The Tempest: Finlandâ€™s Myrsky II 26

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During the Second World War, many countries in Europe designed and produced combat aircraft. Chief among them was Nazi Germany, but there were also a number of small, industrial-based countries, such as Romania, Poland and others; that developed and eventually fielded military airplanes. One of them was the Nordic country of Finland. As relationships with the Soviet Union commenced to deteriorate in the early part of 1941, Finland launched a crash program to develop a fighter aircraft capable of defending the country vast airspace in the spring of that year. Spearheading the effort was E. Wageluis of the Valtion Lentokonetehdas, a state-owned aeronautical industry established in the autumn of 1928. The program produced immediate results when in 1942 it rolled-out the prototype of what would become the Myrsky fighter airplane. The original version was a low wing, single seated monoplane design. It was built out of wood and metal sections and was fitted with a tricycle, re-tractable landing gear. A Swedish licensed version of the popular Pratt & Whitney SCg-3 Twin Wasp, 14-cylinder, radial cooled engine capable of generating 1,650hp powered the Myrsky (Tempest). The aircraft possessed four heavy machine guns installed on the frontend of the fuselage and synchronized to fire through the engine propeller disc. An in depth testing of the new fighter commenced immediately. Although the aircraft incorporated many modern features, its handling performance was sluggish at best. Three improved prototypes followed the original model. These units were designed Tempest I. As with the first unit, these prototypes were submitted to rigorous testing which showed many structural and technical problems associated with the design. The most problematic situation expose by the extensive testing was that the wing composite covering tended to detach from the wing skeleton under high pressure. Adding to this was the relative easy of which the landing gear tended to collapse. In fact, the four original aircrafts were destroyed during the test phase of the program by these same conditions, thus delaying the deployment of the aircraft. The next version of the Tempest incorporated all of its predecessors systems plus the added modifications to the coverings and the landing gear structure. What came out of this integration would be the last operational-ready variant of the Tempest, the II.

SPECIFICATIONS

Wingspan 36′-4″
Length 27′-5″
Height 9′-10″
Maximum Take off Weight 7,088lb
Top Speed 328 mph
Service Ceiling 29,572′
Operational Range 579 miles

Forty six units of the Tempest II were eventually produced. There were plans to mass produce the next Myrsky version, the number III. Developed during the early part of 1944, the III would had incorporated the same fuselage of the II, but would had have an improve engine and a more sophisticated defensive arm mechanism. Ten aircraft were produced of this version, none of them were completed. The whole Tempest program was halted when hostilities with the Soviet Union was over. The operational Tempest saw limited action at the beginning of 1944, but by this time the outcome of the war against the Soviet was already determinate. Finland was forced to sign a peace treaty with the Soviets in September 1944, and shortly after, the Finnish turned what remained of its military against their formed allies, Germany and Italy. The aircraft performed poorly against the best German fighters and was removed from front line service in December. What remained of the Tempest II fighter force was relegated to ground support and reconnaissance duties, which they were nearly, shoot out of the air by the Axis. After the war, the few remained Myrsky were transferred by Finland to France where they served as target tugs until they were decommissioned on 1947.

References:
1 Air Power, Stephen Budiansky, Penguin Books 2004
2 The Myth of The Great War: A New Military History of WW I, John Mosier, Perennial 2001
4 The Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, Edt Paul Eden, Amber Books 2007

An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com