De Havilland D.H.60 Moth (OH-EJA)

The Moth is a British two-seat trainer of wooden construction. The type was used both as a landplane and a seaplane. The Moth first flew in 1925 and was originally designed for recreational use by government-sponsored flying clubs. Thanks to its affordability, ease of maintenance and reliability it became tremendously popular all over Europe. It gained fame thanks to several long-distance record flights in the late 1920s. Moths also saw service in the air forces of several countries as training and liaison aircraft.

The Finnish State Aircraft Factory acquired a manufacturing license for the Moth in the spring of 1928 and subsequently built 21 aircraft, 18 of which for the Aviation Force. The Moths in the civil register were impressed into military service during the war.

The museum’s Moth was built at the State Aircraft Factory under serial number 10 in 1929. The aircraft first became the property of the Viipuri Air Defence Association and was named “Karjala” (“Karelia”). It was registered initially K-SILC and later OH-ILC. It was damaged in 1933, after which it was bought by farmer Matti Hannula from Ruotsinpyhtää. It was repaired by Karhumäki and re-registered OH-MAH in 1934. During the war it served as a liaison aircraft in the Air Force. The Moth was then purchased by former Air Force pilot Eino Juurikas, who registered it OH-EJA and named it “Jurre” in 1947. It was removed from the register as time-expired in 1957 and later acquired by Jussi Juurikkala, who initially deposited the aircraft to the museum’s exhibition in 1982 and in 2004 donated it to the museum.