Llmatorjunta Museo
(Anti-Aircraft Museum)
Tuusula, Finland
September 22, 2023
Finnish Aviation Museum
When the P-38 Airacobra came to the museum. The P-38 Airacobra was a US fighter which was transferred to the Russians. The P-38 Airacobra was a wreck when it came to the museum, we had to decide what it will be presented as. It had US and Russian markings. There were layers of paint, showing USAAF and Russian-Soviet markings. We decided the Russian markings were the best representation. We did not want to repaint it, but preserve its original markings. We wanted to preserve everything, to show the history of the aircraft. The P-38 Airacobra is the only fully preserved Russian fighter in the collections of Finnish aviation museums and one of the few Lend-Lease machines that have been preserved in their original condition.
Kai Mecklin
Anti-Aircraft Museum Anti-Aircraft Museum Anti-Aircraft Museum
Left to right: Bell P-39Q-15-BE Airacobra (26 white, previously 44-2664). Forced landed at Aunus, Finland and captured. Restored using the wings of 44-3255 which had crashed Inkeroinen, Finland on June 17, 1944.
Owned by the Military History Museum, its restoration was completed at Tikkakoski to exhibition condition in 1997. Due to lack of space, it has been on display here since 2008.