Finland
In April 1939, the Finnish government contacted the Roosevelt administration in a search to hastily acquire modern combat aircraft for its air force. On 17 October that same year, the Finnish Embassy in Washington, DC, received a telegram clearing the purchase of fighter aircraft. Prompt availability, and compatibility with 87-octane fuel, were the only requirements stipulated by the Finns. The U.S. Navy and State Department arranged to divert the remaining F2A-1 fighter aircraft, in exchange for its order of F2A-2 Buffalos scheduled to be delivered later (and hence sent to the U.S. Navy, instead).
Consequently, on 16 December, the Finns signed a contract to purchase 44 Model 239 fighters. The total agreed price was U.S. $3.4 million, and the deal included the provision of spare parts, 10 replacement engines and 20 Hamilton Standard propellers. The Buffalo fighters that were sent to Finland were de-navalized; before these fighters were placed onto ships for delivery to Finland, Brewster Company employees removed all the naval equipment on the fighters, such as their tailhooks and life-raft containers, resulting in a somewhat lighter aircraft. The Finnish F2A-1s further lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and cockpit armor.
These F2A-1 Buffalos, given the export number Model B-239, were equipped with an export-approved Wright R-1820-G5 nine-cylinder radial engine of 950 hp (708 kW). After their delivery to Finland, the Finnish Air Force added armored backrests for their pilots, metric flight instruments, the Finnish Väisälä T.h.m.40 gunsight, and four .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns. The top speed of the Finnish Buffalos, as modified, was 297 mph (478 km/h) at 15,675 ft (4,750 m), and their loaded weight was 5,820 lb (2,640 kg).
Built in four batches, the "Finnish" Brewsters were loaded aboard four merchant ships in New York and shipped for Bergen, in Norway, in January-February 1940. The crates with the fighters were sent by railway to Sweden and assembled by SAAB at Trollhättan, northeast of Gothenburg.
In February 1940, Finnish Air Force pilot Lieutenant Jorma "Joppe" Karhunen flight tested the first Buffalo. Unfamiliar with the aircraft, he accidentally burned out the engine while flying very low at high speed; crashing on a snow-covered field, damaging the propeller and some belly panels. Initially unimpressed, the Finns later witnessed a demonstration by a Brewster Company factory test pilot Robert A. Winston, who was able to stay on the tail of a Finnish Fiat G.50 Freccia fighter from Italy; although the Fiat fighter was slightly faster in level flight, the Brewster could out-turn it.
The Finns were overjoyed, and they began flying their new fighter. Of the six Buffalo B-239 fighters delivered to Finland before the end of the Winter War of 1939–1940, five of them became combat-ready, but they did not enter combat before this war ended.
The Brewster B-239E fighter aircraft was never referred to as the "Buffalo" in Finland; it was known simply as the "Brewster" or sometimes by the nicknames Taivaan helmi ("Sky Pearl") or Pohjoisten taivaiden helmi ("Pearl of the Northern Skies"). Other nicknames were Pylly-Valtteri ("Butt-Walter"), Amerikanrauta ("American hardware" or "American car") and Lentävä kaljapullo ("flying beer-bottle"). The 44 Buffalo Model B-239 (export) fighters used by the FAF received serial numbers BW-351 to BW-394.
In Finnish Air Force service, the B-239s were regarded as being very easy to fly, a "gentleman's plane." The Buffalo was also popular within the FAF because of its relatively long range and flight endurance, and also because of its low-trouble maintenance record. This was in part due to the efforts of the Finnish engine mechanics, who solved a problem that plagued the Wright Cyclone engine simply by inverting one of the piston rings in each cylinder. This had a positive effect on engine reliability. The cooler weather of Finland was also a plus for the engine. In the end, the Brewster Buffalo gained a reputation in Finnish Air Force service as one of their more successful fighter aircraft. In service from 1941 to 1945, Buffalos of Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) claimed 477 Soviet Air Force warplanes destroyed, with the combat loss of just 19 Buffalos, an outstanding victory ratio of 26:1. However, substantiation of this claim from Luftwaffe and Soviet Air Force records (matching Finnish reported kills to the enemy's acknowledged losses) has not been completed as of 2007. These figures also do not specify the number of bombers and the number of fighter aircraft destroyed.
During the Continuation War, Lentolaivue 24 (Fighter Squadron 24) was equipped with the B-239s until May 1944, when the Buffalos were transferred to Hävittäjälentolaivue 26 (Fighter Squadron 26).
The Brewsters had their baptism by fire in Finland on 25 June 1941 when a pair of Buffalos from 2/LLv24 intercepted 27 Soviet SBs from 201st SBAP over Turku. Cpl Heimo Lampi and SSgt Kinnunen shot down five Tupolev SBs. Subsequent attacks were repelled by LLv24 pilots who by dusk had flown 77 missions.
Many Finnish pilots racked up enormous scores on the Finnish/Soviet front by using formulaic defensive tactics against Soviet planes. The default tactic was the four-plane "parvi" (swarm) with a pair flying low (but visible, not too close to the terrain) as the bait, and a pair flying high to dive on the eventual interceptors. In the long run, the Soviet Air Force on the Finnish front never developed an efficient approach to counter this tactic. According to some reports, this tactic also inspired the German Luftwaffe's kette. Most of the pilots of Lentolaivue 24 were Winter War combat veterans. This squadron achieved a total of 459 Soviet aircraft kills with B-239s, while losing 15 Buffalos in combat.
While the remarkable Finnish accomplishments in the Buffalo are undeniable, aviation historian Dan Ford points out that Stalin's purges and recent expansion of the Soviet Air Force resulted in many new, inexperienced pilots while simultaneously discouraging combat initiative. The result was pilots who failed to scan the airspace behind them, and also Soviet air formations that held their positions in defensive circles while the diving Finnish pilots picked them off one-by-one. The Soviet fighter aircraft used in the early years on the Finnish front also included some obsolescent models such as the Polikarpov I-15 and I-153. After the end of hostilities, Karhunen, the captain and commander of the 3rd flight of LeLv 24, recalled:
"The Brewster model 239 was good against the older Russian fighters, Polikarpov I-153 Chaika (Gull) and I-16. Hence the period 1941–42 was the best time for us. In 1943 it was already significantly more difficult when the Russians began to use their newer fighters against us... Later, with the Yaks, Hurricanes, Tomahawks, LaGG-3 and MiGs, it became a fight to the death."
The top-scoring Buffalo pilot was Hans Wind, with 39 kills in B-239s. Wind scored 26 of his kills while flying aircraft BW-393, while Eino Luukkanen scored seven more in the same aircraft. After evaluation of claims against Soviet actual losses, aircraft No. BW-364 was credited with 42½ kills in total by all pilots operating it, possibly making it the highest-scoring fighter airframe in the history of air warfare. The top scoring Finnish ace, Ilmari Juutilainen, scored 34 of his 94½ kills in B-239s, including 28 in BW-364.
Capt. Jorma Karhunen was another of the top-scoring Buffalo pilots. By 4 May 1943, he had achieved 25½ aerial victories in the Buffalo B-239 fighter, out of his 31½ total kills. One of his major missions took place on 17 December 1941, when two sections of Brewsters encountered nine Soviet Hurricanes and I-153s in reconnaissance over Maaselkä isthmus. The Hawker fighters were from 152ndIAP. The Finns shot down five aircraft, two of which fell to Karhunen in BW-366. On 18 August 1942 he was involved in one of the most successful sorties involving the Buffalo fighter. Lt Hans Wind with six other Buffalos of LeLv 24 intercepted some 60 Soviet aircraft near Kronstad. Two Russian Pe-2 bombers, one Soviet Hurricane fighter, and 12 I-16s were shot down with the loss of just one Buffalo B-239 (BW-378).
During the Continuation War, Finnish designers devised a new aircraft, the Humu, based on the Brewster Buffalo, which was to be produced in Finland from cheaper materials such as plywood, instead of costly aluminum alloys. Only a single prototype was ever built, since it had become clear that this fighter was already obsolete in 1943. By late 1943, the lack of spare parts, aircraft wear-and-tear, and the improvement of Soviet fighters greatly reduced the effectiveness of the Finnish Buffalo. LeLv 26 pilots still scored some 35 victories against Soviet aircraft in mid-1944. The last aerial victory by a Buffalo against the Soviet Union was scored over the Karelian Isthmus on 17 June 1944.
After Finland made a separate peace with the Soviet Union, they were forced to drive Finland's former ally, Nazi Germany out of the country. During the so-called "Lapland War", the only clash with the Luftwaffe took place on 3 October 1944 when HLeLV 26 intercepted a formation of Junkers Ju 87s, heading for a Finnish convoy in the Bay of Bothnia. A Buffalo pilot, Lt. Erik Teromaa (with 11 kills), claimed a Ju 87, and SSgt Oiva Hietala was credited with the second Stuka to fall to the unit. These two victories were the last to be made by Brewster pilots in World War II. Only eight Buffalo B-239s were left at the end of that war in Lapland.
From 1943 onwards Finland's air force received Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs from Germany, and this much-superior fighter aircraft was subsequently used to equip most of the Finnish Air Force fighter squadrons. The five remaining Brewster Buffalos flew until the autumn of 1948, when they were returned to storage. The last flights of Finnish Brewsters by the Finnish Air Force were performed on 14 September 1948 by BW-377 and BW-382. They were all scrapped in 1953.
Read more about this topic: Brewster F2A Buffalo, Operational History