Ohjaamot, Raiavartiolaitoksen ilma-alukset / Cockpits - Border Guard aircraft

Dozens of military aircraft from different decades have been stored in our aviation museums and various exhibitions. You can peek into the cabs of some machines, unfortunately not in most. This book seeks to contribute to providing an opportunity to see inside the aircraft in cabs and, in some cases, elsewhere, and thus to serve museum guests, model builders, and otherwise only those interested in airplanes.

Shortly after the independence of our country, on March 21, 1919, the Council of State decided to establish a military border guard force in the Ministry of the Interior for border guarding. The Border Guard was established in 1931. Initially, its task was to control the troubled eastern border and prevent illegal border crossings.

On May 1, 1930, the Law on the Coast Guard came into force. Like the Border Guard, the Coast Guard was assigned to the Ministry of the Interior. It received personnel and equipment from the customs service, including its first fixed-wing aircraft, which was a domestic VL Sääski II two-tier. In addition to controlling maritime borders, its tasks included preventing smuggling. By 1934, it was reduced to one-tenth of the original. After this, ambulance transport became an important task.

During the war, troops from the Border and Coast Guard contributed to maintaining the independence of our country as part of the army and navy. In 1944, the Coast Guard was transferred to the Border Guard. The basic organization has remained the same to this day.

In 1960, the Border Guard got its first rotary-wing aircraft, or helicopters, and rescue helicopter operations began the following year. In 1981, the Border Guard's operations were centralized in the Guard Squadron, and in the same year, rescue helicopter operations began.
Today, the Border Guard's flight operations are centralized at three bases in Helsinki, Turku and Rovaniemi. The fleet includes 14 helicopters and two fixed-wing patrol aircraft. This book presents the development of the fleet with exterior and interior images from the 1930s to the present day and beyond.

The book presents 16 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters from different decades. In addition to the aircraft in the museums, the current equipment of the Border Guard have been included.

This book celebrates both the 100th anniversary of the Finnish Border Guard's aviation activities and the 50th anniversary of the Aviation Museum Association and honors the restoration and conservation of aircraft, which are a key part of the association's activities before, now and in the future.
The authors of the book are enthusiasts of aviation history from the Aviation Museum Association.