New aviation history publications: Story of Brewster BW-372, WingCommander Bob Foster's lecture, Continuation war aviation in review

New articles: Brewster BW-372, WC Bob Foster's lecture, Continuation war
aviation in review


Brewster BW-372, the story of a Brewster

Finnish Virtual Pilots Association (Virtuaalilentäjät ry) organized a
presentation event in which the story of the Finnish World War II
Brewster fighter aircraft and its journey to the United States was
described in detail. This article contains information from the
lecturers and will be updated with new information. Brewster BW-372: The
Story of a Brewster

"The aircraft had to be cleaned in the bottom of the lake as it was
covered by mud and debris. Mud had also acted as preservant so the
aircraft had been preserved well. Actual lifting was performed with
extreme caution. Prytkov said that "the group treated the aircaft like a
child, no one wanted it to be damaged in any way". The aircraft was
lifted on the shore without any damage.
The situation changed after lifting the aircraft. Prytkov was arrested
and the ownership relations of the aircraft became mixed. Prytkov was
charged with "attempt to steal a historic monument", worth 8-15 years of
imprisonment. Intriguing, all charges were dropped immediately after
Prytkov had dismantled the Brewster at Moscow and given the parts final
preservation treatment. "

http://www.virtualpilots.fi/feature/.../bw372lecture/

Wing Commander Bob Foster in Finland

Aviation Museum Society, Finland invited the British RAF warpilot Wing
Commander Robert W. Foster, DFC, AE, to Finland in June 2004. Mr.
Foster, a true British gentleman, blessed us with two most interesting
lectures, the first one at Finnish Air Force Museum at Tikkakoski, the
second at Finnish Aviation Museum at Vantaa.

"And I must have been about 30 miles out to the North Sea thinking "Oh
well, there we are, lovely day above the clouds, time for breakfast" and
not thinking about anything. And suddenly, God knows why, I sense to
this 'they know why', I looked around and there, sitting about 'there'
was a Heinkel 111 below me, it had come up through the cloud. "

http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2...BobFoster.html

Continuation war aviation in review, what has been written and what left out

The achievements of Finnish Air Force during the Continuation War has
been reviewed in press, memoirs, history books and other media. A lot of
it is good, however I have spotted some considerable omissions and
outright errors.

"The Air Force and aerial photography had decisive effect in the
Ihantala battles and the resolution of the war. In retrospect, if the
photography had been unsuccessful or the communication had been as bad
as at Valkeasaari, the enemy would have had a chance for breakthrough
towards Lappeenranta and our defensive fight would have been fatally
troubled. " ...

http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/WW2...uationWar.html

More publications and news from Finnish Virtual Pilots Association:
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/en/news/
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/en/hist/
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/en/feature/

And news in Finnish:
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/news/


Virtuaalilentäjät ry - Virtual Pilots Finland Association is an
association, which purpose is to promote World War II multiplayer
flight simulators and aviation hobby among people interested in
aviation. More information about the association is available from
http://www.virtualpilots.fi . Our plan of action also includes active
research and preservation of Finnish aviation history - more about that
from http://www.virtualpilots.fi/en/info/hist/ and
http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/ .

Virtual Pilots is member of "The Association for Military History in
Finland" and is dedicated to the Association's mission of studying and
preserving the Finnish military history.

Jukka "Grendel" Kauppinen
PR and Press Officer,
History Team, Chairman
Finnish Virtual Pilots Association