VL Viima, constructed by the State Aircraft Factory (Valtion lentokonetehdas

Valtion lentokonetehdas

' was a Finnish aircraft manufacturing company that was founded on 23 February 1928 from the IVL or I.V.L. factory . The company was transferred from being subordinate to the Finnish Air Force to being subordinate to the Ministry of Defence...

or VL) is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 two-seat, biplane trainer used by 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...

 from the late 1930s to the end of the 1940s. After military service, several were released into civil use.

Design

The Viima II was a single engined, tandem seater biplane. Viima means Wind in English. Post war, VL was eventually absorbed into Valmet

Valmet

' was a Finnish state-owned conglomerate. Valmet was formed in 1951, when the state of Finland decided to group their various factories working on war reparations to the Soviet Union under one company...

, so the aircraft is often referred to as the Valmet Viima. It had unequal span, staggered single bay wings built around two box spars with plywood ribs. The interplane struts were N shaped. The wings were fabric covered and carried four ailerons in all; the upper and lower ailerons were externally linked.

The fuselage and tail unit were constructed of chrome-molybdenum steel and fabric covered. The tailplane, mounted on the top of the fuselage, was wire braced to the small triangular fin. Both fin and tailplane were adjustable on the ground. The wide chord, deep rudder reached to the bottom of the fuselage between divided elevators. The rudder carried a trim tab and the elevators a Flettner flap.

The cockpits were close together, the forward one at mid-chord with a cut-out in the upper wing to enhance visibility. Dual control was fitted. The undercarriage was of the split axle type, with the faired main legs attached to the fuselage forward of the wings and braced by rearward struts. It used low pressure tyres and rubber in compression springing. A tailwheel was fitted. The Viima was powered by an uncowled Siemens-Halske Sh 14

Siemens-Halske Sh 14

-References:* Becker, E. Siemens Jahrbuch 1928: Flugzeugmotoren der Siemens & Halske AG, reproduced on * http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/Duxford/germaer1.htm...

 radial engine.

Operational history

20 Viimas served with the Finnish Air Force until the late 1940s. They were then released for civil use, 14 appearing on the Finnish civil register, several of them fitted with a framed enclosed cockpit.

Versions

Viima I was a prototype aircraft, of which two aircraft were made. The third Viima I was the first aircraft of the series production version.

Viima II was the series production version of the trainer aircraft. 20 aircraft were built for the FAF. Another two were delivered to the Finnish Air Defence Guild.

Viima IIB was powered by a de Havilland Gipsy Major.

Specifications (VL Viima II)