Finnish Forces

Future ace after his first kill

Finnish Airforce fighter ace (32 victories) Kyösti "Kössi" Karhila (1921–2009) photographed infront of his Curtiss P-36 Hawk after his first kill in august 1941. He flew the Curtiss Hawk in LeLv 32 until April 20, 1943, when he was moved to LeLv 34 along with some other aces, to fly the just arrived Messerschmitts. During the Continuation War (1941-1944) Karhila, scored 13 confirmed kills with the P-36 Hawk and 19 with Bf 109 G, flying 556 hours (304 missions) and also reached the rank of captain. Karhila wasn't part of the "active" Airforce Personnel and was therefor the top scoring reservist pilot. After the war he flew airliners for Finnair, Aero O/Y and Spearair gathering 24 000 flying hours before his retirement in 1986. Kyösti Karhila died in Helsinki on September 16, 2009, at the age of 88. He died as last one of the Finnish fighter aces. Today as the Finnish and Soviet files can be compared, 11 of Karhila's unconfirmed kills have been confirmed, meaning the number of his aerial victories should actually be 43.