Of interest mostly to roddie and Dirk Gently

Love that D.XXI... .. The current (purple) Rare Bear just doesn't do much for me. I much prefer the earlier (mid/late 1990's) white and gold version that I modeled my CEF Reed-Speed model after..

Thanks for sharing that Bob.

A great photo of my heroes, the WWII Finnish airmen and their mechanics. At the Finnish Air Force museum, where the only surviving DXXI is kept, there is also an inertia starter similar to the one the fellows in the pic are cranking. I tried that starter, and despite being a healthy 200lb I struggled to get it moving. Imagine doing that in -40C. Not to mention the service and repair work done in primitive conditions at the temporary bases spread around the border.

As I have mentioned before, with the Brewster Buffalo, the DXXI was the workhorse that kept our skies relatively free of red stars in the early stages of WWII.

I was aware that there is a replica being built in the Netherlands, but I always assumed it was for static display. Great to learn that it will fly some day too

Nice little read on the Rare Bear! Looking forward to seeing her resurface. And my guess will also be with another new paint scheme....