Valmet Vihuri

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Valmet Vihuri

Type	Trainer
Manufacturer	Valmet
Maiden flight	February 6, 1951
Retired	1959
Primary user	Finnish Air Force
Number built	51

Valmet Vihuri (Finnish for Gale) was a Finnish advanced two-seat fighter trainer aircraft, serving in the Finnish Air Force between 1953 and 1959.

1 History
2 Operational use
3 Specifications (Valmet Vihuri III)
4 Preserved aircraft
5 Source
6 External links

[edit] History

In spite of their economical problems, the aircraft manufacturer Valmet began designing a new aircraft in the beginning of the 1950s, to replace the aging FAF VL Pyrys. Martti Vainio was the chief designer of the project. Most of the planning was made by the aeronautic engineers L. Hämäläinen and T. Mäntysalo in 1948–49. The Bristol Mercury was chosen as the engine, since there were no other alternatives. The Mercury was license made in Finland for the Bristol Blenheim bomber. The prototype (VH-1) made its first flight on February 6, 1951 in Tampere, piloted by captain Esko Halme. After the successful test flights, the FAF ordered 30 aircraft of the production series, called Valmet Vihuri II on February 27 1951. In the autumn of 1954, the air force ordered a further 20 aircraft of the developed version Valmet Vihuri III. All the aircraft of the third version were handed over to the air force on January 15, 1957.

Valmet built 51 Vihuri's in three different series (I-III) in Kuorevesi and Tampere. The aircraft had the registration codes VH-1 – VH-51.

[edit] Operational use

The aircraft became the most used aircraft in FAF service by the mid-1950s. The aircraft was subject to many accidents and the press raised a lot of noise about these. The safety of the Vihuri even became a matter for the government. In May 1959, the aircraft was permanently grounded after the death of the Finnish prime minister's son in the aircraft type. Attempts were made to sell the aircraft to Tunisia without success.

After the inspection it became apparent that the type and its design was sound; most of the accidents were due to pilots' often grave flight regulations violations, and the fact all airframes were well worn in the end of the fifties. The planes were sold to scrap to Moser OY. One airframe, VH-18, survives in Central Finland Aviation Museum, and fore fuselage of another, VH-25, is being restored. The canopies of the scrapped aircraft remain today as the roof windows of the Kuusakoski metal recycling plant in Espoo.

[edit] Specifications (Valmet Vihuri III)

General characteristics

Crew: Two
Length: 8.85 m (29 ft 0 in)
Wingspan: 10.4 m (34 ft 1 in)
Height: 3.66 m (12 ft 0 in)
Wing area: 18.86 m² (203 sq ft)
Empty weight: 2,174 kg (4,793 lbs)
Max takeoff weight: 2,704 kg (5,961 lbs)
Powerplant: 1× Bristol Mercury VIII 9-cyl. air-cooled radial 9-cyl., 626 kW (840 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 444 km/h (276 mph)
Range: 665 km (413 mi) 2.5 h
Service ceiling 8,200 m (26,900 ft)
Rate of climb: 8.1 m/s (26.6 ft/s)

Armament

2× 7,7 mm Browning machine guns
4× 25 kg bombs

[edit] Preserved aircraft

The Central Finland Aviation museum is displaying the VH-18, which is the only preserved Vihuri. It gathered 802 flying hours, after which the aircraft served as an educational machine at the Air Force Academy in Kauhava.