The single-seater Tiira aircraft was designed and built by Raimo Päätalo (b. 1947) from Sanginjoki. It was completed in 1973 and used until 1977, flying for about 70 hours. The aircraft was designed without any training other than that obtained from the construction of the aircraft. The raw materials were found in agricultural goods, for example, a furniture tube was used in the wing areas and a greenhouse plastic film was used to upholster the machine. The powertrain was Volkswagen’s 50-horsepower engine. The hobby of flying could have lasted longer, but in 1977 Tiira was spotted on the radar of Oulu air traffic control. Today, the plane is in the Aviation Museum of Central Finland.
A second Tiira 2 aircraft was built in 1983, and flying it resulted in a four-month suspended prison sentence.
Later, Päätalo has also built a third Tiira 3 aircraft.
In 2010, a “Oulu man” was sentenced to daily fines for an unauthorized flight in September 2009: “two aviation violations and the right to drive a vehicle.”
On August 30, 2014, air traffic control spotted a small self-propelled aircraft on the radar about 60 kilometers from Oulu Airport and reported the matter to the police. The pilot is suspected of an aviation violation and the right to drive the vehicle. Police have had information about the man’s previous similar activities.
Engine: Volkswagen 1,600 cm³, 50 hp
Wingspan: 8.04 m
Wing area: 9.6 m²
Length: 5.4 m
Height: 1.4 m
Flight weight: 340 kg
Top speed: 130 km / h
Ceiling: 2,500 m
All Aero 