VL HUMU
Humu (="reckless") is a mid-wing single-seat fighter. Its fuselage is metal construction and comes from an American Brewster Buffalo B-239 (It has been lenghtened 19cm). The wooden wing is of Finnish design. The power plant is a Russian M-63 engine, purchased from Germany.
The basis of the Humu was the Brewster, of which Finnish pilots had a high opinion. After the strenght of Brewster fleet had reduced from original 44, design work of an indigenous version was launched. In October 1942 the Finnish Air Force ordered 90 aircraft, but a year later serial production was found to have fallen behind the schedule so much that the order was reduced to cover 60 aircraft. A wooden wing was tested on Brewster BW-392 from autumn of 1942 onwards. The aircraft was destroyed on 5th June 1943 when it flicked to the ground immediately after takeoff, killing pilot, an experinced Brewster flyer who was taking the aircraft to a squadron for in-service trials. In June 1944 serial production of Humu was cancelled, and only the prototype was completed. It first flew in August 8th 1944 with Captain Esko Halme at the controls. It logged total of 19h 50min on test flights before it was stored on March 28th 1945.
Humu fell short of expectation that had been bestowed on it. The wooden wing was too flexible and also 250kg heavier than an original wing. Neither did the M-63 engine develop the nominal 1000hp power output, and therefore performance remained much lower than had been calculated. In short, 1944 Humu was already totally obsolete as a fighter. Its development work served as a good example of emergency solutions to which the Finnish Air Force had to resort during the war years due to shortage of materials.
Quoted: Despite the Buffalos shortcomings, the Finns were absolutly DEADLY with it in WW2. They had an amazing kill ratio vs. the russians.
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