Valtion lentokonetehdas
(State aircraft factory) was a
Finnish
aircraft manufacturing company that was founded on 23 February 1928 from the IVL or I.V.L. factory (
Ilmailuvoimien lentokonetehdas
, Finnish Air Force Aircraft Factory), founded in 1921.
The company was transferred from being subordinate to the
Finnish Air Force
to being subordinate to the
Ministry of Defence
. The company, and its products were named with the prefix
VL
.
Island factory
[
edit
]
The company began its production at
Suomenlinna
and
Santahamina
in
Helsinki
. The factory did not have an airport, only the sea and sea ice could be used for take-off and landing. Most of the aircraft built in
Helsinki
were
seaplanes
. In Helsinki the aircraft built were small compared to the
Bristol Blenheim
bombers built under
licence
in the late 1930s. Much of the final assembly was done outdoors. The company was looking for a new production facility further away from the
Soviet Union
. Helsinki was seen as a bad location for an armaments factory from a strategic viewpoint.
[1]
Expansion to Tampere
[
edit
]
In 1936 the factory was moved to Harmala, near
Tampere
, which was also a potential bombing target since it was the biggest industrial city in Finland. The build up of the factory and the airport around it gave work to hundreds of people in the depression of the 1930s. Politically Tampere was in the left which almost led to the factory being located to
Vaasa
.
During the
Second World War
, the VL serviced and assembled German (
Junkers Ju 88
) and British (
Bristol Blenheim
) bomber aircraft. The Tampere factory employed 665 persons in 1936 and 1,697 persons by 1941. A major part of the work of the factory was overhaul and repair of military aircraft, building new aircraft was a secondary function and the design of indigenous aircraft a tertiary function.
During the wars, the production was dispersed all over Finland to avoid destruction of the whole factory at once; the engine factory was moved to
Kokkola
, the woodworking factory to
Kylmakoski
, stores to
Viiala
and
Pirkkala
. Other facilities were located at Pori and Kolho. The
Karhumaki brothers
' factory was entirely transferred under VL's supervision at the end of the war.
[2]
Part of Valmet after WWII
[
edit
]
After World War II, the Finnish state consolidated its industrial assets, and VL was integrated as part of
Valtion Metallitehtaat
(VMT, State Metal Works), later '
Valmet
'. The ownership of the factory was moved to the ministry of trade and industry.
With the ending of
World War II
in 1945, the
Valtion Lentokonetehdas
and other state owned factories were merged into the company
Valtion Metallitehtaat Lentokonetehdas
(State Metal Factories, often abbreviated to
V.M.T.
or
VMT
). This company did not only focus on aircraft but on anything from general household machinery to engines.
The Finnish aircraft design declined for several years and it was not until 1951 when a new design was flown. That same year
Valtion Metallitehtaat Lentokonetehdas
was renamed
Valmet
OY Lentokonetehdas
(Valmet Aircraft Factory) with its subsidiaries named
Valmet Oy Tampereen tehdas ja Kuoreveden tehdas
(Valmet Oy Tampere works and Kuorevesi works). The company has been renamed many times since the 1960s. In 1963 Karhumaki works at Kuorevesi became part of Valmet. Its main business was maintenance work for the Ilmavoimat (Finnish AF). In 1967 Valmet moved all its aviation activities to Kuorevesi. In 1974
Valmet OY Lentokonetehdas
was renamed
Valmet Lentokonetehtaat
(Valmet Aviation Industries), and in 1989
Valmet Lentokonetehdas
was renamed into
Valmet Lentokoneteollisuus
(Valmet Aircraft Industries). On September 5, 1996,
Valmet
became
Patria Finavitec Oy
.
Aircraft
[
edit
]
Ilmailuvoimien Lentokonetehdas
[
edit
]
Valtion Lentokonetehdas
[
edit
]
- licence built
Valmet
[
edit
]
- licence built
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Raunio, Jukka.
Valtion lentokonetehtaan historia ? Osa 1: Pioneerivuodet 1921?1932
. Kuorevesi, Finland: Jukka Raunio, 2005.
ISBN
951-96866-6-5
- ^
Raunio, Jukka.
Valtion lentokonetehtaan historia ? Osa 2: Tampereella ja sodissa 1933?1944
. Kuorevesi, Finland: Jukka Raunio, 2007.
ISBN
978-951-96866-8-4
|
---|
Ilmailuvoimien Lentokonetehdas
| |
---|
Valtion Lentokonetehdas
| |
---|
Valmet
| |
---|