Overhaul of the Pedal-Myrsky, MY-52

Suomeksi

In 2018, the Aviation Museum Society’s Tuesday Club built a pedal airplane for the child visitors of the Finnish Aviation Museum. In summertime, the pedal airplane has been in active use in the museum yard. It was built from a kit based on the North American T-6 Texan. The kit was modified to resemble the Finnish VL Myrsky fighter aircraft. Thus, the pedal airplane, called the Pedal-Myrsky, was painted in the camouflage scheme used during the war by the Finnish Air Force.

Photo: Paavo Antila

Roundels were chosen as the national insignia. They were selected instead of the traditional swastika insignia for two reasons:  today only few people know the history of the swastika symbol used by the Finnish Air Force and the Myrsky aircraft carried roundels after the Second World War. A total of 51 Myrsky fighters were originally built, so the individual marking MY-52 was assigned to the Pedal-Myrsky.

Over the years, the Pedal-Myrsky was popular among young visitors, and it became worn from use. Its hours had thus reached a critical point, and it was time for a major overhaul. In 2025, the Pedal-Myrsky was brought to the restoration workshop of the Finnish Aviation Museum, where all technical parts were removed, including the wheels with pedals, the control stick that steers the tailwheel, and the tailwheel itself. The worn pedals were repaired, as was the mechanism between the control stick and the tailwheel. Faults had also appeared in the fuselage itself, and for that reason the tail section of the Pedal-Myrsky was reinforced.

Photo: Jouni Ripatti

Because the paintwork of the Pedal-Myrsky had become badly worn, it was decided to repaint the aircraft. The Pedal-Myrsky was painted with two-component paints. The museum was responsible for sanding the surfaces and applying the primer coat. The rest of the painting work was to be carried out by the Tuesday Club. Thus, the primed Pedal-Myrsky was brought to the Tuesday Club’s workshop on Puusepäntie.

In the painting process, the underside of the Pedal-Myrsky was given the blue-grey finish defined in the Finnish Air Force camouflage scheme. The upper surfaces were painted dark green, over which a black camouflage pattern was applied. The black camouflage pattern was painted on top of the green so that the outlines of the black areas were first drawn onto the green surface with a marker. After that, the areas to be painted black were lightly sanded to roughen them. We used a small brush to paint the edges of the black areas so that the paint boundary would be neat.

Once the painting of the Pedal-Myrsky was completed, the fitting-out could begin. We reassembled all the parts that had been removed from it, including the wheels with pedals, the tailwheel, the control stick, the mechanism between the tailwheel and the control stick, the grab handle in front of the cockpit, the “radial engine,” the exhaust pipes, and the cockpit backrest. We also tested that the equipment was functioning properly.

The Pedal-Myrsky was still missing its markings. Therefore, the Finnish Aviation Museum acquired the necessary decal markings through Aviation Shop. The roundel insignia, without a black outline, were applied in accordance with the instructions, to both sides of the fuselage and to the upper surfaces of the wings. The roundel insignia with a black outline were applied to the underside of the wings. Finally, the individual aircraft marking MY-52 was placed on both sides of the rear fuselage between the roundel and the tail.

The overhauled and painted Pedal-Myrsky was then taken back to the Finnish Aviation Museum. There it was immediately put to a proper test at the Finnish Aviation Museum’s Children’s Day, held on Saturday, 16 May.

Photos: Lassi karivalo, unless otherwise mentioned

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen