Final assembly work on Kurki at Vesivehmaa

Suomeksi

The I.V.L.K.1 Kurki airplane, manufactured in 1927 at the Finnish Air Force Airplane Factory, was assembled and placed on display at the Päijänne-Tavastia Aviation Museum on May 15th, after three years of restoration work. Some minor details still had to be finished, such as adding the protecting lacquer on the wing struts, wing bolts and some bolts on the tail part. Also the covers for the wing spar attachment bolts had to be added in the upper corners of the cabin. The Tuesday Club members also decided to build a nice platform to support the metal tripod under Kurki’s tail. The improvised platform had consisted of two cargo pallets.

Suitable timber was bought for the platform. It was decided that the platform would be triangular to match the tripod under Kurki’s tail. The sides of the platform were built from 50x50 planed timber and the top plate was sawed from blockboard. The platform was built so that the parts were fastened from the inside, using concealed fixing, and the outer surfaces were nice and smooth. The platform was painted blue to match the colour of the metal tripod supporting the tail.

On Monday June 10th a group of Tuesday Club members drove to Vesivehmaa with the platform, some paint and screws, detergent and cloths. The team carried also the last one of the six metal shelves the Tuesday Club had assembled for the Päijänne-Tavastia Aviation Museum.

In Vesivehmaa the new platform was installed first. Kurki’s tail was lifted with a stacker so that the metal support could be unfastened, and the pallets moved aside. After this the triangular platform was placed under Kurki and the metal tripod was assembled on top. Kurki’s tail was lowered back on the tripod, which looked much better on the blue platform than on the cargo pallets.

When the Kurki was back on its place, the team could carry on with other work. Some protected on the bolt heads and nuts, using rust-protective black or silver Isotrol lacquer, others fastened protective covers in the cabin and the rest of the team washed Kurki’s ski surfaces (which were dirty after the move and assembly work).

When all the planned work had been completed, Lahti Ilmasilta invited the team to have coffee and buns in the Vesivehmaa Airport cafeteria. The team was happy and ready to meet new challenges….

Photos: Lassi Karivalo.

Translation from Finnish to English: Erja Reinikainen.