This aircraft doesn't fly anymore, but there are stories about it that I can't help but tell - Brewster F2A Buffalo BW-372
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The plane can be found at the Finnish Air Force Museum in Tikkakoski, where we visited with the Finnish Jaguar Drivers' Club in August 2022. The machine was lifted from the Russian side years ago. I will come back to this salvage operation later.
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On a hot June day in 1942, a squadron of 4 planes went on duty and faced a swarm of 10 Soviet Hurricanes together with Lauri Juutilainen’s squadron. Brewster's significance for the Finnish Air War in the Second World War was much greater than, for example, that of the Hawker Hurricane, which we also had in use., Finland received 44 units of the first serially manufactured aircraft with a winning ratio of 32:1 against the Soviet Union! It is unparalleled. Brewster had many nicknames for "flying beer barrel", "bum-Valtteri", and finally "pearl of heaven". It's telling how funny looks became an appreciation for talent. This series, delivered to Finland, had not yet been spoiled. The U.S. Navy Air Force demanded modifications to the plane and subsequent series of manufactures were almost airworthy, receiving the nickname "flying coffin" in their homeland.
Hawker Hurricane under Finnish flag - the world second oldest Hurricane existing
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When the Soviet Hurricanes attacked the Finns, the pilot-ace's Lauri Ohukainen’s wingman was dropped first. Since the mission had been embarked on in a hurry on a hot summer day, this dropped pilot had only a gun belt and a parachute to accompany his swimming trunks. After surviving the fall, the pilot had a long way, over 100 km to go to his own lines, in sheer swimming trunks with a handgun, the pursuers with dogs on the heels. Hiding the days under the moss, advancing at night at the mercy of hordes of mosquitoes drinking water from lakes and once drinking blood from a deer or reindeer he felled, the fire could not be made for the sake of the pursuers, he finally survived over the minefield, sneaking into his own lines, where the guards almost shot the ferocious-looking pilot.
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After the wingman dropped, lieutenant Ohukainen was harassed by an opponent and received hits on his plane. The additional armor installed on the seat in Finland saved a life, bullets broke the radio from the machine, among other things. But reflecting the training of Soviet pilots, or the lack thereof, and explaining the dizzying victory ratio, the opponent drifted to in front of lieutenant Ohukainen after destroying his machine and as the last act before the forced landing into the lake lieutenant Ohukainen knocked out and killed his opponent. From the plane that sank into the lake in flames, he was able to surface burning his eye brows and hair, but heavy water-filled boots, among other things, had to be abandoned. The boots were found in the lake when the plane was lifted. Lieutenant Ohukainen also survived the long journey to his own lines, and fortunately he was not shot by the guards either. He was very eager to participate his own weddings on July! By the way, lieutenant Ohukainen changed his name later to Pekuri. Ohukainen means pancake or crepe in Finnish and mocking nickname Lätty (means also thin pancake) from his subordinates was too much for the character of an ambitious officer. He had a distinguished career in the Finnish Air Force after the wars, working among other things as a test pilot.
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The discovery and salvage of Brewster and the events that followed are a story in itself. In Russia, everything is a little, well different, as these days also everyone else besides the Finns and people living in the Baltics knows. There were allegedly flaws in the permits for the search and lifting of the plane and the Russian mafia stole the machine from its finders and sold it to the Americans as a museum machine. After various twists and turns, the machine has ended up in the museum in Tikkakoski as a "loan", and its loan period has been regularly extended, which is right. The lady who was heavily involved in the search for this machine happens to be the mother of my friend and schoolmate. The father of this lady, on the other hand, was finnish fighter ace Heimo Lampi. On his initiative, the search for the plane was started when he was sure that somewhere in the Lakes of Finnish Karelia, which remained in Russia, there is probably a reasonably well-preserved Brewster. Life is a wonderful story and again in 2022 Russia is trying its best to end the story of Ukraine in the middle of Europe.
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