Lauri Pekuri
Encyclopedia
Lauri Pekuri is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) was a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
fighter ace
Fighter Ace
Fighter Ace was a massively multiplayer online computer game in which one flies World War II fighter and bomber planes in combat against other players and virtual pilots...
of the Finnish Air Force
Finnish Air Force
The Finnish Air Force is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of readiness formations for wartime conditions...
and a Finnish jet aircraft pioneer. Pekuri had changed his name in 1942, having before been named Lauri Ohukainen. This older name can still be found in aviation literature.
Early history
Lauri Pekuri practiced flying already as a youth in the 1930s Helsinki. He left college to participate in the Civic guardsWhite Guard (Finland)
The White Guard was a voluntary militia that emerged victorious over the socialist Red Guard as part of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918...
and sports. On his first attempt to join the Finnish Air Force he failed in the psychological tests and due to his bad academic record. Instead he became an NCO at the Mikkeli
Mikkeli
Mikkeli is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...
artillery battery. In 1939 he tried out again for the air force and was admitted. He had then completed his interrupted college studies.
Fighter pilot
Pekuri was sent to Parola and Tyrvängö during the Winter WarWinter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
where he got to fly second-line Gloster Gamecock
Gloster Gamecock
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. "The Era-Ending Gamecock". Air Enthusiast, Number 21, April-July 1983.Bromley, Kent:Pilot Press. p. 1-8, 58-62. ISSN 0143-5450....
s, Bristol Bulldog
Bristol Bulldog
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Andrews, C.F. The Bristol Bulldog . Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1965.* Barnes, C.H. Bristol Aircraft Since 1910. London: Putnam, 1964....
s and ASJA Jaktfalk fighters. He managed to assemble about 100 flying hours.
After the Winter War he applied to the officer's school. In 1941 he was sent to Hävittäjälentolaivue 24 who flew Brewster Buffalo
Brewster Buffalo
The Brewster F2A Buffalo was an American fighter aircraft which saw limited service early in World War II. Though the Buffalo won a competition against the Grumman F4F Wildcat in 1939 to become the US Navy's first monoplane fighter aircraft, it turned out to be a big disappointment...
es. In order to fly these fighters he trained on Fokker D.XXI
Fokker D.XXI
-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* De Jong, Peter. Le Fokker D.21 . Outreau, France: Éditions Lela Presse, 2005. ISBN 2-914017-26-X....
s. On 4 October 1941 Pekuri fought his first air battle against a Soviet I-153 fighter, who crashed mainly due to pilot errors. Pekuri continued to better his kill statistics over the following years.
On 25 June 1942 Pekuri participated in a large aerial battle over the Soviet Sekehe airfield. He managed to down two Soviet Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
s, but his Brewster Buffalo (BW-372) was also hit and he was forced to make an emergency landing on a lake. He made it safely to his own lines but the aircraft sank to the bottom. The aircraft was located and recovered in the 1990s and it is the only surviving Brewster Buffalo today. It is today displayed at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. In the fights over Sekehe the Soviets lost seven aircraft.
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Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
G-2 fighters from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The aircraft were transported from Neustadt, near Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The Germans were surprised that not one single plane was destroyed during transport, when they themselves suffered losses up to 20% since they employed less qualified pilots to do the work.
During a flight from Immola to Lappeenranta on June 16, 1944, Pekuri's aircraft was damaged when engaging an Ilyushin Il-2
Ilyushin Il-2
The Ilyushin Il-2 was a ground-attack aircraft in the Second World War, produced by the Soviet Union in very large numbers...
. The engine stopped and he had to bail out behind enemy lines. He wandered for over a week towards his own lines, but was finally captured and sent to a prison in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
. He was released in December 1944.
Pekuri achieved 18.5 victories in World War II (12.5 with Buffaloes and 6 with Bf 109s).
After World War II, Pekuri rejoined the Air Force and took part in transforming the air force into the jet age. He became the first Finnish citizen to break the sound barrier, in an RAF Hawker Hunter
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter is a subsonic British jet aircraft developed in the 1950s. The single-seat Hunter entered service as a manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, and later operated in fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary...
. He flew Folland Gnat
Folland Gnat
The Folland Gnat was a small, swept-wing British subsonic jet trainer and light fighter aircraft developed by Folland Aircraft for the Royal Air Force, and flown extensively by the Indian Air Force....
s, and became the first Finn to break the sound barrier
Sound barrier
The sound barrier, in aerodynamics, is the point at which an aircraft moves from transonic to supersonic speed. The term, which occasionally has other meanings, came into use during World War II, when a number of aircraft started to encounter the effects of compressibility, a collection of several...
(passive glide, GN-101). He also participated in the evaluation of the MiG-21 fighters that were to be purchased to Finland. He recommended the Finnish Air Force not to buy them, but the deal went through due to political reasons.
Pekuri flew the first MiG-21 to Finland on 24 April 1963 and was also the first Finn to break Mach 2 in a MiG-21 (MG-1)
Pekuri finally retired in 1968 with the rank of Colonel, having commanded the Carelian Wing. After his military career he continued working in civilian aviation, as the manager of the aviation maintenance training for Wihuri Oy. In the 1980s he moved to Spain where he wrote his memoirs. He died on August 3, 1999.