How the Top Finnish Biplane Ace Continued to Fight the Russians

Рет қаралды 24,215

Жыл бұрын

In the Winter War of 1939/40, the Finns were facing a numerically superior enemy in whatever aircraft they could get their hands on. Gloster Gladiator biplane fighter was one such aircraft and the most successful ace flying it was Oiva Tuominen. In mid February 1940, Finnish Air Force strengthened their ranks with Italian fighter Fiat G.50 and Tuominen's 26 Squadron managed to employ their new mount before the Winter War ended. Hostilities continued in June 1941. and Tuominen would soon get a chance to prove that his success wasn't just a coincidence as the Finns once again faced thousands of Soviet fighters and bombers.
Main sources:
- Karl Stenman - Finnish Aces of World War 2
amzn.to/3EsXL2e
- Piero Vergnano - Fiat G.50
amzn.to/3SlsJPC
- Gianni Cattaneo - Aircraft Profile No. 188: The Fiat G.50
amzn.to/3kk3Szc
- Finnish Fighter Aces - Lentomestari Oiva Emil Kalervo ‘Oippa’ Tuominen
surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/finlan...
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Audio mastering by Don Solaris:
• Shorts
Oiva Tuominen photo by Collection Sotamuseo
Source www.finna.fi/Cover/Show?id=sa-...
#militaryaviationhistory #winterwar

Пікірлер: 168

@bjornsmith9431 Жыл бұрын

The Finnish aces forgotten aces of World War 2.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

So many of them, I hope to cover more stories in the future.

@oveidasinclair982 Жыл бұрын

The Finn's made the most of those Italian planes, they did better with them then did the Italians.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

True. Just like with many other types which performed poorly elsewhere.

@topivaltanen4432 Жыл бұрын

They were typical italian shit quality.Lubrication system of engine was totally rebuild and MGs was changed to working ones.

@beowulf1312 Жыл бұрын

The Soviet Air force was inferior to the RAF so it's not surprising that the Finns did better than the Italians in 1940 and 1941.

@jdsaldivar5606 Жыл бұрын

82ND AIRBORNE 4 Hours ago...your freshest yet!!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Personal record for you 😁

@jeannezehner9450 Жыл бұрын

At the beginning of the second world war we can notice that certain countries were not equiped with modern planes. For the dogfight, It seems to be like the first world war but with planes a little bit faster and the pilot had a parachute !!! The russians bombers had no escort the major part of the time too, it 's like ball-trap. Incredible !!!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Some of those biplanes also had features like enclosed cockpit (Gladiator) and retractable landing gear (I-153). As for the Russians, they seem to have had plenty of fighters. Many of those could have escorted bombers.

@jeannezehner9450 Жыл бұрын

@@showtime112 Thank you for these details but it stays a strange war.

@dominiqueroudier9401 Жыл бұрын

Tout a fait, c'était une guerre faite avec du matériel hétéroclite voire obsolète d origine anglaise , française américain, hollandaise....et plus tard allemande

@jeannezehner9450 Жыл бұрын

@@dominiqueroudier9401 Je ne connais pas ce conflit ou plutôt assez mal. Quant les allemands s'y sont mis réellement, le niveau technologique a dû changer.

@dominiqueroudier9401 Жыл бұрын

@@jeannezehner9450 Jeanne, excuse du retard. Ya mon fils qui vient d'arriver. On va tous manger ensemble... téléphoner Pizza Mario.🍕. Bref ya eu 2 guerres contre les Russes. La 2eme y a eu du matos allemand. Exclusivement du Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 Après j'ai pas vraiment d'écho ldessus. Seulement quelques pilotes exceptionnels qui ont fait des exploits. Même au sol l'armée russe a été désorganisé dans les combats dans la neige par des petits unités mobile finlandaises. A demain 👍

@flightlinemedia Жыл бұрын

Nice work Showtime. Finnish aircraft history is extremely fascinating. We just featured a Fokker D.XXI on our page in a Finnish livery. I think their most impressive story collectively though is how well they put the Brewster Buffalo to use. I also found it interesting that the Swedish participated in the Winter War, in small numbers.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

I hope to cover the Buffalo story in this theater someday. Thanks for another comment!

@jakobc.2558 Жыл бұрын

I am very happy you aknowledged that the soviet union was allies with nazi germany before operation barbarossa. Alot of people get unreasonably emotional over this historical fact. Indeed, the soviets tried to join the axis, and the only reason the soviet - axis talks failed were because stalin wanted bulgaria. In my eyes, there is absolutely nothing that distinguishes Stalin from the other fascist leaders of that time.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

I absolutely agree, thank you for commenting!

@gs98999 Жыл бұрын

What about the fact that Hitler considered Slavs as subhuman like he did Jews, Roma people, Africans? No better than fascists of the time? What a ridiculous statement. Do you then believe that Putin is right to anihaltae present day Ukraine because there are some neo Nazi elements there?

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

@@gs98999 Theory and what someone believed is one thing, but when it comes to the level of tyranny, disregard for human life and the sheer number of people who lost their lives and suffered because of the two mustached dictators, they are very much comparable.

@jakobc.2558 Жыл бұрын

@@gs98999 now hold your horses, it is not like stalin didn't also have ethnic hatred. The holodomor was the third largest genocide in human history after all, right behind the holocaust and general plan ost. And to my knowledge it was directly ordered by Stalin. The real difference was that Stalin was a fascist leader in a country that pretended to be communist, while Hitler was a fascist leader in a fascist country. I'd imagine it is a bit easier to do fascist things like slavery and genocide in a country where the state ideology does not contradict that. But in therms of the individual leaders, pre barbarossa Stalin was buddys with Hitler.

@gs98999 Жыл бұрын

I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. For all the evil Stalin brought upon his people as a dictator, he can’t be compared to what Hitler did, IMO.

@tonyvera-cruz6422 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for depicting another historical "David vs Goliath" aerial story. Please keep on making more of these as it is relevant in current events.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

People seem to like those the most. Thank you for the feedback and hopefully, many more videos will be coming out.

@patrickcloutier6801 Жыл бұрын

I sometimes wonder if aircraft like the G.50 and F2 Brewster Buffalo performed so well in Finnish hands, due to the air environment. Is it possible that the flying atmosphere at such high latitudes, close to the Arctic Circle, had a favorable effect on engine performance or aerodynamics, that the warm skies of the Mediterranean did not offer? Italian-flown Macchi C.200s also performed quite well against their Soviet counterparts, though it must be recognized that many Italian pilots were very experienced, before arrival in the USSR.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

I have to say that I haven't considered the climatic effect on success of certain aircraft in Finland. There are similar cases (although opposite). P-38 for example performed poorly in cold climate of Northwestern Europe, unlike in the Pacific or Mediterranean. Perhaps I'll come across some analysis somewhere. Thank you for yet another comment and for a very generous donation!

@patrickcloutier6801 Жыл бұрын

@@showtime112 You're very welcome. Quality programming is worthy of support.

@13stalag13 Жыл бұрын

As far as the Brewster Buffaloes, the version the Finns got didn't have pilot armor or self sealing fuel tanks, so they were much lighter and performed better than the ones used by the US, British and Dutch.

@topivaltanen4432 Жыл бұрын

Basicly when normal car produce 200hp in temperature +5C it can loose about 20hp when temperature raises to +25.

@finntastique3891 10 ай бұрын

One reason for the outstanding performance of Finnish pilots was the Pyry trainer aircraft. It was nasty and unforgiving. Thus the pilots really learned how to fly.

@13stalag13 Жыл бұрын

Nicely done. The Finns may not have had the best equipment, but their soldiers, sailors and airmen were awesome.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your feedback! The Finns are a tough bunch, that's for sure.

@MDsteeler1 Жыл бұрын

I love learning about the aerial component of this particular conflict. It really happened & not that many folks know about it. Really interesting stuff.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the feedback! I find these stories very interesting as well. Basically, I make the kind of videos I would like to watch myself :)

@ratagris21 Жыл бұрын

Perkele!🇫🇮 Great presentation to see it's not the size of army, but the will and desire to fight. Russia has failed to realize their flaws. History repeats itself even to this day. The Winter War and now the Ukrainian - Russo conflict. ♠️🎩🎯🎱🇺🇲🏁🇺🇦🔱🌻💮🌼🌸🏴‍☠️🏹

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

I appreciate yet another comment from you. You never fail 😁

@kalui96 Жыл бұрын

Don't mess with the Finnish!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

They seem a pretty tough bunch.

@scriptsmith4081 Жыл бұрын

An open cockpit high-speed radial-engine powered monoplane fighter in Finland...in February? You have got to be kidding.(This takes freezing your butt off to a whole new level- I'm shivering just watching it!)

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Winter is not my favorite season so, I totally get what you're saying :)

@topivaltanen4432 Жыл бұрын

On the other hand the higher you go the coldness get equal,no matter if your above Sahara or Siperia.

@gamer_f1043 Жыл бұрын

Another classic!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment!

@sohrabroozbahani4700 Жыл бұрын

That's the most heartbreaking part of ww2 to me, the Finns losing to Soviets twice...

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

They didn't deserve it...

@jukkasavolainen5620 Жыл бұрын

Even though we lost, we actually won, namely our freedom... and the russians will still think twice before attacking Finland again...

@jounisuninen Жыл бұрын

Soviets never got to Helsinki that was their most coveted price. So we fought for our freedom and that's where we won.

@bjmccann1 Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for another donation!

@Spitfiresammons Жыл бұрын

It’s wired to see both allied and axis aircraft serving in the Finnish Air Force throughout ww2. Please do the story of two RAF pilots who become ace in a day during the Battle of Britain.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

They were acquiring aircraft through so many different channels. You are right, I haven't really covered BoB yet.

@Spitfiresammons Жыл бұрын

@@showtime112 well you better do the BoB after finish more Finnish aces story.

@coldwaterhunter8176 Жыл бұрын

Do Wind or Juutilainen next.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the suggestion. There will be more stories about Finnish aces but it is hard to say which ones. It depends on my current inspiration :)

@jimsaintamour2 Жыл бұрын

Great video, as always!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this positive comment!

@julianlau5579 Жыл бұрын

Another masterpiece, congratulations Showtime112. Really enjoyable. Thank you for the work.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your support, these comments are inspiring!

@joonamikkonen_ Жыл бұрын

Finnish Air Forces back then were the best compared to any other countries after Germany when it comes ratios of planes shot down and aces. And I would definitely say the Finnish Air Force for its size to this day remains very dangerous opponent and definitely more than a match.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

More I learn about Finnish pilots, more impressed I am.

@herptek 11 ай бұрын

Almost all of the ridiculously successfull aces of world war two were Germans, but the high rate of plane losses the Germans suffered lowered the kill to death ratio of the luftwaffe even enough to go below the Finnish airforce I believe.

@joonamikkonen_ 11 ай бұрын

@@herptek The Germans, however, have always been the best in the air to think it is a major nation. Its airforce was without doubt, the best. Finland was so small I don’t know if it’s worth comparing such vast differences in size.

@herptek 11 ай бұрын

@@joonamikkonen_ K/D ratios have nothing to do with the size or more generally the strength of the force in question. For whatever such a statistic is worth, it doesn't tell you which airforce had the best change of conquering the world or something if that is what you were thinking about. It isn't a ranking measuring the importance of the measured power factor. What it is supposed to tell you is merely that is your force of choice under consideration over- or underachieving in a certain isolated, yet central, task and by what margin. The FAF wasn't the biggest or the most consequential airforce or anything like, quite the opposite, but it did overperform in air combat like none other according to this metric. Unless I am mistaken the K/D ratio of the FAF was the best among the air forces of the second world war. This owes as much to low casualties as to good success in gaining aerial victories.

@joonamikkonen_ 11 ай бұрын

@@herptek Thank you for senseful comment. That’s a very good argument. I should have told better that my initial point was to express the outperform with the aircraft the Finns had. Majority of the planes were kind of unsuitable for their role as fighters such as Brewster Buffalos, Gloster Gladiators etc. - Against an enemy that not only faster planes, but also in quantity that FAF could’t never have. LA-5Fs, LAGGS, P-47s, IL-2s and Yaks. Finns were improvising every possible aviation plane to their roles and in that mind it’s insane that Soviets could easily have wiped out Finland with the amount of planes they had.

@mpgingdl Жыл бұрын

Now imagine Tuominen in a Spitfore or Mustang.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Early in the War, he would have likely scored even more kills.

@celiacresswell6909 Жыл бұрын

Good vid! Interesting to see the ‘good guys ‘ with swasticas

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Yes, thing are often much deeper than they might seem.

@zagreb123123 Жыл бұрын

💥💥💥

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Hvala T! 😉

@MPi-KM Жыл бұрын

God bless Finland

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

👍

@gordonbergslien30 Жыл бұрын

@@showtime112 I second that! My great grandfather was Swedish but he never set foot in Sweden. He was part of Finland's Swedish minority. I am proud to say that, 80 years before the Russians moved on Ukraine, the Finns mounted a spirited defense against the Bear!

@ericvogt7123 Жыл бұрын

The place I quite want to be

@guaporeturns9472 Жыл бұрын

🤦‍♂️so cringe. Also there is no such thing as god

@alanwayte432 Жыл бұрын

No such thing as God

@eerokutale277 Жыл бұрын

#Soviets attacked with approximately the same number of aircraft's and tanks in their insane attempt of defeating #Finland in the Winter War as #Germany used in the operation #Barbarossa against #SovietUnion.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing info!

@Eric-kn4yn Жыл бұрын

No gun cam

@branka1980 Жыл бұрын

👍

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

😉

@nrudnjanin Жыл бұрын

Odličan video. Jesi li razmišljao da napraviš video o Matu Dukovcu i njegovim borbama od Aprilskog rata preko istočnog fronta do oslobođenja?

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Hvala! Nije da nisam razmišljao, možda dođe na red jednog dana. Mislim da je na kraju čak letio i za Sirijce u ratu 1948.

@briansteffmagnussen9078 Жыл бұрын

Open cockpit combat near the polar circle must have been gruesome.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Well, you sure had to put a few layers of clothes on yourself :)

@jannekiviranta-ph7ey Жыл бұрын

Good and informative video but is there a reason for mirror swastika on G.50?

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

For one thing, a mistake by the original skin creator. And then, a mistake by this video's creator who forgot to check and simply assumed it was correct :)

@Cuccos19 Жыл бұрын

Unbelievable that an under-powered and under-armed open cockpit fighter was so successful up in the harsh northern climate (clearly not a comfortable place to be, sitting in an open cockpit airplane in the Finnish winter). Either the Finnish pilots were greatly trained or the Russian pilots were extremely "green". Or rather both.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Well, it came to my mind too that sitting in that open cockpit must have been a rather unpleasant experience. As for the training, the Finns must have had a much better training and tactics or they couldn't have fought the Soviets so effectively.

@Eric-kn4yn Жыл бұрын

2x50 cal not bad shooting

@Alessioalessio-qv1ff 24 күн бұрын

In good hands this fiat could also overcome a hurricane

@marcomarcon5802 Жыл бұрын

It looks like two 12.7mm guns in the hands of the right pilot are enough to take down multiple bombers!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

That guy certainly knew how to aim well!

@13stalag13 Жыл бұрын

To be fair, most of the Soviet fighters only mounted 2 guns also.

@topivaltanen4432 Жыл бұрын

Their opinion was that two heavy MGs was much better than 4 light ones.Original MGs was changed as it was called miracle if after take off even one original was capable of shooting one burst.

@topivaltanen4432 Жыл бұрын

@@showtime112 They used pinpoint tactic shooting gunners first with very short bursts.

@joewright2304 Жыл бұрын

I would like to learn more about this man and the Finish air force

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

I intend to make more videos about the Finnish Air Force in WWII. Perhaps even part III about Tuominen. Thanks for commenting!

@1joshjosh1 9 ай бұрын

I guess the 2 heavy machine guns on the Italian airplane wasn't so bad

@luizfernandolessa1889 10 ай бұрын

Belo vídeo, não sei porque poucos joinhas.

@showtime112 10 ай бұрын

Thanks! Actually, the number of likes is relatively good on this one. Generally, people don't seem to bother with this little gesture (which helps the creators a lot)

@alejandrocasalegno1657 Жыл бұрын

The VVS was a bad joke at the time..........by 1944 nobody laugh anymore....

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

You could say that this sleeping giant took even longer time to get fully awaken than the other one 😁

@alejandrocasalegno1657 Жыл бұрын

@@showtime112 Russia is always slow to react,, from the mongols to the Werhmacht, can pass years, decades , centuries....but some day will be a Kulikovo or Stalingrad!!!!!.....Slava Russia.

@juslitor Жыл бұрын

@@alejandrocasalegno1657 more a matter of human values and human life having little meaning in the tsar empire/CCCP/russia

@alejandrocasalegno1657 Жыл бұрын

@@juslitor Russia is not for the weak........

@RacerX1971 Жыл бұрын

When you go up against Finland you are Finnish 😂😂

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Not something I would advise 😁

@markogronfors3826 5 ай бұрын

Fiiu ja Tuominen a deadly couple

@ZAFODBIBLBROKS1 3 ай бұрын

The Germans had 30,000 Me-109s and 20,000 Fw-190s. Russians had 140,000 aircraft of all classes (20,000 Russian pre-war aircraft, 100,000 Russian aircraft made during the war, 20,000 aircraft that the Russians received under lend-lease). It is easy to calculate that if the German Air Force had fought as well as the Fins, the Russian Air force would have been completely destroyed. Damn it, the Russians were just very lucky that the German pilots were much worse than the Finnish ones.

@jespermadsen Жыл бұрын

Can't help to notice that the Finnish swastika is the wrong way round

@user-eu1gq8th2q Жыл бұрын

Не реально!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

No, it's War Thunder 🤣🤣🤣

@cfcconky8439 Жыл бұрын

What sim is that?

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

It's War Thunder. More of an arcade than a sim :)

@cfcconky8439 Жыл бұрын

@@showtime112 Ok, thanks!

@squadman3376 Жыл бұрын

Finns are badass people !! Welcome to NATO. !!

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Yeah, they certainly seem so!

@KrasnySokol Жыл бұрын

Only the facist called the I-16 "Ratta "

@beowulf1312 Жыл бұрын

These are unescorted obsolete, slow moving Soviet bombers.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Sure, but the fighters Finns used weren't exactly top notch. Their firepower was light and attacking a group of bombers with their defensive guns blazing was still a very risky business. Most fighter aces didn't build up their scores by fighting equally skilled opponents in epic duels. That rarely happened.

@WestCoastMole Жыл бұрын

I think what's interesting is the Swastika Insignia painted on the Finnish Nazi Planes is in the opposite direction of the Swastika painted on the German Nazi Planes.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Since the two are unrelated, it's not such a surprise.

@WestCoastMole Жыл бұрын

@@showtime112 unrelated ? ? ? By your own video Finland had extensive relations with Nazi Regimes sourcing it's aircraft exclusively from Axis Powers (Germany and Italy). Even today Aircraft Restoration Clubs in Europe that restore ME109s and FW190s paint them up with Swastikas devoid of the internal cross so they won't be recognized. Anot so veiled reference to the hideous history embodied in the marking.

@christopherbentley7289 Жыл бұрын

No, that's not true, Bob. The Ilmavoimat markings had the swastika the 'Nazi' way around, in reality, but you're right, Showtime112, that there was no relationship at all between that swastika and Far-Right ideology. There are those who say that there is a 'good' and 'bad' way around for the swastika, but they are over-simplifying matters. I am heartened, at any rate, that War Thunder aren't censoring this swastika, as it appeared they might be from a KZfaq video I encountered some weeks ago where the Ilmavoimat markings were rendered as a plain blue cross on a white circle, which looked quite frankly ridiculous. In fact, why is the Nazi tailfin swastika itself censored in this respect? It was an air force fighting for Nazi Germany so why not be historically honest? I hardly think that the presence of swastikas in war-gaming makes a repetition of the crimes of Nazism any the more likely, if that is the fear that is driving this censorship.

@MRtapio5 Жыл бұрын

"Nazi planes". Omg how can there still be people that are so uneducated about this subject 🤦🏼‍♂️

@WestCoastMole Жыл бұрын

@@MRtapio5 you don't understand that Italy was an Axis Power ?

@JEJAK5396 Жыл бұрын

Back when the Russkis were Commies.

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

And today they are completely different 😁

@jakobc.2558 Жыл бұрын

In therms of government structure, they have not realy changed untill today. They are still bloodthirsty authoritarians, are they not?

@saulorrodrigues Жыл бұрын

German wss never alied with ussr . It was only a provisional treaty

@showtime112 Жыл бұрын

Well, they sure fooled me. Especially with the way they handled Poland.

@XtreeM_FaiL 11 ай бұрын

@@showtime112 And trade food, oil and military knowledge, not to mention how they divide Europe together.

@gwtpictgwtpict4214 8 ай бұрын

There was nothing "provisional" about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, signed 23 August 1939 between Russia and Gemany. It basically stated who got which parts of Central and Eastern Europe. The relevant parts of Central and eastern Europe where, of course, not consulted. Read some history.