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VL Pyry

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Top speed
  
330 km/h

Length
  
7.7 m

Retired
  
7 September 1962

Manufacturer
  
Valtion lentokonetehdas

Wingspan
  
9.8 m

Introduced
  
1941

First flight
  
March 29, 1939

VL Pyry VL Pyry II MilitaryImagesNet A Military Photo Forum

VL Pyry (Finnish language for blizzard) was a Finnish low-winged, two-seated fighter trainer aircraft, built by the State Aircraft Factory (Valtion lentokonetehdas) for use with the Finnish Air Force. The Pyry was in use from 1939 to 1962. The aircraft was a mixed construction of wood, steel, fabric, and duraluminium.

Contents

VL Pyry VL Pyry avionslegendairesnet

History

VL Pyry httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

The Finnish Air Force ordered a prototype of the aircraft in 1937. It was to be called VL Pyry I and carried the identification number PY-1.

VL Pyry VL Pyry trainer

The chief designer was Arvo Ylinen, and the other persons of the design team were Martti Vainio, Torsti Verkkola, and Edward Wegelius.

The first flight was made on March 29, 1939 by the factory test pilot. The FAF ordered 40 aircraft in May and the aircraft were quickly constructed and were ready in the spring of 1941. These were designated VL Pyry II and their identification numbers ran from PY-2 - PY-41.

Operational history

The first unit to be equipped with Pyrys was the Air Force School in Kauhava, in 1941. Around 700 pilots were trained in the aircraft and the type accumulated over 56,000 flying hours over a service life of 20 years. PY-1 and PY-27 made last flights of the Pyry in Härmälä on 7 September 1962.

The first accident with a Pyry happened in March 1943, when Major E.O. Ehrnrooth, commander of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 squadron, fatally overstressed his aircraft.

Operators

 Finland
Finnish Air Force

Specifications (VL Pyry II)

Data from

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 7.7 m (25 ft 3 in)
  • Wingspan: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
  • Height: 2.55 m (8 ft 4 in)
  • Wing area: 12.7 m2 (137 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 1,045 kg (2,304 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,535 kg (3,384 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-975-E3 Whirlwind nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 340 kW (450 hp) at 2,250 rpm for take-off
  • Propellers: 2-bladed variable-pitch propeller

    • Performance

  • Maximum speed: 330 km/h (205 mph; 178 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 286 km/h (178 mph; 154 kn)
  • Range: 1,050 km (652 mi; 567 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 5,600 m (18,400 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 5 m/s (980 ft/min)
  • Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) - 2 minutes 28 seconds 2,000 m (6,600 ft) - 5 minutes 7 seconds 3,000 m (9,800 ft) - 8 minutes 27 seconds 4,000 m (13,000 ft) - 12 minutes 43 seconds 5,000 m (16,000 ft) - 20 minutes 10 seconds
  • Wing loading: 120.87 kg/m2 (24.76 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.201 kW/kg (0.068 hp/lb)

    • Armament

  • Guns: 1x 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Browning machine gun with 480 rounds

    • References

    VL Pyry Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA