Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo!

As mentioned previously, Pink and I have spent this past June and July traveling through Estonia, Finland and Iceland. The people of Finland seem to retain a lot of national pride in their military undertakings, and this can be seen in the large volume of museums dedicated to various conflicts and military units in Finnish history. The Aviation Museum of Central Finland, or Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo, is one such place we were able to visit toward the end of our trip.

Above: Swedish Saab 35 Draken formerly serving in the Finnish military . 

The museum itself has many examples of military aircraft and equipment on display. Finland has utilized an interesting variety of machines from such places as the United Kingdom, Germany, the Soviet Union, and Sweden. Thus Finnish armed forces have always been equipped with a variety of material. Most of the cold war material on display seemed to be of Soviet design.

 Above: Radar platforms outside the museum. They are quite tall.

In addition to the many aircraft on site at the museum, there is also an impressive collection of World War Two and Cold War era munitions on display.  There is also an entire section dedicated to signal units and communications/detection technology utilized by the Finnish armed forces. Outside the museum are a number of radar and detection arrays, some of which tower above the museum buildings.

Above: A selection of German aircraft bombs and weapons canisters from the 1940s. The large green bomb in the back (which you can only see the tip of) is of Russian manufacture and of the same era. For its massive size, it actually carries half the payload of the blue German bomb behind it and the same as the blue German bomb in front of it.

Above: Assorted Cold War era Soviet aircraft munitions and ECM equipment. The silver cylinder cut off in the lower left of the photograph is a rocket pod, note the rocket below it with stabilizing fins extended.
 

Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo has an impressive collection of models as well. Not just of machines serving in the Finnish Air Force, but of many different aircraft from many nations. A variety of time periods are represented and many of the models are placed within a greater scene of events. A diorama of men and machines tending to a bomber on a snowy field for example.  Hundreds are on display from builders around the world, including a healthy contribution from a Japanese modeling club.

Above: Diorama and models on display. Notice the oil stains and weathering on the wood (apologies for the glare).

 Above: Display in the signals section of the museum.

The most exciting attraction at Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo for me was the Messerschmitt Bf 109 they have on display, and this is actually the main reason we visited. During the Continuation War The Finnish Air Force, or Ilmavoimat, was equipped with Bf 109 aircraft from Germany. Finnish pilots used these to assist in the German war effort along the northern end of the infamous Eastern Front. Finnish pilots in German built Bf 109 fighters scored an impressive 667 Soviet aircraft shot down during this period, with only 35 aircraft of their own lost to enemy fire. These planes would stay in service with the Ilmavoimat well into the 1950s.

 Above: Bf 109 formerly serving with the Ilmavoimat.

 Above: Bf 109 formerly serving with the Ilmavoimat, rear view.

Above: Bf 109 formerly serving with the Ilmavoimat, note the 20mm auto-canon running through the nose of the aircraft.

Finland has a lot of museums for the military history enthusiast, many more than we had time to visit while we were there. The Aviation Museum of Central Finland, or Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo, has a lot to offer for a military history enthusiast, and I am grateful we were able to drop in. The Bf 109 was a real treat. There are many planes from a variety of nations and eras, hundreds of models, munitions, lots of communication and detection equipment, and of course the obligatory cafe and tourist shop. There is much to see and read, certainly more than I am covering in this post, and it is worth recommending for a visit if you find yourself in the area.

As a reminder, I now have a tumblr account which I update multiple times throughout the week. Here I re-post and upload both color and B/W images, mostly from the early part of the 20th century, and other content as well. Take a few minutes to visit Mr. Boot's tumblr, and take a look at the interesting photographs I have been sharing.