IGG Naarajärvi @ 5.7.2015
And to second day of Naarajärvi Aerotow. Previous day is here. Again great event, but weather turned to be rather chilly. Even by Finnish summer standards.
Nakki II plans released for free download
In these strange days one needs something to do. So download from link below an rather old, design for free building.
Link to plans.
If you manage to get something flying pls. send me pic :).
Video of my version:
https://youtu.be/8RbqYHyPgyc
Heinonen HK-1 Keltiäinen Peanut Scale
Heinone HK-1 Keltiäinen is one of those planes which touch heart of almost all middle aged aviation enthusiast in Finland. This was an single-seater, hobby-built plane. It was designed by Mr. Juhani Heinonen and built by himself. Despite some sources saying that only one was built, there is actually two other examples built. But the builders of those planes made a number of modifications to plane and used type name HK-1B.
Original plane is quite cute and it looks like it popped out of some 50’s comic. It has extremely easy design which is easily transformed into model aeroplane. This example has been drawn into Peanut scale.
As an kit this is actually old. I originally draw this year ago, but the model got swamped by other activities. Now it is ready for publication and available at good model shops.
Spirit of Jämi-event
Again it is time to go to Jämi and visit Spirit of Jämi. It is an event organized by aeromodelling chapter of Finnish Aeronautical Association (FAA). This year the lineup was not so impressive as the event site (Hotel Jämi and surrounding businesses) filed for bankcrupty approx 1 month ago and my impression was that it scared quite many visitors. Last year event coverage was here.
Still the event was rather enjoyable. I had only couple hours to spend here Some control line excitement.. so got limited amount of pictures.
Hope that Hotel Jämi can start again and also I hope that next year’s event will bring more crowd. Jämi is nice place and it deserves some action!
Some control line excitement..
And some jets..
VL Viima II peanut short kit
New kit has been released ot VL Viima II. This is an 1935’s biplane, used for Finnish airforce training. Structure’s are simple, but the small scale and number of parts makes it rather complicated to build. Design is based on original factory plans so this is rather good Peanut scale adaptation of original. For further info of original plane see this
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/VL_Viima
(photo by Ilmailuliitto / Suomen Ilmailumuseo, used with permission)
This is short kit, meaning it includes laser cut balsa wood parts. No hardware or strip wood included. Model can be purchased from excellent
https://www.hobbycenter.fi/tuotehaku?s=peanut
New design, PIK-26 Mini-Sytky in Peanut scale
An new Peanut-scale kit was published some time ago. You can purchase it from
https://www.hobbycenter.fi/iwaru–pik-26-mini-sytky-peanut-scale
It is rather exact scale short kit. I scaled it from my larger plans and made minor adjustements to facilitate smaller size. Kit contains laser-cut balsa parts. No hardware or balsa strips etc. included.
IVL K.1 Kurki – peanut plan
If you check my last post (see here) you might notice that I sound overly enthusiastic of this ugly duckling. You are pretty right.. This is truly one of ugliest planes I have seen and it is also of finnish origin.
It was designed in 1927 by Asser Järvinen. He was employed by Finnish state aviation factory (IVL = Ilmavoimien Lentokonetehdas, directly translated airforce airplane factory..). Originally this plane was his pet project which he designed without permission. But the need for planes was so great that initial design got accepted as an official project.
Good intentions do great things, but not in this case. When plane was completed it turned out to be overweight and challenging to fly. For many reasons. There is an good wiki page for it. Strangely enough this is categorized as an military, transport & training plane.
After extensive testing, some 55 test flights it was concluded that it is of ‘no practical use’. Project was scrapped and only existing plane was stored for prosperity. That is museum. It ended up in Vesivehmaa museum where it was stored in sad condition. Check my previous visit there.
After while good people of Finnish Aviation museum decided to restore it and the end result is much nicer. But still it is ugly plane.
Well, that does one do when one encounters something so extraordinary? Obviously one must make model aeroplane out of it. I did some initial design drafts couple years ago. Then after new Kurki exhibition opened in decemeber 2018 at museum I decided to complete design. For several reasons I decided to make an peanut scale version of it.
So here it is for your viewing and building pleasure. Enjoy.
I strongly propose that you visit Aviation Museum (Ilmailumuseo) to see this plane in it’s 1:1 glory. It is sight to see, and the IVL Kurki special exhibition is open to end of january 2019. Nice place to visit in so many ways!
This plan has been released for free download. If you manage to make something out of it pls send me pics of that. I would love to hear whether it flies….
IVL K.1 Kurki revisited
You might remember back in 2015 when I visited Vesivehmaa aviation museum? I did get great pictures of many interesting planes. One which was in appaling condition was so ugly that I got interested into it and when I heard that Ilmailumuseo finished restoring it I immediately decided to visit it.
Here it is… This is truly an sight only mother of the plane would love. But still, it is in much better condition than last time I saw it. Took some pics for your viewing pleasure.
See also previous photo gallery. That was bad then. It really is in much better state. But still this plane is ugly.
Here is something completely different.. Sisilisko which is almost like WWS-1 “Salamandra” but not quite.
Short story : Time and location is 1947 Finland, Tampere. There was an ambitious and exciting aviation club, Tampereen Ilmailuyhdistys (TIY Ry) seeking good sailplane for their club flying. They set their eyes to WWS.1 Salamander they have seen with their more southern colleagues, PIK. They tried to obtain plans for it but were not so successful. I have read some comments that the plans were too expensive, but who knows.
This small obstacle did not stop TIY. They decided to design an plane inspired by Salamander. And name it as Sisilisko, which is almost directly translated Salamander to finnish. Chief designer was Paavo Järvenpää. Building started same year and was completed 1950. Only one plane was built. Design proved to be great flyer. Fun fact : there is also some links between Salamandra and PIK-5a, but this too long story to put here.
In year 1961, after many flights plane was sold to Jyväskylä. Then after some time it came back. After restoration it spent some time in display at Vapriikki @ Tampere. Then back to storage, Now it is time to take it out of storage and start planning for putting it to display. Again.
I have participated in Pirkanmaa Ilmailuhistoriallinen Seura Ry (PIHIS, Pirkanmaa Aviation Historical Society) projects before (see this then this and finally this). When I heard of this project I knew that I simply must participate it. First step is to get plane out of long term storage. Weather was cold and windy, but plane itself is in good shape. Properly packed in bubble wrap. Which caused some limitations for photography, but still this is great stuff. Actually I had never seen this plane in real life and only seen couple bw-photos of it. So orange colour was real surprise.
We moved plane from one storage to another for further study. I trust that this is really good progress and I am aware of further planning of new location. Hopefully it will find nice home like the PIK-12.
I will keep you updated on further developments, meanwhile some pics below.
Some further reading :
Visited Sprit of Jämi -event
Nice event, large crowd, nice planes great weather. Some pics 🙂
