Jump to content

Mersu again


vppelt68

Recommended Posts

Are we already on with this one?! Well it won´t be a P-40 or a P-51 for me after all, but (ho-hum You say, yet another 109, who cares?) the last of my AZmodel Bf 109 Joypack kits. I´ll be building another post-war Finnish Air Force "Mersu" with a very short-lived Sharknose paint scheme and /R6 gun gondolas but without the actual guns. The sprue, instruction and decal pics should be the same I already took before the one I built in the "50s NATO vs. Warsaw Pact in Europe GB" with both of these builds in mind. They can be seen here: 

So next up (after Ju 88 #2/2019 is finished in the Specialists GB...) will be this Bf 109 #2/2019.

kk1115_1947_Utti2-1030x1006

 

e5c5b9296ede2e3aec5539a16df7bfd8

The Sharknose was unfortunately very shortlived 😞 . It was painted by young flight sergeant Börje Hielm sometime in January-February 1948. By the Airforce Day 6 March the same year, the Sharknose was already gone, ordered by squadron CO to be removed before that date. Mr. Hielm´s career on the other hand was not done by that! In 1951 he moved to Aero Oy (later Finnair) to fly and captain DC-3, Convair Metropolitan, Super Caravelle, DC-8-62 and DC-10 in commercial traffic until 1982. In his spare time he founded the IPMS Finland in 1968, being its #1 member, and was one of the founding members of Ilmailumuseoyhdistys, the Aviation Museum Society of Finland. Well done!

 

Best regards, V-P

Edit, as I promised! First a pic of her and the guy she used to go regular with, ylikersantti Gösta Lönnfors, during the hot summer of 1944. S.Sgt Lönnfors was a former Curtiss Hawk pilot credited with shooting down one Pe-2 with a Bf 109 G-2.

 

2019-05-06_07-19-34

Then the plane herself: WerkNr. 411938, delivered in Finland 8.4.1944 and assigned to Ylik. Lönnfors in 1/HLeLv 34, 30.4.1944. Landing accident in Utti 14.10.1944 - well, not accident as Lönnfors apparently forgot to lower the landing gear :doh:. Lönnfors was physically unhurt... Right after that, MT-405 when landing hit its empennage - another :doh:. Under repair until 18.6.1947, now that was quick! Assigned to HLeLv 31. Last flight 14.9.1948. Written off 14.1.1954 - very quick work again! Total flight hours 173h 50min. The plane was credited to be flown and shot down 9 Soviet aircraft with; 3* La-5, 3* Il-2, 2* Yak-9 and a P-39 by Maj. Luukkanen, Ltn. Pokela, Ltm. Juutilainen, Ltm. Fräntilä, Ylik. Tuomikoski and Ylik. Leino. A trustworthy mount good for the pilots that flew with her! She received the Finnish Warpaint to replace the RLM 74/75/76 livery during the nearly three years spent in repairs after the war.

 

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, Christer A said:

I usually don't say this, but that 109 looks fine!

 

Haha, you mean the third reich pr-department screwed up with the public image of this airplane, and it took a post-WW2 Finnish sergeant to make it right - I can't help but agree with you :thumbsup:.

(Actually, me neither has never got kicks of these planes in German hands although I have built several "Finnish" 109:s in all-Luftwaffe insignia to depict those aircraft they had had to go to combat with before finding time to repaint them)

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very interesting subject you chosen with some interesting historical information. Is it actually know on which aircraft the Sharkmouth was painted on as unfortunately no picture is known off showing the whole aircraft.

 

Cheers, Peter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Basilisk said:

Very interesting subject you chosen with some interesting historical information. Is it actually know on which aircraft the Sharkmouth was painted on as unfortunately no picture is known off showing the whole aircraft.

 

Cheers, Peter

Yes, there´s no doubt it was the MT-422. How, I don´t know, but regarding the painter´s track record in aviation history and modelling I just believe what I´ve read 😎. V-P

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...