Warbirds fly-in

I still haven't finished the Hellcats as they are missing the final mud layer. Instead I've been to an annual air show held in central Finland. The theme this year was Warbirds with a special emphasis on WW1 and WW2 aircraft. There were some very rare planes flying including the only Gloster Gauntlet Mk. II that is in flying condition as well as a few DC-3:s, a Spitfire and much more! The area also had a meeting for military vehicles and there were quite a few tracked and wheeled pieces roaming around. Being a very typical Finnish summer day the show was interrupted for a few hours as a surprise thunder storm made flying impossible and forced most spectators to take cover indoors.

I guess I'll let the images speak for themselves with only short explanations in between. Enjoy!

The airshow started with a memorial jump from a DC-3 in the honour of people who lost their lives in a airplane accident where a plane carrying paratroopers fell down near the airfield in April killing most passangers.

There were 3 flying Great War era fighters. Fokker Dr.I, R.A.F S.E.5a and a FVM Ö1 Tummelisa. The shows included simulated fights between the Fokker and both other aircraft as well as the S.E.5a attacking the airfield and doing stunt flying piloted by Daniel Ryfa who normally works as a stunt pilot for Red Bull.

From WW2 there was a Finnish Gloster Gauntlet Mk. II which was the only flying specimen left in the world. In addition there were 2 DC-3's, 2 AT-6 Texans and a AT-16 Harvard and finally a Spitfire Mk. IX. Especially the Spitfire was an awesome sight fighting a simulated fight against one of the Texans and afterwards performing loops and barrel rolls in a stunt flight.

The day also featured quite a few re-enactors from both Napoleonic era and WW2. There were quite a few WW2 Finns and Germans around and even a few British and US paras. A reenactment group of the Royal Finnish Artillery Regiment from the Russo-Swedish war of 1808 gave a demonstration firing their two cannons.

 

There were also numerous historical and modern aircraft that were not flying in the shows. Arriving by plane gave you a free pass to the event and all those planes were lined up next to the runways for all visitors to see. The Auster AOP was very interesting to see especially with it's slightly more exotic "Remove Before Flight" tags.

There was also a modelling competition held at the event with scale models of aircraft in various scales. There was also a themed section of Detachment Kuhlmay showing the various different aircraft used by the German unit that was crucial in stopping the Soviet attack in Karelia in 1944.

Finally there was a selection of nice cars and even a small herd of reindeer kept in a pen close to the airfield.