VL Myrsky has wooden aerial mast

The aerial mast is on the right side of the front fuselage. The aerial cable is drawn between the mast and the vertical tail. The aerial lead-in is in the rear part of the canopy aft glazing.

It is hard to imagine that the material of the aerial mast is wood. Exactly, the material is the laminated veneer lumber made from birch veneer and Bakelite.

The aerial mast of the MY-14 has survived. OK, without painting and now almost splitted. The mount for cable was corroded as well as the root bracket.

The restoration of the aerial mast was started by straightening the joint surface between halves by planing. The wooden filling block of the top of the mast was renewed according to the drawing and the original part.

The cross section of the mast is like a drop. The mast has been lightened by making two cavities to both halves. There is none wirings and therefore the only one reason for cavities is lighten the weight. The cavities were cleaned and lacquered by Isotrol.

The mast halves were glued together by an epoxy resin. The outside of the mast was cleaned and lacquered. The cable mount was renewed according to drawings and the original part. The original root bracket was blasted by glass balls and lacquered. After that, the mast was fixed to the bracket by a slot-headed screw look like the original.

According to the remaininig paintings, the aerial mast has been painted first completely gray and after that the wooden part has been painted to black. The restoration work followed that observation. The result looks like the aerial mast in old photos.

In addition to propeller blades and the frame of the boardin step, the aerial mast is the fifth original wooden part of the MY-14.

Historical photo: via Kalevi Keskinen, others: The Finnish Air Force Museum.