Douglas DC-2 - Hanssin Jukka

In the history of the Finnish Air Force no other aircraft has had as distinguished and as versatile a career as the DC-2 aircraft nicknamed "Hanssin-Jukka".During the Continuation War it flew provisions for the advancing Finnish troops in Karelia and on the return trips transported numerous seriousl [...]
Visa längre beskrivning

In the history of the Finnish Air Force no other aircraft has had as distinguished and as versatile a career as the DC-2 aircraft nicknamed "Hanssin-Jukka".During the Continuation War it flew provisions for the advancing Finnish troops in Karelia and on the return trips transported numerous seriously wounded soldiers back to hospital. Later in the war the aircraft made several trips to various destinations in Europe transporting VIP passengers. During the Lapland War it dropped provisions to Finnish commandos fighting behind the enemy lines and the aircraft was also used for training parachute troops. During the Winter War this aircraft had even logged one bombing mission. An ever present danger during these war time missions was the enemy anti-aircraft fire and fighter planes.During the war years "Hanssin-Jukka" had one special duty: whenever the head of the Finnish Defence Forces, Marshal of Finland C.G.E. Mannerheim, needed transportation by air, "Hanssin-Jukka" served as his private plane.After the war, "Hanssin-Jukka" ended up in Hämeenlinna where it served as a café for a couple of decades. The plane was finally "rescued" in the 1980's and transported to Tikkakoski to wait for restoration. In the autumn of 2011 the restoration process was completed and "Hanssin-Jukka" was returned to its 1944 appearance.Today Douglas DC-2-aircraft are rare birds indeed. There are only about ten surviving DC-2 planes in the whole world.