Fuselage of Caudron C.59 came to Finnish Aviation Museum from Vesivehmaa

Suomeksi

On Tuesday, October 26th the fuselage of the Caudron C.59 (CA-50) arrived by the Defence Forces transportation at the Finnish Aviation Museum from the Päijänne-Tavastia Aviation Museum at Vesivehmaa.

The Caudron’s fuselage is in poor condition, and it was brought to the Finnish Aviation Museum to be restored by the Tuesday Club. The Caudron’s lower wings and its tail parts have been under work at the Tuesday Club since the spring 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic interrupted the restoration work in March 2020, but from the beginning of September 2021 the work has been continued in the restoration space of the Finnish Aviation Museum.

Now that the fuselage has arrived, the first task is to make an inventory of its present condition and to make a restoration plan for it. The principle in the restoration work is that as much as possible of the original fuselage will be preserved. The rusty parts and equipment will be restored, the broken items will be repaired and the parts which are beyond repair, will be rebuilt. One of the challenging items in the restoration of the Caudron’s fuselage will be the badly cracked painted fabric covering on the fuselage.

The two-seater fighter trainer Caudron C.59 was in use in the Finnish Air Force in the 1920s. In late 1923 the Air Force purchased three Caudron C.59 aircraft to be used in the advanced training of fighter pilots. The CA-50 is the only one which has been preserved. It is most likely the only remaining Caudron C.59 aircraft in the world. The CA-50 flew its last flight in the Air Force on October 1st, 1929 – which was 90 years ago. Then the aircraft was written off and stored to be placed later in a museum. The aircraft was stored at Santahamina until the end of the 1940s, then it was moved – along with several other old aircraft waiting to go into a museum – into the WW2 aircraft hangar at Vesivehmaa airfield. Today the hangar is the home of the Päijänne-Tavastia Aviation Museum.

In two years, it will be 100 years from the Caudron C.59 aircrafts’ arrival in Finland. We are wondering whether if it would be possible to complete the restoration of the Caudron CA-50 before that?

Photos: Lassi Karivalo

Translation: Erja Reinikainen.