Open Door Evening in the Caravelle hall in Pansio on November 17th, 2022

On Thursday, November17th we had an evening of open doors in the Caravelle hall. After the fuselage had been upright, access to the cabin and cockpit was possible. We wanted to arrange an event for the stakeholders, other near-by companies, and everybody else interested in the project, where we would tell the visitors about the progress and next steps of the project.

Event was opened by Janne Salonen, the chairman of Aviation Museum Society Finland. After him the progress of the project was presented by our experts Markku Ahokoski and Martti Saarinen. After the presentations the participants had an opportunity to walk around in the hall and see the parts of the aircraft and take pictures.

Especilly the cabin and cockpit were point of interests to the visitors. Hannu Hedman from the Turku Caravelle team showed the cockpit to his granddaughter Olivia. She was seated on the captain’s seat to test what it would be like to fly, and the lack of major parts of the cockpit instruments didn’t bother her at all.

Autumn is turning into winter and the weather in Pansio was around freezing point. Despite the cold weather, nearly a hundred visitors were present. The Turku garrison’s military canteen had a van at the site and the visitors could enjoy doughnuts and coffee. There was also a possibility to barbecue sausages. Possibly because of the weather, the van was a popular spot.

Aviation Museum Society had also arranged a small sales desk where Caravelle material and different kinds of aviation material from scale models to aviation history books was available. Maybe due to the coming Christmas season the material sold well.

The couple of hours of open doors passed quickly and when the night was closing, the organizing team switched off the lights and closed the doors. We thought the event was a success and the public awareness of the project was increased considerably.

Text and photos by Ismo Matinlauri.

Translation by Erja Reinikainen.

Aviation Museum Society has a permission to publize third photo on behalf of both persons.