Soviet - American detente on show at an open day at the Finnish Defence Force base at Utti

My grand Scandinavian Aviation Tour 1982
A beautiful sight - the first time on my tour of Finnish airfields where I managed to get up close and personal to some Soviet hardware :)

On the fourth day of our 'grand tour' we started the day in Savonlinna, with a drive to the border with the U.S.S.R. near Parikkala - my personal highlight! We then travelled south-west along the border via Lappeenranta airfield to Utti, where we were amazed to come across an open day at the local air base!! And there were Russians and vintage Propliners on show - lucky me :)

Here we see a line up of three choppers, two Soviet-built Mil Mi-8s and an American built Hughes 369. HS-1 has been displayed with the cargo doors open for an insider view. The Hughes helicopter was one of only two that the Ilmavoimat operated, and was sadly written off a month after my visit.

HS-1 Mil-Mi8T The air force, Finnish Army Aviation (Suomen Maavoimat) and Frontier Guard (Rajavartiolaitos) operated a total of ten Mil Mi-8 helicopters. The first one, coded HS-2, was delivered on May 28, 1973, and the second, coded HS-1, was delivered three days later. Finland eventually obtained eight Mi-8T and two Mi-8PS. The type logged more than 36.000 flight hours in Finnish military service from 1973 to 2010, without encountering a single fatal crash.

Utti air base unofficial air show :) - so we rolled up in our Swedish Saab at the local air base hoping to be able to peer through the fence, and discovered that they were holding an annual open day for the local townsfolk! We parked up and tried to blend in with the locals, which wasn't so easy arriving in a British registered car, and me wielding my Zenith camera. Anyway, after pushing up to some flimsy ropes which had been put up, and getting the courage up to start snapping some photos, I couldn't wait to try and get close to the two Mil Mi-8s that were parked up on display, HS-2 and HS-6. I managed to grab some nice photos without incident, but we hadn't gone un-noticed! As we returned to the car, we heard a shout behind us, and as we looked round, a couple of guys were following us, and took our photos for the files! And photos of our car. But they didn't start interrogating us, so I reckon they were Finnish police rather than visiting Russians. We never heard any more about it, and I have some rare photos to cherish :)

Utti In 1918 General Carl Gustaf Mannerheim set up the first Finnish Air Force base in the village. Today, Utti is best known for the Utti Jaeger Regiment, a helicopter base and a training ground for special forces and military police, and civilian skydiving recreational activities.

HS-1 Mil Mi-8T c/n 13301 & HS-6 Mil Mi-8T c/n 13306 - the Mil Mi-8 (Russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, and now produced by Russia. In addition to its most common role as a transport helicopter, the Mi-8 is also used as an airborne command post, armed gunship, and reconnaissance platform. Along with the related, more powerful Mil Mi-17, the Mi-8 is among the world's most-produced helicopters, used by over 50 countries. As of 2015, when combined the two helicopters are the third most common operational military aircraft in the world.

The Soviet military originally showed little interest in the Mi-8 until the Bell UH-1's involvement in the Vietnam War became widely publicised as a great asset to the United States, allowing troops to move swiftly in and out of a battlefield and throughout the country. It was only then that the Soviet military rushed a troop-carrying variant of the Mil Mi-8 into production. By 1967, it had been introduced into the Soviet Air Force as the Mi-8.

The Finnish Defence Forces and the Finnish Border Guard began using Mi-8s in the 1970s, with the Finnish Air Force receiving its first, serial HS-2, on 28 May 1973, and the second, HS-1, on 31 May 1973. Six Mi-8Ts were obtained at first, followed by further two Mi-8Ts and two Mi-8Ps. Three of the helicopters were handed over to the Border Guard Wing. One of these was lost after sinking through ice during a landing in April 1982. It was soon replaced by a new Mi-8. After their Border Guard service, the helicopters were transferred to the civil register, but shortly thereafter to the Finnish Air Force. In 1997 it was decided that all helicopters, including the remaining five Mi-8Ts and two Mi-8Ps, should be transferred to the Army Wing at Utti.

All Finnish Mi-8s have now been retired, but three have been preserved. HS-6 is now on display at the Finnish Aviation Museum in Vantaa, and HS-1 is at the Päijänne Tavastia Aviation Museum in Asikkala, near Lahti. HS-4 is at the South Carelia Aircraft Museum, Lappeenranta. The two final Mi-8Ts were given to Hungary in August 2011 with all remaining spare parts. [Wiki]

HH-2 c/n 64-0611S - Hughes 369HS was one of only two of the type to be operated by the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force). According to the following website, the helicopter was written off on 22nd July 1982 - just a month after I saw it! and stored at Utti.
www.helis.com/database/cn/34156/
The aircraft was eventually repaired, and transferred to the civil register as OH- HIU. Very sadly, the aircraft crashed some years later, on 24th Aug 1995 on a night ferry flight, when it hit trees in low visibility, killing the pilot.

My grand Scandinavian Aviation Tour 1982
After making four successful tours of Northern Europe, in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981, made primarily to visit some of the major airports to feed my need to see 'exotic' aircraft, but also to take in the experience of travel abroad, I was lucky to take part in my most interesting and adventurous tour in 1982 - to Scandinavia! Inspired by my long-term affinity with the region (being 6' 2" and blonde I am obviously descended from the Vikings :) I planned the trip to take in the following countries: Norway, Sweden and Finland. For some reason, I couldn't engineer Denmark into my two-week itinerary! The main goal for me was to explore some of Finland, and in particular, to at least see the border with Russia a.k.a. the U.S.S.R. :)

As Finland was the most interesting country of the three for me, I engineered quite a long visit to the country [six days] and managed to visit six of the nine military airfields located in the southern part of the country:

1) Helsinki-Malmi
2) Utti
3) Turku-Abo (shared civil airport)
4) Tampere-Pirkkala
5) Jyväskylä-Luonetjarvi (shared civil airport)
6) Kuopio-Rissala
as well as
7) Helsinki-Vantaa (shared civil airport)

Taken with a Soviet made Zenith TTL camera and standard lens.

You can see a random selection of my aviation memories here: www.flickriver.com/photos/heathrowjunkie/random/

Taken in: Finland / Kymenlaakso / Kouvola / Utti (show map)

Taken on: June 6, 1982

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Ilmavoimat

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