17 June 1944 three Bell P-39Q Airacobras (“20” USAAF 44-2092; “25”, USAAF 44-3255, and “26” USAAF 44-2664) force-landed in South-Eastern Finland, obviously after getting lost and running out of fuel. Airacobras “20” and “25” belonged to 102 GIAP and “26” correspondingly to 103 GIAP, 2GIAK of Leningrad PVO. After years of meticulous restoration the Airacobra “white 26” (with fuselage of original “26” while the wings originate from Airacobra “25”) was put on display 6 March 2000 at the Aviation Museum of Central Finland in Tikkakoski, and is since then one of the gems of the marvelous collection of aircraft of this museum.
H. Valtonen/Aviation Museum of Central Finland
Photos by Jukka O. Kauppinen and Jari Juvonen
