Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Grendel on July 10, 2002, 02:44:03 PM
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Brewster ace, Morane ace, Messerchmitt ace
Conducted today another interview for the Virtual Pilots Finland association. The interview was intended to be about mr. Antti Tani, a Morane Saulnier and Messerchmitt 109 ace but mr. Tani also called to a friend of his, and we found ourselves in company of not only Tani himself but Jussi Huotari, a Brewster and 109 ace. We spent a pleasant day chatting about aviation and old things and there is now plenty material waiting.
Left Antti Tani, right "Jussi" Huotari
(http://www.byterapers.com/~grendel/scan/aviation/tani-huotari1.jpg)
Antti Tani, 21 and half victories during 272 combat flights with Morane Saulnier 406 and Messerchmitt 109 G-2/G-6.
(http://www.byterapers.com/~grendel/scan/aviation/tani-huotari2.jpg)
Jouko "Jussi" Huotari, 17 and half victories during 291 combat flights. Flying the Brewster B-239 and Messerhmitt 109 G-2/G6.
(http://www.byterapers.com/~grendel/scan/aviation/tani-huotari3.jpg)
Scoreboard of mr. Tani.
(http://www.byterapers.com/~grendel/scan/aviation/tani-huotari4.jpg)
"Jatkosodan ässä" - The ace of Continuation War
The recently published book telling the story of Antti Tani, including a lot of most unique information about fighting with the Morane Saulnier fighters.
(http://www.aviationshop.fi/index/tani%20kansi%20TIFF.GIF)
Look forward for this and other pilot interviews in the future at our association's history site: http://www.virtualpilots.fi/hist/
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S! Grendel!
WTG:D
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Excellent work. Your dedication is admirable.
S!
Charon
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Great stuff, G! :)
Camo
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S!
Great stuff! As Iso-G said..get the book Finns!;):D
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Jussi in his "shooting my watch" picture is telling about deflection shooting. We were naturally interested in the convergence what they used and about their shooting solutions. Jussi is telling about a 90 degree shot he took on a Russian fighter in his Brewster.
Initially Jussi had said "but I don't remember anything anymore". Still, as we were chatting leisurely the old wheels started turning again in his head, and he gave several very interesting, very valuable pieces of information.
Asking generally about the Brewster he wondered "well what is so special about it?". Heck - he was one of those few pilots who took an airframe deemed useless by others, and turned it into a world record beating first line fighter. 9 victories with Brewster himself, now that is WOW. Even a MiG-3 and Hurricane!
Wonderful gents. And a wonderful day. Definitely worth it travelling 3 hours to meet them and 3 hours to come home :)
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Are the interviews up Grendel?
to helping preserve the experiences of our elders.
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unfortunately for u guys those 2 ace's are not americans.....so no american is gonna be interested...cause there not americans :eek: ...see where this is goin at:D
btw i'm canadian not american:D
I'm still wonderin why the hell finnish folks would be pattin on the back finnish fighters who fought with the lufftwabble. or i'm i completely beside the tracks here:eek:
SlowHand
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I've read some online stuff about the Winter Wars. I've forgotten the names and the cities, but I remember the complicated nature of the battle and the general strategy that was used. Finland's WW2 pilots should be regarded as some of the best marksmen in the world, particularly given the airframes they had to work with. It also helped that the Soviet military was self-destructing with Stalin's purges, but when you look at the numbers and the odds, the Finnish Air Force performed remarkably well.
Thanks for the post and the pictures!
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Salute Grendel and thanks again!
SLO you are wrong as a lot of us have a great interest in this part of the war,as there has been very little info.available here until the advent of the internet.
You should read a little history and I think you will find they were fighting against Russia to keep them out more so than fighting with the LW.Russia had the desire to take over part or all of Finland.Finland produced some of the most astounding pilots of the war.
Also anyone that strapped one of these birds on and did battle are worthy of recognition no matter what country they flew for.
Frodo
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I know the war between Finn's an Russian's......I'm not an american....I do study other parts of war.
But as 2 pat the opposition on the back(even tho its 60 years later)...no thx u.....your welcome to do it, but not me.
And i'm pretty sure the dead flyers would tend to agree with me.
Stop putting beauty in war my friend...cause it ain't all that beautiful.
ask the dead.
Slowhand
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I'm still wonderin why the hell finnish folks would be pattin on the back finnish fighters who fought with the lufftwabble. or i'm i completely beside the tracks here
Finland's involvement is actually a fairly complicated one, being caught between a rock and a hard place so to speak. I equate finlands "War Guilt" as such with that of the Neutrals, but with some key differences. Finland did not follow Nazi dogma or the Aryan superiority mythology. They had been attacked by the USSR previously and the German alliance was convenient for both sides. What would have happend to Finland if Nazi German had won the war in the east and Finland refused to get on board with Germany's overall european policy (Jews, etc.) raises some interesting questions IMO.
Charon
BTW, any effort to preserve/record/understand history, whether its a Finnish fighter pilot or an SS camp guard has merit, again IMO, as long as the context of the war stories are understood.
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Originally posted by SLO
I'm still wonderin why the hell finnish folks would be pattin on the back finnish fighters who fought with the lufftwabble. or i'm i completely beside the tracks here:eek:
Yup, not only are you completely off the tracks, you are also unbelievable rude, offensive and arrogant
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Some times even good men fight for the wrong side or reason. If the U.S was an Imperialistic nation... most or all of our aces/heros would of been there still.
xBAT
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Originally posted by SLO
I'm still wonderin why the hell finnish folks would be pattin on the back finnish fighters who fought with the lufftwabble. or i'm i completely beside the tracks here:eek:
Um, now a better grammar would help. I'm not sure what you actually mean here.
Do you intend to say that
- "why the hell Finnish folks would be pattin on the back of Finnish fighter pilots who fought with the Luftwaffe"
or
- "why the hell Finnish folks would be pattin on the back of Finnish fighter pilots who fought against the Luftwaffe"
And by the way, we did both. Though in latter case it was mainly the bombers who waged war against Germans. And either case, they did their duty, as the Germans fought for their country. And the Germans fought for our country as well, helping when the need was greatest. I only have the highest respect for the German pilots, for example the fliers of Gefechtsverband Kuhlmeyn, who flew to Finnish front in summer 1944 to fight together against the Soviet offensive. Not that I don't respect the Soviet pilots either. They all did their duty so why not pat their backs and respect them for that?
And when doing it, also remember, to not allow it all happen again.
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SLO without these aces you would not have a NOKIA celluphone in your poket. As well would there be no country called FINLAND. Our veterans DEFENDED our motherland against the aggression of the Soviet Union. Germany was the only country in the world at the time who could help Finland in these years despair. Stalinīs masterplan was to occypy Finland and inhabit the territory with Russian aristocrat. The original inhabitants, Finns would vanish in the Siberian deathcamps. NEAT?!
So we do have our LIVES to owe these fine gentlemen. Thereīs NOTHING we can do to honour them enough. But we will try do do our best in that.
(http://www.sci.fi/~ambush/faf/morane.gif)
FACTS:
Finland was NOT an AXIS nation.
Finland was in war against Russia only.
Finland was co-existent with Germany but not allied.
Finland did bomb civilian targets.
Russian POVīs sent thankīs letters to Finnish high command and didnīt wanīt to return after the war.
All WWII veterans, julle
P.S. Why is it always itīs this games board with the ignorants?
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In the second picture you see mr. Tani describing a combat of his. I think it was an instance, when he was fighting against an I-153 with his trusty Morane Saulnier 406 fighter.
The I-153 was making a hard evasive downward spiral, which the Morane fighter was not capable of following. Therefore Mr. Tani pulled up, rolling to right while climbing and slowly pulling from the stick while he was hanging upside down, keeping eye on the I-153. When ground came too close the I-153 had to level Antti pulled harder from the stick, finished the roll and dropped from above into the I-153. Don't remember if he got a kill or what happened. Tern or Kossu might correct me on this?
In the third picture mr. Huotari is showing a 90 degree deflection shot, when we were talking about convergences they used in the Fighter Squadron 24, the Brewster squadron.
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What were the convergences? (VERY interested!)
julle, realism dweeb
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TY for posting this very interesting stuff:)
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Great post.
SLO,
A lot of WWII veterans from all countries have forgiven their former enemies and even met and become friends. Some still remain bitter, which is also understandable. If former enemies can forgive each other for the past, why can't we? There is a difference between forgiving and respecting a LW pilot (or mechanic, or cook) and forgiving a high ranking concentration camp officer.
One thing to keep in mind is that all nations have participated in very shameful activities during wartime. Don't think that just because you are Canadian, all military actions of your country have always been 100% pure and right!
And, most nations have forced many of their citizens into serving for military duty. All nations have also had many people serve their military for patriotic reasons. Either way, you can't blame a guy for fighting for his country.
A lot of Nazis did a lot of really awful things, but that doesn't make all Germans, or anyone remotely related, bad.
Finland stood up to Russia instead of allowing themselves to be walked on. Who can blame them for doing anything else.
eskimo
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Thanks Grendel, I look forward to reading about them.
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julle
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Yup, not only are you completely off the tracks, you are also unbelievable rude, offensive and arrogant
Dr. HORTLAND
EAT ME!!!:EEK:
Um, now a better grammar would help.
Professor GRENDEL
thx for the info...DWEEB....now EAT ME!!!!:eek:
u guys need to relax and let your hair down...u all sound like a bunch of finnish girls with banana's stuck up where the sun don't shine...is that enough good grammar to please u grendel:p
now relax...i'm only havin fun with u guys.
SLO
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Slo,
What if this would be about Canadian ace and then some finn walks in and says something similar what you said?
I doubt you would just 'relax'
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fishu, that guy is either a troll or a stupid.
in either case he's worth no attention. Put his handle in the ignore list and forget about him :)