I think it´d be nice to have it back but then again would we have the money to repair it...?? http://www.warbirdforum.com/buff.htm
Brewster Buffalo BW-372 returns to Finland for restoration Three and a half year project will end with return to Pensacola in 2011. Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Home Warbird enthusiasts will be delighted to learn that the Finnish Air Force Brewster Buffalo BW-372 fighter shot down in a dogfight during the Continuation War in 1942 has returned to Finland after 65 years. On Thursday the plane was shown off to the press at the Aviation Museum of Central Finland at Tikkakoski, near Jyväskylä. The aircraft will be lovingly restored at the museum over three and a half years, and will then be returned to its owner, the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.
I hope Europeans will be able to see it before it crosses the Ocean. I hope it works out, there is obviously a lot of work to do, but I'm certain it's in wonderful, talented hands.
Nearly ten years after she was recovered from a lake in Russian Karelia -- nearly four years after she reached the United States -- the Finnish Air Force Brewster fighter has finally gone on museum display, back home in Finland! What a nice turn of events, even if it means I'll never see BW-372 up close and personal. The Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, has sent the plane to the Keski-Suomen Ilmailumuseo (Aviation Museum of Central Finland), where she'll be restored over a period of three or four years, with the work visible through a view window. Admission is a mere €6 (plus your fare to Helsinki and Tikkakoski). Here's a treasure trove of detail views on a Finnish message board. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford Buffalo ghosts One of my favorite sites on the Buffalo . Annals of the Brewster Buffalo
Gordon, you almost had me going there for a moment ;-)) I almost thopught you were talking about the North-American Bison. I was going to say that we'd gladly ship over to you a few thousand-as their population is deemed to be too big and a good portion are starting to get ill and or to starve. Anyway, thanks for the info about this tough old warbird. Take care and best regards-C.
Why were the Finns so succesful with the Buffalo? I mean, their kill to loss ratio was incredible, in sharp contrast with the dismal (and mortal) failure that the stubby-looking bird proved to be for ABDA powers in the early days of the Jap onslaught. Was it because of tactics? training? opposition?
The Finnish Buffalos were of the first production serie. The later models had added protection, which made them slow and sluggish to manouvre. The Finnish pilots were very well trained and used tactics best suitable for each aircraft type. Since the Buffalo was the best fighter FAF had 1940 - early 1943 only the best pilots got to fly it. Soviet pilots were not as well trained as the Japanese ones - the best in the world - at the early stage of war. Soviet air tactics were not particularly good. Soviet planes were not as good as Zeros in 1941-42.
