensation to Borfors because there was a whole lot of them made.
Regarding the engine supply problem: The USA showed a curiously ambivlent attitude towards its allies once it was forced into the war. They wouldn't supply Finland, which was allied with Germany, but they continued to do business with the German puppet government in Vichy, while either ignoring or obstructing the Free French forces. They had a blackout on the east coast in 1942, but didn't enforce it, much appreciated by U-Boat crews.....
i think you dont grasp each thing you describe was for different reasons under different circumstances.. they are not related and are not indicative of a pattern contrast that comment with the fact that 42% of everything russia used with wheels or tracks on it after 1942 came from the USA so the implication youre hinting at is both incorrect and misleading.. Finland was NEVER an ALLY of the USA during ww2. there was no treaty no lend lease.
The Finnish Swastika has of course nothing, at all, to do with the German, unreasonable use of the symbol as a Nazi symbol, but is an old Nordic symbol.
Finnish airplane projects usually started by student practice project and sometimes air force began supported them. Lack of materials and skilled workers caused that like half way results.
about the Twin Wasp engines: Finland had a state-owned engine factory, but from what I hear it mostly spent the war(s) rebuilding existing engines (i.e. salvaging reusable parts from worn-out/damaged/outright destroyed engines in order to refurbish other worn-out/damaged/outright destroyed engines), I don't know what kind of machinery the factory had for making new parts, but I suspect there was a lot of working with hand-held tools.
Interestingly, the crash of MY-3 on the 19th of November 1943, was one of the first, if not the first time the cause of a crash was solved utilizing a black box. MY-3 had been equipped with the Finnish "Mata-Hari" black box, developed by Veijo Hietola in 1942. Data from the black box was crucial in solving the cause of the crash. Only around 10 or so Mata-Hari units were made before the end of the war and at least one still survives in the Vapriikki Museum in Tampere, Finland.
Gargling with bleach? Bit harsh 😳 🤣 worked with a Finnish lady years ago and she sounded like she was talking the elfin language. It helped that she looked like miss world 🌎 but you know.
Another excellent addition! It was the Myrsky II that saw active combat service, right? I was never sure if it ever was used; Now I know for sure. Knowing that I have the option to build a model of it in Continuation War or Lapland War markings is a nice touch too! ;)
The buffalo was a decent aircraft when used in any cold conditions as it's only real problem was overheating.... As for the fins... the factory should have requested the construction of a small aluminium plant exclusively for aviation and also a supply of at least 50 engines every 2 years to give national security of production... the outlay would have been quite minimal for the return.... as for glue problems.. they most likely over relied on glue and not stitching... as we found in scotland even with high quality glues exposure will soon defeat tem without a secondary securment method if prolonged winter conditions are encountered .. also I suspect that aircraft shelters and maintenance were neglected and could have been easily provided for with no strategic penalty simply having wooden shelters and heated areas etc.... all easily predicted... a pity given the incredible efforts by the brave pilots..
Finnish Tampella metalworking company was already producing Bristol Mercury -engines before the war, but they failed to acquire licence for newer more powerful designs, forcing the VL to design planes around imported engines. As for VL Myrsky, the war-time glue was clearly the issue as the earlier structurally similar VL Pyry trainer built from pre-war materials had no structural issues and flew until 1962.
Given the amount of military support going to Finland during the Winter war (1/3 of the airforce, 40% of the anti tank cannons and only leaving a week's supply of small arms ammunition) in spite of being severely behind in their rearmaments program, I don't find it unlikely some engines could been spared the Finns.
@@johanmetreus1268 that's possible, but Sweden were forced to use captured french engines before the copied engines went in to production, I'd say that the engines that Finland would have used was from the same source...
Just shows what can be achieved if you have the will to succeed. As for speaking Finnish, I understand even other Nord struggle with the language. Anywhere damp or humid is never good for wooden aircraft. Even the otherwise excellent Mosquito had to be withdrawn from the Far East because of the effects of damp.
I would love if you could cover the B-17 Reed Project. During that project they did some pretty crazy modifications to a B-17, and it's a great story! Another suggestion is the YB-40, or the attempt to make a B-17 into an escort gunship. Keep up the good work!
Parece-me estranho que um Pais Moderno, cuja base econômica e pesadamente focada em produtos derivados de madeira, não tivesse uma indústria química que complementasse com competência a indústria principal, e isso inclui tintas, primers surfaces, vernizes e COLAS. Mesmo quando ficou patente que não poderia depender de compras externas para defesa, e que teria de fazer seus aviões em madeira, ninguém pensou em pelo menos licenciar uma ''formula de cola'' boa para uso aeronáutico e produzi-la localmente para seu próprio uso, a Inglaterra tinha boas colas, como atesta o D.H. Mosquito, e a indústria alemã também (Um bombardeio inglês destruiu a única fábrica dessa cola na Alemanha, prejudicando a produção futura de aeronaves de madeira quando a Alemanha precisava poupar Al.)
Fascinating plane Ed! But got to ask? The photo at 2:51 ....... WTF? I'm trying to think of a logical reason for it? (whilst also imagining the before and after) 🤔
the 13.2 was the "upgrade to the 12.7 use by USA and Finns chambered the 12.7mm version of the upgrade of this -i guess 1000 rounds per minute ara a upgrade compared to 600-850 us brownings and the upgrade could fire exploding ammo
@@ja37d-34 Except it's you whose a bit incorrect. The Wikipedia article clearly states that because Finland was already producing the 12.7mm Browning ammunition, it was decided that the new heavy machine gun would be produced with the smaller 12.7mm cartridge instead of the larger Swedish cartridge of 13.2mm.
@@ja37d-34 At no point did you make any differentiation between the M2 Browning and the newer FN Browning heavy machine gun. You only referred to the original Browning heavy machine gun as "12.7" which about as ambiguous as you can get.
