VL Pyörremyrsky III

[comrade harps]

VL Pyörremyrsky III
MT-402, Yellow 4, 1. Lentue, Lentolaivue 26, Ilmavoimat
Käkisalmi, June 1944




The  Pyörremyrsky was a Finnish-built version of the Bf 109. In 1938, Messesesrmitt few an export-only version of the Bf 109 that was designed around the American 1,200 hp R-1830-S3C4-G radial engine. The only customer was Finland, which bought a manufacturing licence and sourced its engines from a Swedish production line.




Valtion lentokonetehdas went on to produce 63 Pyörremyrskys between 1940 and 1945, the relatively small number being a result of the nation's scarce metal resources. The  Pyörremyrsky I was armed with  four 7.7 mm cannon, two mounted in the fuselage and two in the wing roots. The  Pyörremyrsky II entered production in 1942 and  deleted the fuselage-mounted weapons and replaced them with two VKT 12,7 mm LKk/42 machine guns mounted in the outer wings. The  Pyörremyrsky III entered service in early 1944 with the 12.7mm weapons relocated to the wing roots (resulting in both upper and lower wing blisters) and replaced the outer-wing weapons with reconditioned, ex-Luftwaffe 20mm MG FF cannon (necessitating the addition of lower-wing bulges).  To ease the degradation on performance associated with the heavier weapons (all  Pyörremyrskys having the same powerplant), this model also featured reduced fuel.




Yellow 4 was delivered in May, 1944 and wears the Finnish national markings adopted in April of that year. More concerned about concealment than identification, the Ilmavoimat had toned-down the white disc background of their markings in late 1943, adopting a dull blue-grey disk. This was replaced from April, 1944 by Luftwaffe-inspired black and white swastikas, with solid black emblems applied to underwing and to fuselage sides and white outline swastikas to wing tops.




This aircraft was struck-off charge in October 1945 following a landing accident. There were 6 air-to-air kills (by 3 pilots) recorded in its logbook, all against Red airpower during June, July and August, 1944.

[comrade harps]

I have Dizzyfugu to thank for this. His Bf 109X with the Zero cowling (http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,39604.0.html) inspired me buy the AModel Bf 109X and do some surgery. The nose comes from an old Myrsky kit, with the nose guns removed; German fuselage and Finnish cowling were a perfect fit. The taller tail is from a spares box, source forgotten.

It wasn't going to have Nazi swastikas, but the Finnish blue ones I had disintegrated during application, so I improvised. I think it gives the plane a more distinctive edge.

I hope you enjoy it.

[DogfighterZen]

 
I like the story and the plane!
Reminds me of a crossing between a P-47D Bubbletop canopy and the BF-109... 

[Dizzyfugu]

I have Dizzyfugu to thank for this. His Bf 109X with the Zero cowling (http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,39604.0.html) inspired me buy the AModel Bf 109X and do some surgery. The nose comes from an old Myrsky kit, with the nose guns removed; German fuselage and Finnish cowling were a perfect fit. The taller tail is from a spares box, source forgotten.

It wasn't going to have Nazi swastikas, but the Finnish blue ones I had disintegrated during application, so I improvised. I think it gives the plane a more distinctive edge.

I hope you enjoy it.

You're welcome! 

The Myrsky III looks (very) nice - tail/fin looks like it comes from a He 100?

[Tophe]

Surprising and nice!

[Captain Canada]

Nice build ! Interesting aeroplane and read...thanks ! Love the colours and camo pattern. And I agree, the black markings do give it a more distinctive look.

[perttime]

I'm sure Finland would've purchased it, if it had been available. The story is quite feasible form the Finnish point of view.  I fear some may be confused and think that the Real-World Pyörremyrsky was a Bf 109 copy.

The black swastikas as Finnish insignia bother me a bit. They do look cool but they look out of place, too, assuming we are not deviating far from real history. It is a bit unfortunate that you ended up using the Serial (Military registration) of a preserved museum example of a Bf 109 G6.

[comrade harps]

Quote from Dizzyfugu:

tail/fin looks like it comes from a He 100?

I think you're right about that. I wasn't sure, so you've confirmed it for me.

perttime said:

I fear some may be confused and think that the Real-World Pyörremyrsky was a Bf 109 copy.

That's the kind of part if the fun of what-if: confusing people. The real-world Pyörremyrsky was clearly inspired by the Bf 109 but was considerably different.

perttime said:

The black swastikas as Finnish insignia bother me a bit. They do look cool but they look out of place, too, assuming we are not deviating far from real history.

.

I think we are deviating a bit far from real history. There is more to my alt-Finnish backstory that I haven't revealed yet.

perttime said:

. It is a bit unfortunate that you ended up using the Serial (Military registration) of a preserved museum example of a Bf 109 G6.

That's just what I had the Finninsh decals for (the ones that didn't disintegrate, anyway). A what-if can be a mix of real and the imagined. That's what can make it deliciously confusing.