Brewster BW-372 at Finland

Better than nothing I suppose, I hope that can be improved on in the future, it belongs in Finnland

Are the Finns keeping it now (i hope so) or is this a lend arrangement?

http://www.airforcemuseum.fi/brewster_arrived_finland4

“BW-372 was recieved from the NMNA as a request of the Commander of Finnish Air Force, to solemnize the Air Force 90th anniversary. A notable group of Finns and Americans has taken part in negotiations for the loan of this a/c.”

Are the Finns keeping it now (i hope so) or is this a lend arrangement?

[Drums….]

1. [C] Pentti Hyvärinen.

2. [C] Juha Klemettinen.

At least one well-known Warbird figure here is of Finnish descent…I don’t really know whether or not he’d actually care to fly a Brewster though!

Given their record in Buffaloes, I’d have thought a Finn would be the perfect choice!

Adrian

1100hp? Perfect: use the big PZL nine-cyl radial (I forget the designation). It would have the added benefit of relatively-recent manufacture, too. There was a stillborn project here in Ontario to fit DC-3s with those engines…

That’s correct. The M-63s were rated for 1100hp but the used, captured Finnish ones were only good for 900hp and so the Humu was too “sluggish”. Shvetsov ASh-62 (M-62) from An-2 might be a good alternative but I’m not sure if it will fit.

Martti–

1100hp? Perfect: use the big PZL nine-cyl radial (I forget the designation). It would have the added benefit of relatively-recent manufacture, too. There was a stillborn project here in Ontario to fit DC-3s with those engines…

Canuck–

At least one well-known Warbird figure here is of Finnish descent…I don’t really know whether or not he’d actually care to fly a Brewster though! Re the A-26, presumably you mean the (much-missed) CWH/Dennis Bradley example. It got those GB1/19 “Cyrano de Bergerac” markings because after some research it was found that a Canadian, one Christian Mathieu of Ottawa, served with that unit in Indochina…making the Invader fit the collection…stretch though the link might have been. C-GHLK was, of course, actually Dennis’ airplane rather than the museum’s.

S.

Buffalos didn’t have folding wings…. like the early wildcats.

Cheers,
Richard

Ahhh… That makes sense… Thank you.

Did VL remove the folding mechanisms from the (original) Finnish Brewster wings? Or am I getting mods to aircraft mixed up with the Fokkers built there?

Buffalos didn’t have folding wings…. like the early wildcats.

Cheers,
Richard

One would have to then use engine with more power than R-1820-G5 since Humu was calculated for Shvetsov M-63 (1100 hp). Finns couldn’t get that from the engines they got so the test flights were disappointments when comparing the speeds but if my memory serves me correctly the flight abilities were almost the same or even better in some fields.

Did VL remove the folding mechanisms from the (original) Finnish Brewster wings? Or am I getting mods to aircraft mixed up with the Fokkers built there?

For the third time tonight…wow! So great to see BW372 back in Finland, where the little Buffalo, so maligned everywhere else, was such a success story.

Those two replicas are cool too, but I assume they are basically fullscale models?

Now there’s an interesting idea: It’d be quite possible, as has been suggested quite a few times, to reverse-engineer newbuild F2As/B239s/B339s using BW372 as a pattern…but…what about doing the same with the near-identical Humu, instead? IIRC it had wooden wings, surely more easily built for a replica project; and from the outside, it’s still pure Brewster…

I can think of at least one collector here in Canada for whom such an aircraft would be a very apt addition. As MK959 said…any takers?

S.

I, too am pleased to see BW372 in Tikkakoski. Pensacola owns so much, and with that Act of Congress… Oh, well, they do a beautiful job of preservation.

And WHO would want a Brewster here? That’d be about as sensible as having an A-26 in Armee de l’Air colours, eh? 😉

What about doing the same with the near-identical Humu, instead? IIRC it had wooden wings, surely more easily built for a replica project; and from the outside, it’s still pure Brewster…

One would have to then use engine with more power than R-1820-G5 since Humu was calculated for Shvetsov M-63 (1100 hp). Finns couldn’t get that from the engines they got so the test flights were disappointments when comparing the speeds but if my memory serves me correctly the flight abilities were almost the same or even better in some fields.

For the third time tonight…wow! So great to see BW372 back in Finland, where the little Buffalo, so maligned everywhere else, was such a success story.

Those two replicas are cool too, but I assume they are basically fullscale models?

Now there’s an interesting idea: It’d be quite possible, as has been suggested quite a few times, to reverse-engineer newbuild F2As/B239s/B339s using BW372 as a pattern…but…what about doing the same with the near-identical Humu, instead? IIRC it had wooden wings, surely more easily built for a replica project; and from the outside, it’s still pure Brewster…

I can think of at least one collector here in Canada for whom such an aircraft would be a very apt addition. As MK959 said…any takers?

S.

Any takers :diablo:?

Cradle of Aviation Museum have made two replica Brewsters, one for themselfs and one for the Dutch. So there is total of four full size “Brewsters” in the World: Two replicas, VL Humu and BW-372.

http://www.williammaloney.com/Aviation/CradleOfAviationMuseum/BrewsterF2A2Buffalo/index.htm

http://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/pictures/brewster_replica.asp

It would be fantastic to copy BW-372 and rebuild from scratch few Buffalos.
It’s amazing to see how well is preserved the airframe!

Any takers :diablo:?

Ben

The work done by the museum looks to be of the highest standard – we could learn a few things from them!

Is it still owned by the Museum at Pensacola, or has it been allowed to return to where it should be for good?

Aviation Museum of Central Finland

“All the restoration will be done by guidelines and under supervision of the NMNA.” The Finnish page will tell us that the plane is still owned by the US Navy Museum at Pensacola.

Nice.

Isnt it good that the politics finally got sorted out, and that the aircraft is getting some much needed attention.

The work done by the museum looks to be of the highest standard – we could learn a few things from them!

Is it still owned by the Museum at Pensacola, or has it been allowed to return to where it should be for good?

Bruce