MY-5 fuselage frame brought from Finnish Aviation Museum to the Puusepäntie workshopPerjantai 21.11.2025 - Tuesday Club member The Tuesday Club has been working all autumn at the Finnish Aviation Museum and also at the Aviation Museum Society’s workshop in Puusepäntie to build the Demo-Myrsky. The Demo-Myrsky is built to display the inner structures of the Myrsky II fighter, designed and built by the Finnish State Aircraft Factory. Myrsky had a mixed structure, its fuselage was made of welded steel tube and the front fuselage had aluminium plate covering and the rear part was covered with fabric. The wing, the vertical and horizontal stabilizers and the rudder were made of wood and covered with plywood.
Photo: Jaakko Rantasalo
Before the Myrsky fuselage was brought in, some rearranging was needed in the Puusepäntie workshop so that the MY-5 fuselage would fit in with the Super Chug OH-XTM and the Snoopy OH-XEA fuselages, which are already there. When the preparations had been made, the MY-5 fuselage frame was loaded on a trailer, waiting outside the museum, on 17 November. On the following day the trailer was fastened on the towing hook of the Octavia and the journey to Puusepäntie began.
We can soon call the workshop the Aircraft Factory of the Aviation Museum Society! Photos: Lassi karivalo, unless otherwise mentioned Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, VL Myrsky, MY-14, AFM |
The MY-14 wing has been paintedTorstai 3.7.2025 - Antti Lappalainen & Reino Myllymäki The MY-14 wing was transported from Vantaa and the Tuesday Club’s Myrsky group hands to Tikkakoski and Finnish Air Force Museum's restoration group for necessary modifications, painting and joining to the fuselage in September 2024.
The modifications on the wing took the winter period 2024-2025 and the spring 2025. When I visited the Air Force Museum on 12.6.2025 the transportation and painting trestle was being assembled to the wing and after a couple of days on 17.6.2034 the wing was transported to the premises of Haklog Ky for painting. The painting was mainly done using a high-pressure spray gun. It yields thicker layers of paint, although the quality of the surface is - depending on the type of paint - worse than with a side air brush, which was used to paint the swastika, mid-wing and black areas. The incentive to use the high-pressure spray gun was the fairly large area of the wing where the alkyd paint in use was known to give a smooth surface.
Because of the modifications the wing, which had been primed at Vantaa, had to be puttied and sanded, so the wing was given a once over with the Future-3-primer to the shade of RAL 7005.
After the primer the wing undersides were painted light blue with Teknosynt Combi 50 paint, with a shade that was called DN-blue during the war, and is now called RAL Design 220 60 10.
After the underside, next in line was the upper side green part, painted twice. Between the layers of paint, the surface was sanded. The paint was still the Teknosynt Combi in the shade of Teknos TM-11263/20.
Following the upper wing green area, the black camouflage of the plywood surfaces was painted. According to the instructions of the State Aircraft Factory, only one layer was painted. The borders were painted with low pressure spray gun, in order to make the borders sharp. After that the central parts were painted over.
Next in turn was the painting of the Eastern Front decals to the wingtips for a length of about I/6 or 183 cm. The painting was done with fully glossy Futura 90 using the Teknos TM 11297/20 shade.
For the painting of the national emblem, a circle 1 metre in diameter, was cut from a thick cardboard and a template for the swastika. The emblems were positioned with the help of the templates and using a laser and marked with a pencil. The circles were taped, and the rest of the wing was covered with plastic. There wasn’t enough of anti-glare paint for the emblems, so more had to be mixed using the corresponding paint for the fuselage as reference. The circles were painted with high pressure air gun.
The swastika in the circles was painted with the same method using fully glossy Teknosynt 90-paint. The shade was Teknos TM 11264/20. The last parts to be painted were the parts in the mid-wing, that are covered by the cockpit and the wing root fairings, with Temalac FD 80-paint in the shade of RAL 7005. Notice and guide markings and the markings for the service hatches are yet to be painted. Modifications for the aileron push rods are still unfinished and there are still holes in their coverings. But because the national emblems are hard to get identical, if their parts are painted separately, the part of the national emblems was painted now on the ailerons. For their part the yellow and black areas will be painted together with the wing root fairings, elevators and the rest of the missing pieces of covering.
After the painting, the wing was transported by the Defence Forces from the premises of Haklog Ky to the Finnish Air Force Museum on Wednesday 2.7.2025. The wing, with its transportation and painting trestle, was placed in the main display, next to the fuselage of MY-14. There the aircraft will be admired by the visitors and wait for the end of the summer holiday and the beginning of the autumn operations. Photos: Finnish Air Force Museum Translation to English: Matti Liuskallio |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, VL Myrsky, MY-14, AFM |
The Myrsky Wing transported to be paintedTorstai 19.6.2025 - Reino Myllymäki The MY-14 wing was transported from Vantaa to Tikkakoski in September 2024. Since then it has undergone modifications with the restoration group at the Finnish Air Force Museum till the spring of 2025. In the wing standard hardware store bolts and new production parts have been replaced with original parts. Original parts of the wing have been conserved, and some parts of the wing have been modified according to the blueprints, for instance by removing and adding service hatches.
As I visited Tikkakoski on Thursday 12.6. these modifications were nearly finished and a trestle, made according to the blueprints by the State Aircraft Factory of wooden 2x4 inch beams and bolts, was fastened to the wing. The trestle was attached to the same brackets as the fuselage. The trestle positioned the wing at a steep diving angle, with the leading edge pointing down. This allows the 11 metres long wing lower and upper surfaces to be painted without nearly any obstructions.
On Tuesday 17.6. the trestle and the wing were taken out and hoisted on a low-bed trailer to be transported for painting to the premises of Haklog Ky.
At the Haklog Ky the wing was brought into the same workshop where the MY-14 fuselage had been painted in the autumn 2024. There was a shortage of the wing lower surface blue paint, but luckily Jorma Laakkonen happened to bring a 9 kg tin of paint from Vantaa. So the Air Force Museum had all the necessary paints at its disposal.
Without any delay, the upper and lower surfaces of the wing were primed grey.
Photos: Jorma Laakkonen After the wing gets camouflaged on both sides and equipped with the landing gear and ailerons, the joining of the wing and fuselage can be planned. And then the completing of MY-14 will be close. Photos: The Finnish Air Force Museum, unless otherwise mentioned Translation to English: Matti Liuskallio |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, VL Myrsky, MY-14, AFM |
Finishing the MY-14 flapsMaanantai 12.5.2025 - Reino Myllymäki The original flaps of the VL-Myrsky fighter were found in the spring of 2014 in the stores of the Finnish Air Force Museum (until the end of 2015, the Aviation Museum of Central Finland). Until then Aviation Museum Society’s Tuesday Club’s Myrsky team had only one flap at its disposal and the building of the other one was being prepared.
Photo: Reino Myllymäki The Myrsky flaps are panel flaps, mainly made of duralumin, which can be opened to any position between the extreme positions. They are operated by the same electric motor as the landing gear. The original green colour of the upper surface of the Myrsky flaps has remained and it was decided to preserve it. The lower surface, instead, will be painted along with the wing to the same paint scheme as the rest of the aircraft. The flaps were returned to Tikkakoski in the same load with the wings in September 2024. When preparing to join the fuselage and the wing, various preliminary finishing touches have been done to the wing. This has included conservation of original parts, replacing parts bought from shops or refabricated with original parts, and preparing the wing to accordance with the blueprints.
The steel hinges of the duralumin flaps were rusty. They were sandblasted at Tikkakoski.
The drive shaft of the flaps is joined at both ends to bearings. For some reason the drive shaft was lacking the part linking the shaft to the bearing bracket. It had to be refabricated by lathing according to the blueprints. The MY-14 is again a step nearer to completion. Photos: Finnish Air Force Museum, unless otherwise mentioned. Translation to English by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: Aviation history, restoration, VL Myrsky, MY-14 , AFM |
An update from TikkakoskiMaanantai 28.4.2025 - Reino Myllymäki The restoration group from the Finnish Air Force Museum informed us today about the progress on the work with VL Myrsky MY-14. The wing was built at Aviation Museum Society’s Tuesday Club and was transported to Tikkakoski on 18-19 September 2025 for finishing and compatibility purposes. This process has recently been going on to advance the project. The aim of this work is to eliminate the discrepancies between the wing and the blueprints, to secure the use of original parts, when available, instead of new parts, and also to ensure the conservation of original parts.
The brackets for aileron movement have been relocated according to the blueprints and some bearing brackets of the aileron mechanism have been replaced with original parts.
Some bearing brackets of the flaps and flap mechanisms have also been replaced with original parts. A component for the flap mechanism was missing, it has now been lathed and installed into place. Additionally, some operating rods have been changed to match the blueprints.
One service hatch has been made in the right wing, a limiting switch has been fitted, and missing ribs have been added.
The rib battens have been changed to match the blueprints at the wing root and around the wing tip lights and pitot tube.
A transportation rack for the wing has been made. As is well known the Myrsky aircraft had four different wings, namely the wings A, B, BI and C. At the time of constructing the MY-14, it was decided that its wings were built like the B and C wings where applicable, in the belief that that a complete set of blueprints wouldn’t be found for any of the wing types. As the restoration project went on, the situation has changed. More blueprints have been found and at this moment there are practically complete sets of blueprints for all wing types. So now it’ll be possible to change the wing of the MY-14 externally similar to what it was actually like at the end of the Continuation War (a strengthened A-wing/early B-wing.) The external measurements of the wigs are identical, the differences are mainly inside the wing. Photos: Finnish Air Force Museum. Translation to English by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, VL Myrsky, MY-14, AFM |
Constructing the Demo-MyrskyMaanantai 2.12.2024 - Tuesday Club member When the VL Myrsky ll (MY-14) restoration project had come to an end, at the beginning of autumn, as far as the Tuesday Club Members freed from the restoration were concerned, they chose not to stay put twiddling their thumbs. So the idea of building a Demo-Myrsky was dug out. Our purpose is to build an entity from the Myrsky test wing, currently on show at the Finnish Aviation Museum exhibition, and the Myrsky MY-5 fuselage frame, to demonstrate coherently the structure and equipment of the mixed construction Myrsky-fighter, designed and built by State Aircraft Factory. The inner construction and technique of the MY-14 fighter that we had restored, are hidden inside the plywood covered fuselage and wings. In the Demo-Myrsky they would be exposed.
The test wing, on display in the Finnish Aviation Museum, was built at the beginning of the Myrsky restoration project. By building the test wing it was found out how the Myrsky wing, particularly the root with all its equipment, was constructed at its time. Our ambiguity was mainly caused by the fact that the blueprints at our disposal were partly contradictory. The main reason for the controversy was the ongoing development during the serial production, causing changes to structural solutions. By building the test wing we managed to get our ambiguity to dissolve. After the test wing was finished, the building of the actual Myrsky wing began. Already at that stage the idea was born to utilize the test wing later to demonstrate the wing structure and the equipment fitted in it. Therefore the test wing was covered with transparent plexiglass instead of plywood and was placed on display in number l Hall in the Finnish Aviation Museum.
After the Myrsky wing was completed, we utilized the MY-5 fuselage frame in testing how to join the wing to the fuselage, including the assembly of the wing root fairings. This led to the idea of utilizing the MY-5 fuselage frame, together with the test wing, for demonstrating the mixed structure of the Myrsky by joining the test wing and the uncovered fuselage frame.
In this task the rear part of the MY-5 fuselage frame is under work, because the rear section of the fuselage frame needs repairing and refurbishing. The rear fuselage will also get a rudder and elevators of wooden construction.
The rear fuselage has been repaired by welding and the tail wheel mounting, made of steel tubes according to blueprints, has been fastened to it. The Myrsky wooden vertical stabilizer has been under construction in a specially made jig. The vertical stabilizer frame is about to be ready. The left and right-hand horizontal stabilizer ribs and the blanks of the wing spars are ready to be assembled. The vertical and horizontal stabilizers will remain uncovered, at least on one side.
How far the Demo-Myrsky MY-5 fuselage frame will be completed, is still an open question. It could be advanced, even if it were on display for the public. Well, a place to show the Demo-Myrsky won’t be available in the near future, at least not in the Finnish Aviation Museum, which is preparing to move to new premises. That’s why the construction of the Demo-Myrsky at the Finnish Aviation Museum will come to an end by the end of this year, even though it won’t be ready. From the beginning of 2025, the restoration workshop at the Finnish Aviation Museum will be reserved for servicing the museum artefacts before moving them to the new Aviation Museum in a couple of years. The Aviation Museum Society is presently looking for temporary premises where the restoration work could be continued next year. Photos by Lassi Karivalo. Translation to English by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-5, VL Myrsky, Tuesday Club, Demo-Myrsky |
The Myrsky Group of Tuesday Club completes its jobMaanantai 23.9.2024 - Tuesday Club member The eleven-year project of the Myrsky Group, to restore the aircraft registered as MY-14 of the WW2 fighter VL Myrsky II, has been brought to its conclusion. The restoration project was started in the autumn of 2013. In concrete terms, the Myrsky Group of the Tuesday Club and the Finnish Air Force Museum shared responsibility of carrying out the restoration, the latter concentrating in restoring the fuselage. Generally, we talk about the restoration of the Myrsky, but there is also good reason to call it renewed production, as most of the Myrsky with its mixed construction had to be entirely built anew, based on the original drawings of the aircraft. This is how the construction of, among others the wood-structured wing, the vertical and horizontal stabilizers, the rudder, and the aluminum NACA ring, wing root fairings, engine cowlings, and air ducts of the oil cooler were produced. The largest single original part in the restored Myrsky is the fuselage framework of the MY-14. It defined to identify the project as restoration of the Myrsky MY-14. There are other original metal parts of Myrsky as well, but most of even them had to be manufactured. The original plan was to transport those parts of the Myrsky that were built by the Tuesday Club at the Finnish Aviation Museum in Vantaa, to the Finnish Air Force Museum at Tikkakoski already in June 2024, to receive their surface painting. Some of the parts were sent as planned, but mostly the transport was delayed until the autumn, as everything wasn’t ready yet by June.
Photos by Lassi Karivalo. The packing of the remaining parts of the Myrsky for transfer to Tikkakoski was started in August. The packaged parts were tied onto pallets that could then easily be moved by forklift onto the platform of the transport lorry. The wings were not packaged, but instead fixed onto wheeled transport frames that proved handy in moving around each heavy wing, weighing over 200 kilograms. Specific braces were tailored for the wings, to enable stacking them on top of each other on the lorry platform. This stacking procedure was tested in advance before the transport in the restoration workshop of the Finnish Aviation Museum, separating the wings and laying them on top of each other, like they would be travelling during the actual transit.
Photos by Lassi Karivalo On Wednesday, 18 September, a lorry of the Defence Forces with its trailer arrived at the Finnish Aviation Museum to fetch the parts of the Myrsky to Tikkakoski. The loading of the parts began. Each wing was loaded (with ailerons, flaps, landing gear, wheels, and wheel well doors packed separately), parts of the tailplane (vertical and horizontal stabilizers and the respective rudder and elevators), the oil cooler (with air intake and exhaust air ducts), the aluminum wing root fairings, and a great number of small parts. Previously the NACA ring, the lower engine cowling, air duct and air horn had been already delivered to Tikkakoski. After all the Myrsky parts had been loaded either on the platform or the trailer of the lorry, the journey to Tikkakoski commenced. After arrival at the destination, the freight was moved inside the FAF Museum.
Even though the Myrsky project has now been completed for the part of the Tuesday Club, the whole restoration project is by no means over yet. At Tikkakoski, the parts of Myrsky with primer painting will be getting their surface paint of green / black camouflage pattern, national insignia, and the identification code of the aircraft. This task is already underway. Would one dare to say that the Myrsky MY-14 will be assembled on display at the FAF Museum still during this year, as there have been so many failed predictions?
The restoration project of Myrsky is one of the most extensive restorations ever in Finland, of aircraft used by the Finnish Air Force. The working hours used for the project speak for themselves. By mid-September 2004 the restoration of the Myrsky MY-14 during eleven years had taken working time as follows, with numbers rounded. Total work input: 40,000 hours. To this total, the Myrsky Group of the Tuesday Club had contributed 28,000 hrs. The share of the FAF Museum is 9,000 hrs. Outside the project, either paid or donated work amounts to 3,000 hrs. Based on the numbers, the Myrsky Group of the Tuesday Club has produced most, i.e. 70% of the restoration effort of the Myrsky. However, there will be more working hours waiting for the Finnish Air Force Museum to accrue to the total amount at stake for the Myrsky restoration. Those will be coming from the surface painting of Myrsky, presently underway, as well as from the final assembly for display at the Finnish Air Force Museum. Photos by Jouni Ripatti except if otherwise mentioned. Translation by Hannu Mononen. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky, Tuesday Club |
Assembling the Myrsky wing root fairings and the oil coolerMaanantai 15.7.2024 - Tuesday Club member Apart from the Myrsky-project other activities of the Tuesday Club are on hold for the summer break. So the parts of the OH-XEA “Ressu”, Caudron C.59 (CA-50), Valmet Tuuli III (TL-1) and the Link Trainer, heaped in the former Aviation Museum coffee room, can wait for the work to continue halfway through August, when the autumn season 2024 for the Tuesday Club will commence.
The project members of the Myrsky restoration team at the Tuesday Club have toiled “day in and day out” to finish and assemble the wing root fairings covering the wing/fuselage seam and the oil cooler, with its intake and exhaust air horns. Both these projects have taken more time than planned, so the Myrsky II (MY-14) roll-out, planned for the beginning of August, will be delayed. The summer holiday season both at the Finnish Air Force Museum and at Patria industries have affected in the delay.
Oval-shaped openings and a flapped hatch were made to the lower surface of both the right and left-hand side wing root fairings. The narrow oval openings are for cooling the wing root fairings, which for their part cool down the engine oil cooler, sheltered by the fairings. The edges of the openings cut to the aluminium plate were strengthened with a 1 mm thick aluminium strip. The strips were fastened with rivets.
The wing root fairing edges were likewise strengthened with aluminium strips on both fairings. That way the fairings stay better in form and are easier to handle when they are more rigid. The strips were riveted to the wing root fairings with countersunk rivets.
Photo by Heikki Kaakinen
When the openings in the right-hand side wing root fairing were ready, the fairing was fitted in place. After that, the end of the horn for the exhaust air could be pushed into the opening in the fairing and fasten the other end of the horn to the oil cooler. It was noted that the exhaust air horn fitted its opening just like it should.
Left hand side photo by photo archive of Finnish Aviation Museum. Next in turn was the making of the cover for the space for the mouthpiece of the intake air horn. The mouthpiece of the horn is situated in the leading edge of the wing in an area limited by two ribs and the front spar. Cooling air for the oil cooler is taken through an opening in the wing’s leading edge. The horn for the oil cooler intake air is for the most part located under the left-hand side wing root fairing, but the mouthpiece of the intake air horn reaches outside the fairing edge.
Photos by Heikki Kaakinen. When the intake air horn for the oil cooler and the left-hand side wing root fairing had been installed once again, we checked once more that the air intake horn’s mouthpiece was exactly flush with the wing’s leading edge. Now we could start to make the cover for the space for the mouthpiece of the air intake horn. The space will be covered with a shield made of aluminium sheet, with an opening for the air intake horn. The shield will be fastened to the wing ribs and the edge of the front spar.
The blank for the shield was cut from 1 mm thick aluminium sheet. The blank was bent to match the leading edge shape. After that an opening for the air intake horn for the oil cooler was made. The half-ready shield was fitted to its place. It was observed to sit well. The edges of the opening of the shield were bent inwards by forcing.
Photo by Jorma Laakkonen.
The aluminium shield covering the mouth of the oil cooler intake air horn will be fastened at its edges with screws and flange nuts to the wing ribs and the wing spar. On the fairing side the right-hand edge of the shield remains in between the stem fairing and the metal wing rib, i.e. it will be fastened to its place simultaneously with the edge of wing root fairing. Holes for screws were drilled at the edges of the shield. The holes were strengthened with “crickets” or brass strengthening rings.
Photo by Heikki Kaakinen. The shield was now ready to be test-fitted together with the left-hand side wing root fairing. So the shield was screwed at its edges with a few screws to the leading edge rib and the front spar’s upper and lower edges. After this the left-hand side wing root fairing, next to the oil cooler, was fitted to place. The outer edge of the fairing curved snugly over the air intake horn’s mouthpiece shield’s edge. Assembling the wing root fairing and the shield needs only some fine adjustment. When the fittings of the oil cooler air intake and exhaust air horns, wing root fairings and the air intake horn mouthpiece shield are ready, the aluminium parts that haven’t been chromated will be taken to Patria Industries for yellow chromating. The chromating will take place at the beginning of August. By now it’s clear that the preplanned roll-out event of the MY-14 Myrsky fighter will be postponed. But, as they say, it’s worth while waiting for something good. Photos by Lassi Karivalo except if otherwise mentioned. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky, Tuesday Club |
The Myrsky engine NACA-ring and lower cowling completionKeskiviikko 7.2.2024 - Tuesday Club member The engine’s NACA-ring of the VL Myrsky II (MY-14) under restoration was completed when the tightening collars, made at the Tuesday Club for the four machine gun flash tube openings at the upper part of the NACA-ring, were fitted. With the tightening collars the flash tubes made of steel will be locked to the four openings intended for them in the NACA-ring. Of the four openings the two midmost will have 70 mm flash tubes and the lateral ones will have 45 mm flash tubes. The midmost flash tubes will be fastened at their rear end to brackets on the ring of the engine cradle. The machine gun barrel will thrust itself into the rear end of the lateral flash tube, holding it in place.
The excessively long flash tubes are still “sticking out” of the NACA-ring flash tube openings. They will be cut shorter, so that the flash tube ends will only protrude to some extent out of the flash tube openings. The difference in sizes of the flash tubes is due among other things to the fact that there’s no room at the side of the engine under the upper cowling for thick flash tubes. There are shields as well made of steel plate above these narrow flash tubes. They protect the upper cowling, which is nearly touching the flash tube, from overheating when the machine gun is firing. But all the same, both sizes of the flash tubes serve the four 12,7 mm LKk/42 machine guns.
Building of the lower cowling is almost completed at the Tuesday Club. The last tasks have been the guides, which will be fastened on the cowling’s inside surface stiffening strip, the guiding pegs to the front end of the cowling, and the tightening latches, with which the lower cowling will be locked to the upper cowling. Let it be pointed out, that the MY-14 engine upper cowling will be built in the Finnish Air Force Museum.
The guides, as well as the guiding pegs, and the tightening latches were made at the Tuesday Club. Owing to the guides and the guiding pegs, the lower cowling is easy to fit into place. Three slot-formed guides were riveted on the cowling’s inner surface rearmost stiffening strip. With the aid of these slot-formed guides the cowling “snaps” in place to the fastening ring of the rear part of the engine.
Photo by Jorma Laakkonen. The three guide pegs of the cowling’s front edge were riveted on the inner surface of the cowling’s front edge. The guide pegs of the front edge push into the holes drilled in the NACA-ring hem, thus fastening the cowling from its front edge on the NACA-ring. An insulation strip made of fabric was glued to the hem of the NACA-ring to separate the two metal surfaces from each other.
The upper and lower cowlings are locked to each other with four tightening latches. These four complicated tightening latches were built at the Tuesday Club, according to Myrsky blueprints. With adjustable tightening latches the upper and lower cowling can be locked to each other to suitable tightness. The parts of the latches with springs will be fastened to the upper edge of the lower cowling and the parts with levers to the upper cowling. The parts of the latches with springs are tentatively in place, waiting to be riveted.
After the guides and guiding pegs had been fastened on the cowling, the cowling’s fastening to the NACA-ring was tested. The testing was done while the cowling was still fastened on the last where it was built. It was noted that the guiding pegs fitted expectedly to the holes drilled in the hem of the NACA-ring. Thus the NACA-ring was fastened in place on the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine, after which the lower cowling was fastened from its upper edge to the NACA-ring and from its lower half to the fastening ring of the rear part of the engine. The engine is beginning to resemble that of the Myrsky fighter. Photos by Lassi Karivalo except if otherwise mentioned. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky, Tuesday Club |
MY-14 lateral machine gun caissonsTorstai 14.12.2023 - Reino Myllymäki The armament of VL Myrsky II consists of four synchronized heavy 12,7mm VKT machine guns, located in the front fuselage. Each machine gun has its own caisson. The machine gun caissons in the middle hold 220 and the lateral gun caissons 260 rounds.
The VL Myrsky II restoration project has available three Myrsky fuselages (MY-5, MY-9 and MY-14). In all of them the original rails for the caissons were in place. In all these the rails were intact, but the steel parts were badly rusted. The original caissons couldn’t be found anywhere.
The MY-14 rails were picked out to be restored, dismantled from the fuselage and all the screws and rivets were taken apart. The rust from the steel parts was blown away with glass ball blasting, the surfaces were treated with Isotol-klarlack and painted grey. The aluminium parts were cleaned with glass ball blasting. The parts were riveted together again with aluminium rivets according to the blueprint, and the entity was painted grey all round. The refurbished rails were installed back to their original place.
The entirely new caissons were made according to the blueprints. The blueprints lacked the detail picture of the rear handle, the necessary measurements were obtained from the assembly blueprint. The finished caissons turned out to be slightly too big and they didn’t fit properly into place. The matter could be corrected by adjusting the rails and hammering the caissons. The left-hand caisson remained a bit ill fitting. This was mostly because the left-hand adjustment screws of the rails couldn’t be properly reached. The locking of the caissons was observed to be working.
How the caisson is fitted into place and locked: The caisson slides to place on a roller rail. The locking lever in the lower rail is turned up, and with a screw in the lever the caisson is tightened into place. The handle of the caisson is turned down and a locking peg inside the handle locks the handle in the down-position. The square-shaped tip of the locking screw leans now against the handle of the caisson and prevents the locking screw from turning on its own account. The steel front plate of the caisson is meant to guide the spent cartridges, coming from the gun above, into the collection box.
The caissons will be painted grey all over later, at the same time as other larger parts are taken to be spray painted. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky |
Making the lower sheet metal cowling for the Myrsky engineMaanantai 6.11.2023 - Tuesday Club member The VL Myrsky II (MY-14) engine has a lower and upper cowling, made of sheet metal. The lower cowling was built at the Tuesday Club. The cowling was made of 1 mm thick aluminium sheet. The stiffening formers that were fastened on the inside surface of the cowling were made of the same material. The upper engine cowling will be built at the Finnish Air Force Museum, where the main undertaking will be the restoration of the MY-14 fuselage.
Before the 1 mm sheet, cut out of aluminium plate, was started to be formed into the U-form of the lower engine cowling, a female forming last was cut out of sturdy plywood. This forming last works as a model, showing that the lower engine cowling needs a curved shape. The shaping of the sheet was done by mangling the sheet in a mangler with three rollers and comparing the sheet to the forming last at intervals. After the mangled sheet had been made to press itself tightly against the forming last, it had reached its correct form. Next the formed sheet could be tried on the Pratt & Whitney engine used in the Myrsky. The engine was moved into the restoration shop in the Finnish Aviation Museum. We managed to fit it snugly on the side of the engine.
Photo by Heikki Kaakinen. The lower engine cowling needs several stiffening profile strips to keep it in form. The stiffening strips were cut and bent according to the programming information given at Prolaser Oy. After this we started to fasten the stiffening profiles on the inner surface of the engine cowling. The stiffening strips are fastened by riveting onto the metal casing.
The Myrsky blueprints gave us the exact position of each profile strip on the inner surface of the engine cowling. So we started fastening the profile strips, but not straight with rivets but at first they were fastened in place with 12x3 mm small bolts. The holes for the bolts were drilled on the rivet spots according to the blueprints, and a small bolt was put in the hole to fasten the stiffening strip to place. When all the profile strips had been fastened, the inside of the engine cowling looked a bit like a porcupine, because the nuts of the small bolts were sticking out of the edges of the profile lists.
Now the engine cowling with stiffening profiles was fitted on the engine. The casing still settled laudably in place, so we could start fitting the fastening latches in the top part of the engine cowling. The lower and upper engine cowlings are fastened to each other with openable latches because the cowlings have to come off when maintaining the engine or armament.
Before we started changing the fastening bolts of the stiffening profiles to countersunk aluminium rivets, the outside holes of the bolts were countersunk to suit the flush rivets. The profile strips were riveted, one hole after the other, onto the engine cowling’s inner surface with 8x3 mm aluminium rivets. The riveting was done with a riveting pin and a counter part pressed on the rivet head on the opposite side.
Finally it was checked that the flush heads of the rivets had been riveted flush with the engine cowling surface. Some rivet heads had to be tapped with a hammer flush with the engine cowling surface, so that the outside surface of the cowling was left absolutely smooth after the riveting. The finished lower engine cowling will still be chromated, the same way as all the Myrsky aluminium parts. Photos by Lassi Karivalo expect if otherwise mentioned. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky, Tuesday Club |
MY-14 rear fuselage coveringSunnuntai 29.10.2023 - Reino Myllymäki The rear fuselage plywood covering of the three fuselages (MY-5, -9 and -14), which were at the disposal of the VL Myrsky II restoration project, has completely disappeared, so the MY-14 received a completely new covering. The MY-14 belonged to the so-called main series (Myrsky II) and the blueprints for its rear fuselage have disappeared. The early blueprint of the prototype (Myrsky), the test series (Myrsky I), and the early main series, used for the MY-5 and MY-6, has been preserved. According to it, the rear fuselage has been covered with 1,2 mm shreds of diagonal plywood joined with scarf joints. By examining photographs a means of covering used in later main series aircraft was found. There seven diagonal plywood sheets were used, with grading in the horizontal seams.
Because diagonal plywood isn’t available, we made it by joining together plywood sheets sawn into triangular shape and glued with scarf joints. The sheets obtained in this way were roughly sawed into shape and then fitting them to final measurements. Gluing was done with Gorilla Glue and the necessary pressure was obtained by using stretch film, clamps at the edges and staples in other places. Originally the staples were used at 20 mm partition.
For the first plywood sheets the inner painting was done after the gluing, but the last ones had to be painted before gluing. In the latter case the patches to be glued were drawn on the plywood and only the areas between the lines were painted beforehand. After the gluing the remaining areas were painted, if possible. The used paint was Temalac by Tikkurila and the shade was RAL 7005.
External priming was done according to the original advice with alkyd primer, where about 50% aluminium powder was added to the first layer. After this the fuselage was painted twice over with the same paint but without the aluminium powder. Between the coats of paint the surfaces were given primary sanding and puttied where necessary, using Spakkeli which is the Tikkurila wood putty. As a primer Futura 3-solvent thinned primer, shade RAL 7005 was used. The blog is based on the report and photographs produced by the Finnish Air Force Museum restoration group. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky |
The MY-14 sliding canopyTiistai 10.10.2023 - Reino Myllymäki The original sliding canopy of VL Myrsky II MY-14 has disappeared. However, we had at our disposal two original but badly corroded sliding canopies with all their parts remaining. The plexiglass parts were, however, destroyed.
The sliding canopy which had been chosen to be restored was taken apart and we noticed that total corrosion hadn’t taken place. So the canopy frames were sandblasted and painted grey. The bearings of the sliding mechanism were replaced with bearings of original quality. For some reason the sliding mechanism didn’t work with the new bearings before the outer rim of the bearings was honed slightly narrower.
The locking peg, which moved inside the canopy frame, was rusted solid and the wire moving the peg was cut off. The old locking peg was removed and replaced with a new one, lathed according to the blueprint. A reinforced peg was made, according to modification amendment C 301, because the original peg in the frame was of that model and the locking slots in the runner were measured for the reinforced peg.
The wire inlet/guide piece was in a poor shape and was replaced with a new one, made of parkesine according to the blueprint. A new wire was soldered to the locking peg and an end piece was made to the wire according to the blueprint, and a piece of rubber hose, which worked as the handle was attached with brass string. The original lever for the opening mechanism, cast in brass and the aluminium press button at the end of the lever were cleaned, and the lever was painted grey, the press button black. The “PRESS”-text engraved at the end of the press button was nearly vanished. The engravement was repaired where needed and the text was painted white.
The new bent canopy plexiglass panes were sawn into measure and the necessary rabbets were milled and ground, so that the panes settled flush with the canopy frame strips. The original inner plexiglass aluminium holder strips were cleaned with oxalic acid and painted grey. The plexiglass panes were fastened with new 3 mm screws and nyloc nuts. A suitable hole was made into the canopy’s top plexiglass pane to give access the opening press-button.
The original aluminium strip at the rearmost end of the canopy was badly corroded and broken, so a new strip of 0,7 mm aluminium plate was made according to the blueprint. According to the blueprint there should be a seal made of felt at the front end of the canopy, but according to photographs it seems that it has never been fitted there, so we left it out, too. The blog has been edited from the report by the Finnish Air Force Museum’s restoration group. Photos by the Finnish Air Force Museum. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky |
The MY-14 canopy rear panesSunnuntai 8.10.2023 The VL Myrsky II MY-14 canopy’s rear pane frames with their fastening strips have been preserved but are badly corroded. The frames of the opening hatch have remained as separate parts. The plexiglass panes have all been destroyed.
The rear pane frames were sandblasted from rust. The front and rear fastening points were thoroughly corroded, so replacement parts were welded from new tube.
After repairs the frames were painted and fitted back to place. Some of the plexiglass fastening steel strips were badly corroded and they were replaced with new strips. The axles of the opening hatch locking bars, made of piano wire, were broken off so they were removed, and new axles were welded to replace them. The aluminium strips inside the hatch were bent and cracked, so they had to be straightened and repaired by welding. All the strips and the opening hatch frames were cleaned of rust and painted grey.
The plexiglass panes were cut to measurements and fitted into place. Rabbets were milled and ground in the plexiglass panes, so that the fastening strips settled flush with the plexiglass panes. The plexiglass panes were fastened with new 4 mm screws and nyloc nuts.
The original aluminium locking clasp for the openable hatch was in good condition, so it was only cleaned with oxalic acid and refitted to place. A hole for the antenna wire was made in the right-hand side rear pane. Photos by Finnish Air Force Museum. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky |
Fitting the front parts of the Myrsky wing root fairingsSunnuntai 1.10.2023 - Tuesday Club member The wing and fuselage seam is covered in the VL Myrsky II blueprints by sheets called the wing root fairings. The Myrsky wing root fairings are made of thin aluminium sheet. The Myrsky wing root fairing consists of two parts. The rear part covers the seam from the main spar to the trailing edge of the wing. The front part of the fairing in turn covers the area from the main spar over the leading edge of the wing to the lower surface of the wing and fuselage, reaching the main spar. The edges of the right-hand and left-hand wing root fairings meet under the fuselage in the centre line. The front parts of the wing root fairings are attached from their front edge to the tubular structure the heat shield’s fastening ring. To this same ring are also fastened the aluminium covering plates (engine cowlings) on the front fuselage, which can be opened. The fitting of the wing root fairing front parts, made during the restoration process of the Myrsky II MY-14), is underway at the Tuesday Club. This phase was made possible when the Myrsky MY-14 wing and the MY-5 fuselage frame were joined, to test the fitting of the wing to the fuselage frame. To fit the front ends of wing root fairings in place, we didn’t have the abovementioned fastening ring of the heat shield at our disposal. The MY-14 heat shield with its original fastening ring has already been assembled to the MY-14 fuselage under restoration at the Finnish Air Force Museum. We solved the problem of the lacking fastening ring by building a ring of sturdy plywood to the measurements of the original one. The plywood fastening ring we made must be assembled to the MY-5 fuselage frame we used for the test fitting of the wing, at exactly the spot corresponding the fastening ring of the heat shield. The reason for this is that the front parts of the wing root fairings could be fastened to the plywood ring the same way they will in their time be fastened to the actual heat shield fastening ring, which is presently at the Air Force Museum.
To measure the exact situation of the plywood fastening ring, which emulates the actual heat shield ring, we used the fuselage centre points marked in the Myrsky blueprints. The important one being point 51 of the fuselage centre, which is the centre point at the end of the transverse tube, located on the lower part of the front fuselage frame. From that point the three measuring points of the plywood ring were defined. They are the reference line in the fuselage centre line, formed by the metal tube, and the centre of the two bolts, which lock the wing to the fuselage frame.
First the aluminium tube, which acts as the reference line was aligned to place. The top of the fastening ring was attached to the end of this tube. The plywood heat shield fastening ring was locked to the front bolts of the wing/fuselage joint with adjustable threaded rods from both sides. With the aid of these three fastening points the position of the plywood heat shield attachment ring could be defined to the millimetre in relation to the Myrsky fuselage frame. The top of the plywood attachment ring was propped to the fuselage frame with four metal supports, of which two are adjustable threaded rods. In addition the lower part of the attachment ring was propped to the floor.
After the plywood ring was locked into place to the fuselage frame, the fitting of the front parts of the wing root fairings was started. The wing root fairing front parts were fitted to place in turns. They were attached first to the wing surface with cargo straps to keep the fairing tentatively in place during the fitting.
In the fitting, the wing root fairings were attached from their front part to the plywood attachment ring with clamps. It was noticed with pleasure that the aluminium sheet wing root fairings settled very well into place in relation with both the wing surface and the attachment ring. The front parts of the wing root fairings will finally be fastened to the fastening ring brackets with Dzuz-locks. In the test fitting of the wing root fairings the Dzuz-locks were replaced with plywood brackets, which were fastened to the plywood attachment ring. Because of the Dzuz-locks, a reinforcement ring will be made of aluminium sheet to the front edge of the wing root fairing. It has already been tentatively placed between the front part of the wing root fairing and the plywood brackets in the temporary fastening ring. Photos by Lassi Karivalo. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky, Tuesday Club |
Time to test-fit the Myrsky oil coolerLauantai 19.8.2023 - Tuesday Club member Parallel with the fitting of the wing root fairings, the test-fitting of the barrel-shaped oil cooler was commenced. The Myrsky oil cooler is situated in the fuselage centre line, attached to the main spar “forehead”. Air comes to the oil cooler through an air duct from the left-hand wing’s leading edge. Respectively, after going through the oil cooler the air exits from the underside of the right-hand wing. For the MY-14 fighter restoration we have at our disposal an original Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine’s oil cooler, the very engine that powered the Myrsky. We received it from Airveteran Oy. Instead we have had to manufacture all the accessories for the oil cooler, including the ducts for the supply and exhaust air and the dampers adjusting airflow. The air ducts were made of 1mm thick, easily workable aluminium sheet. The pieces cut off the sheet were shaped in wooden shaping lasts, after which the seams were welded. We also made the dampers or gills that adjust the amount of air going through the oil cooler. The dampers adjusting the amount of supply air are controlled mechanically from the cockpit.
Photos by Heikki Kaakinen. Normally the oil cooler is permanently attached to the main spar. Because the MY-14 wing is made of two halves and the oil cooler is situated at the junction, the oil cooler must always come off, when and if the Myrsky will be dismantled for transportation to another museum or some other place to be placed on display. That’s why a handy rack with attachment straps was constructed. The oil cooler will be strapped on it and the rack is easily detachable from the wing spar and can also easily be reattached.
Photos by Heikki Kaakinen The test-fitting of the oil cooler was started by attaching the oil cooler attachment rack on the junction of the wing halves. The oil cooler was tightened to the straps. After that the cooler’s right-hand cooling air exhaust duct was fitted into place. The duct opens to the underside of the right-hand wing’s leading edge.
Photo by Heikki Kaakinen
The gills adjusting the incoming airflow were attached to the other end of the oil cooler. The gills are situated between the oil cooler and the supply air duct. The duct for incoming air is twofold. One end of the duct’s straight part is attached to the supply air damper and the other end to the front end of the L-shaped supply air duct. The opening of the incoming air duct is situated in the right-hand wing’s leading edge. There’s still work to do in fitting the oil cooler parts before every part is settled in its place as planned. A veritable “collection of gadgets” this Myrsky oil cooler system has proved to be.
The pitot-tube, which measures the airspeed of the aircraft and is situated on the left-hand wing, was also test-fitted. The pitot-tube rack has been in place for long in the left-hand wing’s leading edge. We noticed, to our chagrin, that the 300 mm pitot-tube at our disposal was of a wrong length. It should be of the 500 mm long type. This can be seen in the Myrsky blueprints and photos taken of the Myrsky. Might there be a pitot-tube of the right length for us in the collections of the Finnish Air Force Museum?
Along with all other tasks numerous inspection hatches on the wings are being fitted into place. We had to grind the collars of the hatches a bit deeper, so that the hatches would become flush with the wing surface. Photos by Lassi Karivalo except if otherwise mentioned. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky, Tuesday Club |
MY-14 midmost machine guns got caissonsKeskiviikko 12.4.2023 - Mika Rautasaari and Reino Myllymäki The VL Myrsky II had four heavy VKT 12,7 LLk/42-machine guns in the upper half of the forward fuselage. The machine guns were copies of 13,2 mm FN-machine guns, as the result of Swedish-Finnish illegal co-operation. They had been adjusted to the 12,7x99 NATO cartridges, which were already in use in Finland in the Brewster 239 fighters’ Colt MG 53-machine guns. Of the four machine guns, the caissons for the two midmost ones housed 220 rounds each. For the MY-14 restoration, it was a key issue that the innermost caissons, nor the mounting rails for the starboard one, hadn’t survived. However, the mounting rails for the port caisson were found, as was the lower support. Apart from that, the electric ammunition counters and the ammunition belt feeders’ guiding steel rolls, which had remained in the feeding chutes of all the three of Myrsky’s lateral machine guns, could be found.
The original port side mounting rails and the lower support were blasted free of rust with glass balls, covered with Isotrol and painted grey. For the starboard side, new rails and the lower support were manufactured from steel according to the original blueprints. The lower support has threaded elevation adjustment.
The sides of the caissons were cut for us from 1 mm aluminium sheet with laser to the measurements in the blueprints, as were parts for the lid and handles. The edges of the caisson sides and the flanges that were cut from aluminium sheets, were bent to shape with a mould made of plywood.
The original steel rolls guiding the ammunition belt feeding were cleaned with phosphoric acid and steel wool and the roll bearings were cleaned and greased. The ammunition counters had already been refurbished earlier, along with the assembly of the feeder chutes of the lateral machine guns. The refurbished rolls were installed inside the caissons, with the new belt guiding plates made of steel.
The lids of the caissons and the handles that could be turned to an upright position, were made of steel plates according to the blueprints. The lids were fitted with spring loaded latches and a hinge made of steel, and the ammunition counters were installed. A cover for the ammunition counter wire was made of aluminium according to the blueprints. Furthermore, an elevation piece of plywood was made for the connector, into which the ammunition counter connector was coupled with a collar made of aluminium. Guiding pieces of steel were made to the sides of the caissons to hold them in position on the installation rails.
The caissons were test assembled with screws and installed to the fuselage for the final assembly of the guiding rails. When the guiding rails had been fitted into place, the previously repaired attachment latches for the cases could be adjusted into the right place. The latch settles into the groove of the inner handles. The caissons were observed to settle into place reasonably well, although there isn’t any extra space to mention, and some pipes tended to be in the way when settling the caissons into place. Finally the caissons were dismantled and the aluminium parts were left to wait for anodizing and painting and the steel parts for protective lacquer and painting, after which the final assembly will be made by riveting. Photos by the Finnish Air Force Museum. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky |
The spring season 2023 for the Tuesday Club got startedLauantai 21.1.2023 - Tuesday Club member After a well-earned Christmas break work continued on January 10th, 2023 from where it was left on going for the break.
Photos by Reijo Siirtola The repair of the Caravelle III (DAF) nose radome damage was started by making an opening for the cover for the attachment bolt in the damage point, which was laminated over. An opening was sawn according to the measurements of the cover with a keyhole saw, after which a rabbet was laminated along the edges of the opening, against which the cover will be pressed and locked to the frame of the attachment bolt. Simultaneously the straightening of the damage to the nose pressure bulkhead outer circle was started. The crushed bulkhead circle has to be straightened in order to get the radome edge to be pressed tightly against the bulkhead circle and locked in place with three bolts.
Photo by Heikki Kaakinen By the beginning of the summer the starboard wingtip and the starboard horizontal stabilizer damages have to be repaired, so that everything will be ready when the Caravelle III (OH-LEA , ex SE-DAF) ) called “Bluebird” in Finnair colours will be transferred from the Pansio hall in Turku to close proximity of the Turku Airport terminal.
Photos by Juha Veijalainen The surface handling of the parts of the Caravelle towbar, which was brought along with the Caravelle III from Arlanda, is underway. The towbar used by SAS will be restored to the livery of the towbars used by Finnair. The sandblasted parts of the towbar are being painted with the grey Isotrol primer. The surface colour will be “Finnair blue”, apart from the towbar ends, which will be painted with yellow high visibility paint.
Photo by Antti Laukkanen
Photos by Juha Veijalainen
Photo by Osmo Väisänen We finally managed to dislocate the pilot’s seat from the cockpit of the MiG 21 BIS (MG-111), which will be transformed to a cockpit simulator. The dislocation was made possible by a dislocation bar, instructions and a manual received from the Guild of the Karelian Wing. Lots of original wiring still needs to be removed from the cockpit, before we can have access there to install the actual simulator equipment. The covering of the engine air intake duct openings in the cockpit rear and front bulkheads with plexiglass is underway.
Photo by Heikki Kaakinen Work continues with the Caudron C.50 (CA-50) aircraft. The re-covering of the fully restored port elevator with linen fabric was started and the unsatisfactorily tightened patches on lower wings were continued to be replaced with modern Oratex-material. The winter season barely allows any work on the interior of the DC-3 (DO-5) fuselage owned by Aviation Museum Society Finland. Work will continue with the warmer spring weather. Well, we have achieved something; the door between the cockpit and the cargo hold has received a new coat of paint. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky, Caudron C.59, CA-50, MiG-21BIS;MG-111 |
Working on the gills at TikkakoskiMaanantai 17.10.2022 - Reino Myllymäki When the transporting of ace Kyösti ” Kössi ” Karhila’s war trunk from Katajanokka to the Air Force Museum at Tikkakoski was added to the trip to Mikkeli, the opportunity offered itself to go and visit the Museum restoration shop to see and discuss the Myrsky restoration with the assistant conservator Antti Lappalainen. The main switchboard has been under work lately (of which there’s been a blog) and the engine radiator gills. They were, of course, rather an advanced construction because they moved lengthwise with the fuselage, without adding drag when deployed. According to historical documents the idea was taken from the gills of Junkers Ju-88, although in this bomber the gills opened outwards, at least according to photos.
Of the Myrsky gills mainly parts of the gill actuating motor and some bearing housings have remained, in other words much has been done and must be done as neo production. A big entity are the actual gill plates, which superficially seem simple, but are rather complicated entities.
The gill mechanism, that leans on the cowling support frames, works so that the gill motor transforms the rotating movement through an axle and chain to screws, which when rotating move the gills lengthwise on their axles. The gills can be left in any position between their fore and after positions.
The gills are rather ”interestingly” shaped by the machine guns. In the photo carpenter/artisan Mika Rautasaari holds in his hand a mould or last of a gill that was milled out of wood in the spring. Based on this mould the part of the gill by the machine gun will be made. The final stretch in the restoration of MY-14 is looming on the horizon. Translation: Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky |
A glance under the cowling at TikkakoskiLauantai 10.9.2022 - Reino Myllymäki The undersigned had a chance – and need, too – to visit Tikkakoski to see how the restoration of MY-14 proceeded there. The work on the aluminium sheets forming the front part of the fuselage of MY-14 to make the opening hatches was nearly finished. Of the original sheets of aluminium there remained only a small piece around the root of the antenna mast. It had been part of MY-5 at its time. MY-5 and MY-6 have proved to differ from the other aircraft of the main production batch, even though they belonged to it.
Photos: Finnish Air Force Museum. On the front fuselage sheets there are hatches for entry to the filler caps of the oil-and fuel tanks. There are similar hatches elsewhere, too, but for some reason the width of the hatch for the fuel tank is 10 cm, whereas the width of all other hatches is 11 cm. Because of the 1 cm difference, the parts of the hatch differ from all other hatches. The reason isn’t known, one only wonders….
By turning the sheets, more peculiarities appear. The hatches have “happened to be” in a strange position, so that the sheet stiffeners had to be modified so that the side reinforcements, that form the lips of the hatches, could be fitted.
The jigsaw puzzle consisting of pieces of sheet metal is impressive, and the sheets could not have been cut according to plans, but the cutting lines had to be improvised. Such is the situation in restoration, but the state of the affairs has probably been the same when the aircraft were constructed at their time. Some of the braces attach straight to a counter piece in the fuselage, which means that a piece has been cut off from the sheet below. In another place the brace is attached straight to the sheet of aluminium beneath. After a couple of hour’s wondering, the MY-14 stabilizers were packed in my car, where their journey continued to Vantaa. Photos by Reino Myllymäki, unless otherwise indicated. Translation by Matti Liuskallio. |
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Avainsanat: aviation history, restoration, MY-14, VL Myrsky |
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