Indoor air humidity control in the Caravelle

Maanantai 1.12.2025 - Ismo Matinlauri & Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

The winter season is severe for the Caravelle’s interior. Especially the high humidity increases the risks of mould and damages the surfaces. Temperature changes cause the indoor air humidity to condense on surfaces which are not insulated.

Cold weather and temperatures below zero Centigrade are not a risk as such. There are no parts or structures in the aircraft which could be broken or frozen in low temperatures. In really cold weather the outdoor air doesn’t contain much water.

Humidity control in winter 2024–2025 

In autumn 2024 the passenger seats and their textiles had not yet been assembled in the Caravelle’s cabin. The interior, however, with the wall and ceiling insulation and its covering materials was almost ready in the front part of the cabin.

That winter we reduced the indoor air humidity by placing 5-6 bags of salt evenly around the cabin. The salt bags remove water from the humid indoor air by absorbing it into the salt, which melts and drips into a bucket below. The method is cheap and easy to assemble, but to ensure optimal results it needs regular monitoring, emptying the drip containers, and maintenance of the salt bags. We had to replace the salt bags once during the winter. We also had borrowed a small condensing air dryer which operated only in temperatures above zero. 

In spring we noticed, to our dismay, small new spots of mould on the new wall surface materials which had been installed before the winter. It was clear that before the following winter we had to find a more efficient way to control the indoor air humidity.

Alternatives

In early autumn 2025 Erja Reinikainen scanned the alternatives we could use for humidity control, and the following three options were chosen for detailed analysis.

1) Air-to-air heat pump

The air-to-air heat pump operates by transferring thermal energy from one place to another via its indoor and outdoor units, utilizing the state changing features of a refrigerant. In winter it transfers heat from outdoor air heating the indoor space where the indoor unit is. In summer the process is reversed, and the heat pump transfers heat out from the indoor space, cooling it. The dehumidifying function utilizes the refrigerant and the cold surface of the indoor unit coil, where the indoor air is cooled and its humidity condenses on the coil. The condensed water is drained from the indoor unit.

Advantages

• Purchase cost 0 €, we have at our disposal a 16-year-old second-hand air-to-air heat pump (with one indoor unit and an outdoor unit)
• The equipment is available without delay
• The heat pump could be used for heating and cooling the cabin and cockpit when there is somebody working inside

Questions

• How to get a contractor to install an old heat pump unit and what is the installation cost?
• Is the refrigerant piping ok and without leaks?
• Will there be problems in the assembly?
• Will the old controls and electronics work reliably in humidity control?

Disadvantages

• Dehumidification will produce condensing water in the indoor unit, the water must be led out from the aircraft
• The heat pump will not dehumidify indoor air in temperatures below +10°C
• The heating capacity of such an old unit may not be sufficient when the outdoor temperature is below -10°C
• There are EU restrictions for using the R410A refrigerant in new and existing installations. Furthermore, there may be problems in purchasing the refrigerant in the future and/or its cost may be high

2. Desiccant dehumidifier
 
A desiccant dehumidifier has a rotating wheel, often referred to as a desiccant rotor, which is made from layers of fibrous material impregnated with a moisture-absorbing substance such as silica gel. As the wheel slowly turns, it divides the airflow through the unit into two streams: the process air and the regeneration air. The process air, which contains excess humidity from the room, passes through the section of the wheel dedicated to moisture removal. Its water vapour is adsorbed onto the desiccant material, resulting in dry air that is then circulated back into the indoor environment. Meanwhile, the regeneration air stream is heated before it passes through a separate sector of the wheel. This warm air drives off the accumulated moisture from the desiccant material, effectively "recharging" it for further use. The now humid regeneration air is expelled outside, usually via a dedicated hose. This continuous cycle allows the dehumidifier to efficiently extract moisture from the air, even at low temperatures, without adding heat to the room.

Advantages

• Ready to use, no installation, plug in
• A compact unit, no piping, no water in the unit
• Dehumidification works up to -10...-20°C temperatures

Questions

• How to duct the humid regeneration air from the aircraft
• Where is the extract air hose stored when the dehumidification is not needed?
• How to clear the equipment away if there are visitors coming to see the aircraft during winter months?

Disadvantages

• The purchase cost is high
• Munters units are more than 2 000 euros + VAT, Trotec TTR 300 has similar capacity and is 1780 euros + VAT
• Are there cheaper models, rented units, second-hand units?

3. Humidity controlled ventilation

The indoor humidity is controlled with mechanical ventilation (supply and extract). The air change rate in the cabin is once in 2…4 hours. Heated supply air is blown in through one end of the cabin, and the humid extract air is taken out from the other end. The fan operation (or air flow) is controlled by measuring the indoor humidity.

Advantages

• Purchase cost for fans, ducts, controls and cables, etc. is difficult to estimate
• Requires a lot of installation work by the Caravelle team, maybe
• Takes time to plan, purchase and install

Questions

• Is the system sufficient for dehumidification?
• What is the energy consumption?

Disadvantages

• Electricity use for heating supply air may be high
• The ductwork in the cabin is a permanent installation – or then assembly and disassembly is needed every year

Selection of dehumidification system

The selection between the three alternatives had to be made considering ease of assembly, reliability and economy. Looking at the purchase costs and electricity consumption there were significant differences.

The used air-to-air heat pump we were offered was considered too old and a new one too expensive, and the dehumidification in low temperatures wasn’t reliable. The assembly would have required changes in the aircraft to bring in the refrigerant pipes. The installation of the outdoor and indoor units would have been permanent and would have changed the appearance of the aircraft.

The ventilation option wasn’t encouraging. Heating the supply air with electricity during the long winter months would have been too expensive for our limited budget. This option would also have required proper design and planning before buying the equipment. The assembly work would have taken time too. 

This is how we ended up choosing the desiccant dehumidifier. An interesting leasing option was found but eventually we found suitable second-hand devices in an online auction, on a reasonable price. The Aviation Museum Society bought two Trotec TTR 250 dehumidifiers. One of them stayed in Turku to be installed in the Caravelle and the other was taken to Tuusula, to the new premises of the Tuesday Club, to be used for dehumidification in one of their sea containers.

Installation

We decided to place the dehumidifier in the middle of the open area in the rear cabin. The dry air is led through two ducts to both ends of the aircraft, i.e. to the cockpit and the rear galley. The dehumidifier will take in the humid indoor air from mid-cabin, causing an air circulation inside the aircraft. The humid regeneration air is exhausted from the cabin where the dehumidifier is located.
We found a good and elegant solution for the exhaust air hose as we had spare exit hatches available. One of the exit hatches was brought in from the storage container and a through hole was drilled in the middle of its triangular window. The exhaust air hose is led through the hole in a duct bend, which is fastened tightly on the hole. When the dehumidification period is over in spring, the dehumidifier and its ducts and the exit hatch with the hole in its window can be disassembled and taken to storage. An original exit hatch will be put back into place for the summer when there will be visitors coming to see the Caravelle. With this arrangement there won’t be any extra installations, equipment or through holes visible during the summer season.

The installation can be seen in the picture. The dehumidifier had to be placed on a bench which is on a table, because the exhaust air hose for the warm and humid air has to slope downwards so that there won’t be water pockets in it. Through these it might be possible to have the water leak back into the dehumidified space.

In the photo below the humid air intake is behind the dehumidifier and can’t be seen. The dry air is blown through the duct back into the cabin. The T-joint in the duct divides the air into the cockpit and the rear galley. The duct is 100 mm in diameter and 10 m in length to both directions. Towards the cockpit the last 5 metres is made of plastic land drainage pipe with holes in it. This distributes the supply air evenly into the front part of the cabin where the fabric-covered passenger seats are. 

The humid exhaust air is blown out of the cabin through the hose which is led through the hole in the exit window as seen in the picture. We also made sure that there is a sufficient flow of make-up air through the aircraft’s own ventilation ducts, even with natural ventilation without fans.

We asked comments from Sweden how they control the humidity in their museum aircraft which are stored outside. Flygvapenmuseum from Linköping replied that in their Caravelle they use Munters desiccant dehumidifier, i.e. similar to ours. They were pleased with it and said it works very well also in winter conditions.

After a few weeks’ experience we can say that the results are good, the dehumidifier keeps the relative humidity in the cabin about 15-20 percent points lower than the outdoor relative humidity. It is too early to say how well the dehumidifier will work through the winter, but we will collect data during the winter months to ensure that this solution was a good choice.

Photos: Jouko Tarponen

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen

MY-5 fuselage frame brought from Finnish Aviation Museum to the Puusepäntie workshop

Perjantai 21.11.2025 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

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.

At the Finnish Aviation Museum the fuselage frame of Myrsky MY-5, which is in poor condition, has been restored to be used in the Demo-Myrsky. This work has continued at the museum, because the work phases on the fuselage frame have required welding and other metal work and the Puusepäntie workshop doesn’t yet have the facilities for doing this kind of work. Missing parts have been added to the MY-5 fuselage frame, and the windscreen entity, canopy frames and foot controls have been installed. At Puusepäntie the fuselage formers, horizontal stabilizer and rudder have been built and the original, but badly damaged Myrsky aluminium-structure vertical stabilizer has been repaired.

Finally we are in the situation where the work on the MY-5 fuselage frame has been completed at the museum, and the fuselage could be transported from the museum to Puusepäntie. At Puusepäntie the fuselage covering work can be started by fastening the formers on the fuselage frame. The fuselage will be covered only on one side so that the inner structures remain visible.

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.

When arriving at Puusepäntie, the cargo straps around the MY-5 were unfastened and the fuselage frame was lowered from the trailer on the tarmac outside the workshop. Then the fuselage frame was pulled on its auxiliary wheels, welded on the frame, into the workshop. It fitted well into the working area. Now the three fuselages (Super Chug, Snoopy and MY-5) stand side by side, waiting to be restored.

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

The repairs on the Super Chug fuselage under way

Keskiviikko 19.11.2025 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

The repairs on the Super Chug OH-XTM, which was involved in a serious landing accident, have started. The first target will be the damaged fuselage of the aircraft. The lower part has been damaged between the rear section of the cockpit area and the firewall. The firewall is the rear section of the nose part, covered with a metal plate on the outer surface for fire protection. The lower part of the fuselage has been completely destroyed to the floor level, and the covering plywood on both sides is partly tattered halfway up the fuselage. The rear fuselage remained intact in the crash.

The fuselage between the cockpit and the firewall of the OH-XTM was laid ”inverted” to facilitate repairs.

To start the repairs on the wooden fuselage, which had been stripped of the engine, the front section of the fuselage was emptied of all the wires and gadgets. First the fuel tank, which filled the front section of the fuselage, had to be removed to gain access to the wires and tubes leading from the cockpit to the engine bay. The fuel tank fastening straps were opened, after which the tank was lifted out of the front section of the fuselage. The tank straps were left in place for the time being.

After the fuel tank had been removed, the wires and cables going through the firewall from the cockpit to the engine bay were detached from their holders and the wires were pulled through the firewall. To completely empty the front section of the fuselage, we had to detach the rudder pedals, which were attached to the broken front fuselage former, and the wires leading from the pedals to the rudder.

Photo: Jouni Ripatti

When the aircraft hit the ground, the firewall was mostly torn loose from its fuselage joint and simultaneously it was damaged at the edges. It had to be taken out for repairs. The firewall and fuselage joint seam was sawn open, using a multi-tool saw blade, to cut loose the part that was still hanging to the fuselage. Thus the firewall could be detached from the fuselage for repairs and the space between the cockpit and firewall opened, apart from the fuel tank straps.

Photoa: Ari Aho

As to the fuselage side damaged covering plywood sheets, it was established that the repairing would be better done by covering anew the side areas with plywood. Thus the damaged areas of plywood were sawn off with the saw blade of the multi-tool. The plywood was sawn along the fuselage stringers so that about 10 mm of plywood was left outside the edge as a rabbet for the future butt joint. A 20 mm high wooden batten will be glued on the fuselage stringer as a support for the butt joint where the edges of the old and new plywood join.

Photos: Lassi Karivalo, unless otherwise mentioned

ranslation to English: Matti Liuskallio

The service door stair restored

Sunnuntai 16.11.2025 - Ismo Matinlauri

Suomeksi

The Caravelle restoration team usually uses the right-hand side service door, located opposite to the passenger door. It is smaller than the passenger door, but more convenient to use in the daily activities as it is located on the side of the office container. The problem has been that we haven’t had a suitable stair for the door.
  
The picture below was taken on 6 October 2025, when the fuselage was cleaned on the outside after the summer. The stair in the picture was already in use in Pansio where the aircraft was being restored during the winter 2022-23. We had to build additional steps to the top and bottom to make the height match and to have safe access to the doorway.

In summer Inter Handling Finland Oy donated us a used airport stair, which had a perfect height to fit our service door. The stair looked rather worn but was sturdy and safe to use. The picture below was taken on 9 September 2024.

Several alternatives for repainting the stair were investigated. The main idea was to have it sandblasted and painted twice. We had paint left over from painting the aircraft so there would have been enough of grey primer and white top-coat paint.

However, transporting the stair to be sandblasted turned out to be a problem, and the painting plans ground to a halt. The stair was slightly too wide and too tall for ordinary truck transport, so in autumn 2024 we decided, for economic reasons, to leave its refurbishment to wait for better times.

In early autumn 2025 Inter Handling contacted us and offered to sandblast and paint the stair in their premises at Turku airport. We accepted this offer with cheers.

When the Inter Handling stairs were taken to be painted, we took the temporary stair (seen in the first photo) into use once more.

After a couple of months we got the refurbished and re-painted stair back into place. The new-looking stair was handed over by the chairman of the Inter Handling Finland Oy board, Mr. Tero Nurminen. In the photo taken on 12 November 2025 he is seen on the right, with Ismo Matinlauri from the Caravelle team.

Next spring when the weather gets warmer, the painting will be finalized when the logo of Aviation Museum Society Finland is painted above the words Turku Airport.

Aviation Museum Society Finland thanks Inter Handling Finland Oy for supporting our Caravelle project by donating and refurbishing the service door stair.

Photos: Jouko Tarponen

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen

Fashion photogarphs from the shoot at our Caravelle in july

Lauantai 8.11.2025 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

A Caravelle blog published in the summer talked about a photo shoot on the Caravelle site at Turku airport when the fashion collection of Konsta Eskola, an Aalto University fashion design student, was being photographed.

The collection is a part of Konsta’s final project in his bachelor’s studies, where he has evaluated airline uniforms and the possibilities for their reuse. All materials of Konsta’s collection – except aluminium and recycled leather – are from parts of Finnair’s and Norra’s used uniforms. He has taken apart the uniform parts he received from the airlines, and from this material he created new outfits. Konsta’s final project collection includes six looks.

We got pictures which were taken on that day by photographer Simran Kaur and with Konsta’s permission we publish some of them on this website.

Photos: Simran Kaur

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen

The OH-XEA Snoopy fuselage covering

Lauantai 8.11.2025 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

Before the Tuesday Club’s summer break, we had attached the covering fabrics on the Snoopy’s fuselage upper and lower surfaces and on both sides of the cockpit. We couldn’t have covered more at the time because we had run out of the covering fabric we used. However, we had time to start the tightening lacquering on the fuselage upper and lower covering.

After the beginning of the autumn season we found a solution for continuing the Snoopy’s fuselage covering, because a bolt of fabric was found at the Finnish Aviation Museum and we got the use of it. We made the standard tightening test with nitrocellulose lacquer by attaching the fabric to a test frame. The test was started with water tightening, advancing by stages to 25%, 50%, 75% to full 100 % lacquer. The result of our testing was that the fabric seemed to be suitable for continuing the Snoopy’s fuselage covering.

The covering of the Snoopy’s sides was started by making a cardboard template of the sides. According to them, pieces of fabric were cut off for the covering of the sides. The pieces of fabric, cut to form, were attached to the frame of the fuselage with contact glue. The fabric was first glued from its upper edge to the frame tube of the fuselage. After this the fabric was glued from its lower edge to the frame tube, stretching it from the hem at the same time. This way the fabric was made tentatively tight to wait for the water tightening and the subsequent tightening with nitrocellulose lacquer.

After the glue had dried at the seams, the pieces of fabric were water tightened, i.e. soaked with boiled water. After the fabric had dried, the tightening process with nitrocellulose lacquer was started. We began with 25% lacquer and now we have progressed to 50% and 75% lacquer. As the lacquer we used NC-Speed nitro lacquer, tinted with iron oxide. Simultaneously the tightening lacquering of the fuselage lower and upper surfaces, and the cockpit walls have been continued.

As the lacquering of the Snoopy’s sides proceeded, we noticed to our dismay that the tightening of the side fabric wasn’t even. The warp of the fabric had tightened better vertically than horizontally. The consequence being that a waviness was to be seen in the fabric. This new fabric wasn’t as well tightening as we had observed in the test we made. To be honest, we noticed that after 50% of lacquering, the waviness had diminished but not entirely vanished. It is unlikely that we will try to acquire a new better fabric to re-cover the Snoopy’s sides.

We still had to fabric the cockpit door and the floor of the cockpit and the bottom of the nose section. Cardboard templates were once again made of the above mentioned, and the right size pieces of fabric were cut off. The fabric was identical to the fabric used to the fuselage sides. We, however, believed the fabric will tighten enough in small areas. Again, we attached the fabric rims to the fuselage metal structure with contact glue.

The door with windows was covered up to the window opening, which will be cut open only after the fabric has been finally tightened with tightening lacquer, and the fabric glued to the door’s window frame. The cockpit door and the cockpit fabric and the fabric of the nose section lower part have now received two applications of 25% NC-Speed nitrocellulose lacquer, after the initial water tightening. The tightening of the covering fabric seems to be promising.

Photos: Lassi Karivalo

Translation to English: Matti Liuskallio

Restoring the instrument panel in the cockpit

Maanantai 27.10.2025 - Ismo Matinlauri and Martti Saarinen

Suomeksi

When the former SAS Caravelle SE-DAF arrived in Finland in August 2022, its fuselage was tilted 45 degrees due to the limited height in the ferry’s vehicle deck. In the former Pansio shipyard hall, where the aircraft was brought for restoration, the fuselage remained in this position for the first five months. This allowed easier access to the upper section of the fuselage where the cleaning and grinding work started.

In the beginning of 2023 the fuselage was turned into an upright position, and we could enter the cabin and the cockpit for the first time. We were shocked – a mild expression for what we felt – to see saw how drastically the interior had been disassembled. The cabin seats, overhead shelves and surface materials had been removed, and there was not much left of the cockpit equipment either.

Cockpit interior on 27 March 2023 when the Turku team saw it for the first time

In the cockpit, about 30-35 instruments or display panels were missing from the instrument panel. The paint was peeling and the surfaces looked rundown after decades of neglect on the edge of Arlanda airport.

Martti Saarinen, a member of the Caravelle technical team, set to looking for the missing instruments and radio operating panels in co-operation with Antti Hyvärinen. Janne Salonen, for his part, contacted the aviation museums in Sweden to find missing instruments.

The cockpit on 25 October 2023, about seven months after the previous picture was taken.

Several of the missing instruments have been found, many have been donated by various organisations and private persons. Some instruments have not been available, so Martti Saarinen built copies (non-operational replicas) to replace them.

Painting work progressed in the cockpit, and the glare shield was unfastened to be restored. 
The side panels of the cockpit were painted by the Turku team. To maintain an authentic appearance, the original paintwork was retained on the instrument panels.
The glare shield above the instrument panel was restored at Vantaa by the Tuesday Club of Aviation Museum Society Finland.

The hunt for the missing instruments was still on and one by one items were found online. In autumn 2025 the instrument panel was quite complete. Other equipment in the cockpit was also restored, e.g. the throttle levers. In 2025 also the textiles of the pilots’ seats were cleaned, repaired and partly replaced.

The cockpit on 24 September.2025 when lighting had been installed

When the electrical work progressed, lighting was installed in the cockpit. The new led strip under the glare shield lights up the instrument panel quite nicely. There is still some painting work remaining and we are looking for the last missing parts and radio panels.

The autopilot control panel in September 2025

One of the latest additions on the instrument panel is the autopilot panel. Martti Saarinen had to build it because a real one couldn’t be found.

The radio panels in the pilots’ ceiling panel on 13 October 2025

The latest addition is the control panel of the ADF radio, which we were donated in early October 2025. It can be seen in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture.

We are still looking for some items and maybe one day we will find real instruments to replace the replicas we have now in the cockpit.

The control panel of the HF-radio and the fault indication panels for the navigation systems are missing. Although the HF-installation varied on the SAS aircraft. Initially, black cover plates were used on the aircraft when some equipment had not been installed.

Photos: Jouko Tarponen

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen

OH-XTM Super Chug fuselage ready for repairs

Lauantai 18.10.2025 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

After the Super Chug fuselage had been moved to the Puusepäntie workhop, the preparations to restore the damaged fuselage began. The first task was to detach the engine from the fuselage, because handling the damaged fuselage with the heavy engine in place would be nearly impossible.

Photo: Matti Kainulainen

So we started to detach the Super Chug’s VW 1600 engine from the fuselage together with the engine mounting. In doing so we’ll avoid detaching the wires, tubes and engine equipment within the engine mounting frame.

Photo: Jouni Ripatti

The engine mounting was attached to the fuselage with five bolts. We tried to open the nuts of the bolts that penetrated the firewall. The bolts, however, turned simultaneously when the nuts were turned. Somehow, we had to gain access to the bolt heads behind the firewall. If the nose of the aircraft were intact, gaining access to the bolts would be almost impossible, because the bolts were situated behind the fuel tank between the cockpit and the firewall. Now, however, the nose of the aircraft was torn because of the crash, so we could reach the bolts and unscrew the nuts.

Photo: Ari Aho

Photo: Antti Hietala

At the same time all the wires and cables, connecting the engine through the firewall, were detached. Part of them could be easily detached, but others fought us all the way. When the engine oil had been drained, we were ready to detach the engine.

Photos: Antti Hietala

Photo: Ari Aho

The engine was tied with cargo straps to an engine hoist, and the engine was pulled gingerly out of the nose of the Super Chug, hanging from the straps with the engine mounting. The detached engine was lowered on straps to a solid worktop to wait for further action.

The fuselage without the engine was still resting attached to a support frame made of pieces of four by two. Now the fuselage could be detached from the frame. The straps and other devices were opened, and the fuselage was carefully lifted from the supporting frame on to the table. We were a little apprehensive to lift the fuselage, nearly broken in half, but it held on well.

Because the fuselage of the OH-XTM has been damaged in the lower part between the cockpit and the firewall, it would be the most convenient, if the fuselage were to be on its back. So it was decided to place the fuselage on its back on two trestles, to facilitate the restoration work. One trestle would be by the cockpit opening and the other would support the rear fuselage at the stem of the vertical stabilizer.

We pondered what the suitable working height would be to restore the fuselage. It was decided to be 120 cm from the floor level. We adjusted the legs of the trestle by the cockpit so that the Super Chug’s fuselage top line, or in this case the damaged bottom line, would be at the height of 120 cm. The rear fuselage trestle had to be built.

It was built from the dismantled four by two pieces of wood of the Super Chug’s supporting frame. It resembled a normal wing trestle, only it was narrower. The level of the trestle was adjusted with a piece of fire hose used as strap, so that the whole of the fuselage was level and 120 cm from the floor.

After finishing the rear fuselage support trestle, the fuselage of the Super Chug was lifted upside down on the trestles. Thus the fuselage of the OH-XTM is ready for the restoration work.

Photos: Lassi Karivalo, unless otherwise mentioned

Translation to English: Matti Liuskallio

Inventory and other work on an autumn friday, 19 september 2025

Perjantai 19.9.2025 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

The Caravelle volunteers in Turku have been busy all autumn with the interior work in the rear cabin, electrical installation and other finishing work as well as improving the outdoor area. This blog, however, concentrates on the activities of a day when the three Team Helsinki/Vantaa/Vihti members were on site. Another blog will be written later about the interior work.

Instruments have been installed into the instrument panel in the cockpit and finally the last item could be added. We don’t have an original autopilot operating panel, but a skilfully made copy was assembled – and it looks great.

Photo: Martti Saarinen

In the cabin new stoppers were tested on the curtain track. They prevent the curtain roller slides from slipping from their track if the curtains are moved. We have some original stoppers, but new ones are needed too. The prototypes of the new stoppers proved to work well, so some additional copies will be made.

We were donated an original Caravelle first class double seat and its refurbishment will be done next spring, before bringing it into the cabin. We have already started with some preparations and planning for the refurbishment. The seat will need mechanical repairs, and new padding and covers need to be made. Now we did some measurements and padding tests for drawing the patterns for new covers.

Photo: Erja Reinikainen

You may remember that a container full of material came from Arlanda along with the aircraft. It has been parked in our storage area at Turku airport since early summer 2023. Another container, located beside the aircraft, has worked as a shed for tools and material needed in the restoration work. Quite a job was done as the contents of the two sea containers were now inventoried and organized. In the organizing work the visiting volunteers were accompanied with two Turku team members.

Photo: Jouni Halme

The container in the storage area still contains some items which were dismantled from the SE-DAF in the summer in 2022, but there is a lot of other material we got from Arlanda, packed in wooden boxes and some loose in the container. At Arlanda the material was inventoried, and the boxes were labelled with texts describing the contents. During the years parts and some cabin textiles have been collected from the boxes and installed in the aircraft. The boxes have also been rummaged through for other purposes.

Now all loose items in the container were checked, the boxes were opened, and an inventory was made of the material we have. The material was sorted into two categories: a) Caravelle parts which may be used in the aircraft or in the exhibition and b) material from other aircraft types which may be sold or placed on display. A real treasure were the six original and well-preserved unused windowpanes (plexiglass) which can be installed in the cabin. Cockpit items were found too, pilot headset and microphones, among others. There is plenty of interesting material for the exhibition, such as the “black box”, refuelling panel, radio equipment and different kinds of tools and small parts.

Photo: Jouni Halme

We also collected all kinds of waste and disposable material from the storage container. This included cargo pallets, timber used in the transportation of the aircraft parts, etc. and material which had corroded or crackled or become brittle during the decades. There were also some textile items which had been dirty, torn or damaged already when they had been packed.

There is plenty of material in the wooden boxes, waiting to be used in the future: e.g. seat covers, seat belts and tray tables which are not from a Caravelle. The boxes were re-labelled and packed into the container so that they are easily accessible.

It is easy to continue from here in the spring.

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen

Restoration of the Bristol Blenheim pilot's seat under way

Maanantai 8.9.2025 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

Last year we finished the restoration of the co-pilot’s stool from a V-series (BL-106) Bristol Blenheim bomber. Our object was a short-nosed Blenheim, assembled after the war from surplus parts in the 1950’s, having dual controls for training purposes. Beside the pilot’s seat there was a stool-like seat for the copilot. The controls in front of the seat were connected with rods to the captain’s controls. Mind you, that this series V-Blenheim aircraft (BL-106), assembled after the war, has in fact nothing in common with the UK-built war horse (BL-106), which was destroyed in a crash landing on 8.6.1944.

After restoring the copilot’s stool we moved our sights on the pilot’s seat. Restoring is all about cleaning the seat frame, basically a steel tube construction, from dirt, grease and rust. For the part of the seat pan, it meant cleaning the surfaces and sanding before painting. Note that the seat had no back armour.

As the first task we detached the leather-covered padding of the seat armrest to be conserved. After that we started the cleaning of the pilot’s seat. Soon we realized that cleaning would be more efficient and easier, if we could separate the aluminium seat pan and the seat frame.

Separating the seat pan and the seat frame necessitated the removing of the steel cross tube, rather like a big split pin, joining them. The cross tube consists of two tubes, joined by a butt joint, and a sleeve around the seam. We finally managed to slide the rusted sleeve from the seam and thus separate the tubes. We stripped the seat frame of all the parts that we could and detached the numerous rusty clips and other fasteners from the frame to be cleaned.

Some of the parts of the pilot’s seat were merely dirty and grimy, so to clean them for instance Fairy Power Spray was used. It removed the grease and dirt reasonably well from the surface of the parts.

The badly rusted tubes of the seat frame were cleaned by using abrasive pads, sanding papers and a steel wire brush attached to a cordless drill. For small parts, like nuts, a steel wire brush attached to a Dremel was used. The small items we detached from the frame were cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner, which we had obtained.

When rust from the surface of the rusty tubes was removed, in places black paint was revealed. Based on that we concluded that the seat frame of steel tube structure had last been painted black. The cleaning of the tub-like aluminium part of the seat pan, made it apparent that the aluminium surface had been primed with grey primer and finished with greyish green surface coat of paint. The surface paint responds in shade to the greyish green Temalac ML 90 BS 283-shade we had already used in restoring the co-pilot’s seat. As primer we’re going to use Isotrol-lacquer and as surface paint Isoquard Panzer paint. The black paint will be the semigloss Isoquard Panzer paint.

We’ve more or less completed the cleaning the pilot’s seat from rust and grime, so the next phase will be the painting of the seat.

Photos: Lassi Karivalo

Translation to English: Matti Liuskallio

Tuesday Club's autumn season at full swing

Keskiviikko 3.9.2025 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

The autumn season, which started halfway through August for the Tuesday Club, has got on a good start. There’s plenty of work to do. Naturally the Snoopy’s (OH-XEA “Ressu”) restoration will continue with the covering of the fuselage as the main object. The fabric is in place on the fuselage, and the tightening lacquer is being applied. The damaged Continental A 65 engine, which we received to be installed to the Snoopy, is being prepared to be cleaned by glass bead blasting.

With the restoration of the Bristol Blenheim bomber pilot’s seat, we’ll carry on from where we got before the summer break. The seat frame and seat pan surfaces are close to being ready for painting.

The Demo-Myrsky is under construction both at Puusepäntie and at the Finnish Aviation Museum. The Demo-Myrsky consists of the Myrsky MY-14 test wing, built during the restoration project of the MY-14, and the MY-5 fuselage frame. With the aid of the Demo -Myrsky, the inside structure of a mixed construction Finnish fighter will be demonstrated. That’s why, for instance, the fuselage frame won’t be fully covered. At the Puusepäntie workshop the repairs on the horizontal stabilizer, rudder and the damaged original elevator are under way. At the Museum the refurbishing and completion of the MY-5 fuselage frame are being worked on.

We’ve had our work cut out with the two sea containers, bought by Aviation Museum Society Finland, and brought at the yard of the Puusepäntie yard. One of the containers will become a working space for fire work and the other one will serve as a storage container. Both the containers have long since seen their heyday, so they will be refurbished on the outside. Holes in the containers will be patched, and the surfaces will be sanded. The outsides will be painted with the blue colour used by the Aviation Museum Society. One already is of a pretty blue colour.

Photo: Reijo Siirtola

We’ll start with the fuselage the restoration of the PIK 21 Super Chug (OH-XTM), which was donated to Aviation Museum Society. The fuselage was brought from a storage container at the yard of the Finnish Aviation Museum to Puusepäntie. The engine will be detached from the fuselage before we can commence the restoration of the lower part of the badly damaged and plywood-covered fuselage.

The job list for the autumn season also contains the refurbishment and repairs to the ailerons of the DC-3 “the Seagull” (OH-LCD) situated at the yard of the Finnish Aviation Museum. Both the ailerons’ coverings need renewing and the stem of the right-hand aileron is damaged. The Air Veteran lot will detach the ailerons for us to restore.

Photos: Lassi Karivalo, unless otherwise mentioned

Translation to English: Matti Liuskallio

Fashion photography at the Caravelle

Lauantai 16.8.2025 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

On Tuesday, 29 July 2025, there was unusual activity on the Caravelle site at Turku airport when the fashion collection of Konsta Eskola, an Aalto University fashion design student, was being photographed.

This collection is a part of Konsta’s final project in his bachelor’s studies, where he has evaluated airline uniforms and the possibilities for their reuse. Before his studies Konsta worked for several years at Norra as a member of the cabin crew, so he is familiar with the work environment, airline dress codes and wearing a uniform.

All materials of Konsta’s collection – except aluminium and recycled leather – are from parts of Finnair’s and Norra’s used uniforms. He has taken apart the uniform parts he received from the airlines, and from this material he created new clothes. The uniform parts had come to the end of their life cycle in their original use and would have ended up in textile recycling. Utilizing different second-hand materials has been trendy in the fashion business already for some time, but this is presumably the first time when airline uniforms are reused in this way.

Furthermore, Konsta says he likes to play with the impressions the outfits create and to challenge the traditional views of male and female roles as uniform users. Konsta’s final project collection includes six looks.

The photographing day started on the Caravelle site by defining photographing locations and outlines as the photographer evaluated camera angles and illumination. Locations were selected outside the aircraft, on the wing and in the cabin. The Caravelle team volunteers, who were on site to assist in the shoot, moved away tools, exhibition items and all kinds of clutter from the background of the photographing sectors.

Three models, a makeup artist and a hairstylist arrived soon after noon. The first pictures were taken towards the end of the afternoon. There were some heavy rain showers during the afternoon, causing some delay in the activity, but fortunately continuous rain was avoided. The photographing session ended before twilight.

Konsta praised the Caravelle team for the photographing day, everything went smoothly, and he was very pleased with the results. “Doing a fashion shoot like this has been my long-term dream and thanks to you it was possible to make this dream come true today.”

For the Caravelle volunteers the day offered an intriguing glimpse into a different world. None of us present had ever participated in anything like this before.

The photographs taken of the fashion shoot which are published with this blog are taken by the Caravelle team members. We will get some of the actual results of the day, i.e. photos taken by the photographer, and publish them here later.

Photos: Jouko Tarponen

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen

Airveteran DC-3 OH-LCH visits Caravelle on 12 July, 2025

Tiistai 5.8.2025 - Ismo Matinlauri & Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

This year the iconic DC-3 OH-LCH, owned by Airveteran and maintained and operated by the Finnish DC-3 Society, visited Turku on Saturday 12 July. Fortunately the visit was scheduled for a weekend and our Caravelle was open to visitors. We had invited the Turku Soldiers’ Home Association on site with their van to sell coffee, doughnuts and other refreshments – and there is no summer event in Finland without barbecue sausages! The visitors enjoyed the aviation history event and refreshments in the beautiful and warm but slightly sticky summer weather.

During the day the DC-3 flew three local flights for the public, about 45 minutes each, over the Turku archipelago. Several members of the Caravelle team had booked a flight and enjoyed the piston-engine flight. Unfortunately our Caravelle will never fly again, but a flight on the OH-LCH is always a great experience and the scenery in the Turku archipelago is very beautiful.

In terms of numbers of visitors, the day and the whole weekend were a success. We had almost two hundred visitors on board our Caravelle during the two days. The visitors were interested in the history of the 1960s airliner type and this specific aircraft. The volunteer guides from the Caravelle team were asked many questions during the weekend. Many visitors commented on the great appearance of the aircraft and were amazed to hear the amount of voluntary work done so far (about 7500 hours by May 2025).

In addition to the July weekend, the Caravelle was open to visitors also on Monday, 14 July, to honour Bastille Day. We have created a tradition to open the aircraft for visitors and raise the tricolour on the National Day of France, the country where our beautiful aircraft was manufactured.

DC-3 OH-LCH arriving in Turku. Photo Jouko Tarponen

Photo Jouko Tarponen

DC-3DC-3 pilots visiting Caravelle. Captain Petteri Tarma on the left. Photo Jouko Tarponen

Visitors outside the Caravelle and the Turku Soldiers’ Home Association van. Photo Jouko Tarponen

Flying on the DC-3 over Turku city centre. Photo Erja Reinikainen

The tricolour on Caravelle on Bastille Day. Photo Ismo Matinlauri

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen

The MY-14 wing has been painted

Torstai 3.7.2025 - Antti Lappalainen & Reino Myllymäki

Suomeksi

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

The first Caravelle exhibition

Tiistai 24.6.2025 - Erja Reinikainen and Ismo Matinlauri

Suomeksi:

The ambitious goal in the Caravelle project for this summer was to finish the cabin interior work in the rear area so that the first exhibition could be assembled in the open area. The four seat rows in the front area were completed already in May.

The most critical work phase for the exhibition area was the carpet installation. The carpet was cut to measure and installed in late May. Now the rear cabin is almost ready, only the ceiling panelling is missing, and we are looking for suitable aluminium mesh, resembling the original material, to cover the air-conditioning terminal units and loudspeakers on the wall. Although the work was in progress in this area, the preparations for the exhibition could be started in early June.

The preparations of the Caravelle exhibition poster material began already in the winter. Fortunately Juha Klemettinen, one of the authors of the “Caravelle in Finland” book, helped us with the photographs and the Caravelle project’s technical team assisted with the texts. Kai Asplund prepared the material lay-out for printing. We needed help from the Aviation Museum Society’s Tuesday Club, too. Poster roll-up frames are normally about 220 cm tall, but we had to cut the frame height to fit the Caravelle’s cabin to about 180 cm. This was done by the Tuesday Club. We had a dressmaker’s dummy for displaying the stewardess’s uniform, but it didn’t have a head. Fortunately a member of the Caravelle Turku team offered to make a papier-mâché head for our stewardess - and it looks great. A warm thank you to all who helped us with the exhibition material!

When all the material was ready and had arrived in Turku, the exhibition was assembled on 12 June 2025. The exhibition was open to the public for the first time already on the following day.

The exhibition describes the early phase of Finnair’s jet age and Caravelle’s role in it. There is also material about the Aviation Museum Society’s Caravelle project and a slideshow presenting how this aircraft was brought to Finland and restored to its present condition. Also the structure and technical systems of a passenger jet are displayed. One of the unique features of the Caravelle III is the brake parachute.

The exhibition is meant for independent visits; there is no guided presentation. However, there is usually a Caravelle team member present to answer questions during the opening hours. The display items have posters with information in Finnish, presenting the item and its history. We will improve the exhibition by adding small items and posters in English. We welcome you to Turku airport to visit the Caravelle and the exhibition!

Photos: Jouko Tarponen

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen

The Myrsky Wing transported to be painted

Torstai 19.6.2025 - Reino Myllymäki

Suomeksi

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.

Photo: Reino Myllymäki

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. 
Even now it’s worthwhile to visit the Air Force Museum to admire the fuselage, which is waiting for the next operations without some fuselage hatches.

Photos: The Finnish Air Force Museum, unless otherwise mentioned

Translation to English: Matti Liuskallio

Restoration of the Blenheim navigator?s seat

Keskiviikko 18.6.2025 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

We received the Blenheim V-series or “short-nosed” Blenheim’s navigator and pilot seats for restoration at the Tuesday Club.

Both the seat’s steel tubes were badly rusted, but neither seat had suffered significant damages. The navigator’s seat, or rather stool, was significantly more straightforward to restore because of its simple structure and smaller size. It would greatly help restoring the pilot’s seat, if the seat pan could be separated from the seat frame. The aim of the seat restoration is to clean the rust from the surfaces of the supportive tubes and smaller parts, grinding the aluminium surfaces and finally painting them.

We began the restoration with the navigator’s stool. The padding was detached first and the seatbelt as well. The seatbelt was partly torn and needed to see a cobbler.  The seat cover of leather has worn out and lost its colour. It needs to be conserved. We will not do it.

We examined the round shaped seat plate, bent at the edges, for shades of paint found on the surface. Light green colour was visible, under which darker green could be seen. Thus the surface of the seat plate had lastly been painted with light greenish grey paint and under it there was an older darker green paint.

Paint residue could also be found from the surface of the steel tube stem of the seat. This process was helped when the rusty stems of the seat were treated with Industrial ECO Complex Blue-solution. The solution revealed a green shade of paint on the surfaces of the tubes. In addition, some old pigment or paint chaff was scraped from the surfaces of the rusted tubes of the stem. Some of it was placed under a 600 times magnifying microscope. It turned out that there were three different layers of paint on the tubes of the stem. The lowest was brown, then grey and greenish grey on the surface, in other words the same shade that was found on the surface of the seat plate. In consequence we decided to paint the seat with the similar shade of light greenish grey paint.

To start the restoration proper, we detached the aluminium seat plate from the stem. It was fastened to the stem both with bolts and rivets. The bolts were loosened first. After that the rivets attaching a bracket to the edge of the seat in the upper part of the stem were drilled out, after which the seat plate came off the stem.

Then we started to remove the rust from the stem steel tubes. The rust was removed from the tube surfaces, so that a layer of surface paint became visible. The tubes need not be ground to gleaming metal, because we use Isotrol lacquer and paint for the painting. The Isotrol will stop the rusting from spreading, even though rust would have stayed in the rust crevices of the steel tubes.

Rust was ground off first with a coarse sanding paper, wiping the dust off at times. We then moved to finer sanding papers, feeling at the same time with fingers whether the surface of the tube was clean and smooth enough. After the coarse surfaces had become smooth and the old paint became visible, the sanding of the steel tubes was complete.

We moved on to deal with the seat plate. It was an easier task. The aluminium surfaces of the seat plate were lightly sanded with fine sanding paper. We didn’t indulge in any grinding off of the old paint. The main thing was that loose paint was removed from the seat surface and the aluminium surface became smooth.

After both the steel tube stem and the aluminium seat plate had been ground, they were lacquered with clear Isotrol, which leaves a protecting film on the metal surface. For the surface paint it was necessary to define the shade of the seat colour. We ended up with the grey green Temalac ML 90 BS 283 shade for the seat. With this formula the seat’s Isotrol oil paint was shaded.

Two Comprehensive school students, doing their work experience learning period at the Finnish Aviation Museum, painted the stem and seat plate of the navigator’s seat. Well, at first the quality of the work left something to be desired. However, with careful guidance a good result was achieved. That’s just the purpose of this kind of work experience period, isn’t it?

After the painting it was time to reassemble the seat. The glass bead blasted original assembly bolts were fitted, and the seat stem was riveted to the edge of the seat plate. The rivets were finally painted grey green, to avoid eye sore. We had a cobbler repair the seat belt. The restoration of the navigator seat in the Blenheim bomber was ready.

Photos: Lassi Karivalo

Translation to English: Matti Liuskallio

Puusepäntie workshop got an illuminated sign

Keskiviikko 11.6.2025 - Tuesday Club member

Suomeksi

There was a wrecked illuminated sign of aluminium construction on the outside wall of the Puusepäntie workshop, rented by Aviation Museum Society, left there by a former tenant.
We decided to take it down to see if it could be repaired and transformed to an illuminated sign advertising the workshop of our society. So we took the sign down. The aluminium frame of the sign was, however, badly damaged and would have needed considerable repair work. However, our neck was “saved” when we got hold of an old illuminated aluminium sign of the OP cooperative bank’s real estate, 60 cm x 60 cm in size. It was also intact, so we decided to turn it into an outside advertisement for our Puusepäntie workshop.

We dislocated at first the plexiglass plate of the outer cover. the original sticker emblem could be removed from its surface in pieces with a sharp scraper. Finally, the plexiglass surface of the illuminated sign was wiped clean of the sticker glue with Sinol.

The aluminium surfaces of the frames of the illuminated sign had been oxidized and tarnished. We gently ground the surfaces clean using both an abrasive pad and very fine sanding paper. The old fluorescent lights were removed and after cleaning the inside of the sign the old lamps were replaced with LED-lights.

On the surface of the opaque plexiglass of the illuminated sign we designed a presentation of our workshop. The upper part of the illuminated sign will show a picture of the Focke-Wulf FW 44 Stieglitz (SZ-18), owned by Aviation Museum Society, with clouds in the background, and the lower part will hold the logo of the society and the text Aviation Museum Society Finland.
The abovementioned entity will be printed on the surface of the illuminated sign plex by a printing company. The printing required a vector representation to be made.

We fastened the frame of the outwardly cleaned illuminated sign, equipped with LED-lights, onto the wall of our Puusepäntie workshop, above the opening of the overhead door. We fixed a temporary cardboard plate as the outer cover of the sign to prevent the rain from getting inside.

When the front cover was received from the printing company, with its resplendent picture, the plexiglass was installed, replacing the cardboard one. So the splendid, illuminated sign advertising Aviation Museum Society’s Puusepäntie workhop was ready. The sign is yet be connected to the power supply with a pecu (photo electric control unit, “twilight switch”), so that with the darkening autumn nights it will switch on, advertising the Aviation Museum Society’s workshop.

Photos: Lassi Karivalo

Translation: Matti Liuskallio

The passenger seats are ready

Sunnuntai 18.5.2025 - Erja Reinikainen

Suomeksi

The interior and assembly work in the Caravelle’s cabin has progressed well during the spring. Finally the hard work is showing results - and about time, too! The passenger seats for the front section of the cabin have been under work for about 18 months, since early 2024.

One of the first tasks for the seats was the inventory of the existing seat covers. There were just enough original seat back covers for about twenty seats, which was the starting point for the cabin lay-out. The seat covers were washed and repaired last summer. The seat belts were cleaned and checked. New plastic foam padding was delivered for the seats during the summer too.

Photo: Erja Reinikainen

In August 2024 the actual repair work began on the seat frames and their mechanisms. The seat frames which were in good condition were selected and the remaining seats were stripped of spare parts. The “seat repair team” managed to put together 19 seat frames which were in fair condition and suitable for further assembly. The pre-cut padding material was glued into form to fit the seat frames. When the weather got cold in November, and it wasn’t possible to work outside anymore, the painting work was moved into the office container in the Caravelle area.

Photo: Jouko Tarponen

During the winter months the seat frames were sanded and painted twice. First a base coat of paint and then the top-coat paint, which matched the original colour. Then the seat frames were stored for the winter in the DC-3 fuselage (DO-5) which is located beside our Caravelle.

Photo: Erja Reinikainen

When spring 2025 arrived the seat assembly was continued, working outside with the seat fastened on a jig built on cargo pallets. The seat back covers probably had shrunk a little when washed or the new padding on the seat back is slightly thicker than the original, so putting them on caused a lot of huffing and puffing and some broken nails. The years of use and decades of storing have left their mark on the seat covers, and we had to pay attention that the covers with more damage were on the seats by the window. But the overall appearance is nice.

Photo: Erja Reinikainen

The carpet had been installed in the front cabin section before the seats were brought in and the curtains had been put up, so the surrounding was ready for seat assembly. The seats were easily fastened on the original seat tracks on the floor. The seat assembly was completed by adding the headrest covers we got from the Finnish Aviation Museum.

Photo: Erja Reinikainen

Photo: Jouko Tarponen

Translation to English by Matti Liuskallio

Finishing the MY-14 flaps

Maanantai 12.5.2025 - Reino Myllymäki

Suomeksi

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.