Olli Puhakka

Olli Puhakka
Olli Puhakka
Born	11 April 1916 Sortavala
Died	28 January 1989
Allegiance	Finland
Service/branch	Finnish Air Force
Years of service	1935–1946
Rank	Captain
Unit	LeLv 24, LeLv 26, LeLv 28, LeLv 30, LeLv 32
Other work	Commercial airline pilot

Risto Olli Pekka Puhakka was born on 11 April 1916 in Sortavala and died on January 28, 1989. He was one of the top scoring aces in the Finnish Air Force with 42 confirmed victories.^[1]

Puhakka served in Fighter Squadrons (LLv's): 26, 30, 28, 24, 32 during the second World War. He became an ace during the Winter War, having downed 5½ Soviet aircraft. Puhakka was actively flying at the front almost during the whole war.

During his 401 combat missions, Olli Puhakka scored 42 confirmed victories in Fokker D.XXIs, Fiat G.50s and Bf 109 Gs. On 21 December 1944 he was awarded the Mannerheim Cross. Puhakka resigned from the air force in 1946 and flew commercial airliners until his retirement in 1971.

Victories

Aircraft	Victories
Fokker D.XXI	4
Fiat G.50	13
Messerschmitt Bf 109G	25
Total	42

References

Notes

1. ^ Keskinen 1978, p. 24-27.

Bibliography

• Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus. Hävittäjä-ässät (Finnish Fighter Aces) (in Finnish). Espoo, Finland: Tietoteas, 1978. ISBN 951-9035-37-0.
• Stenman, Kari and Keskinen, Kalevi. Finnish Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces 23). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 1998. ISBN 1-85532-783-X.

See also

Finnish World War II Aces with over 40 air victories
Ilmari Juutilainen | Hans Wind | Eino Luukkanen | Urho Lehtovaara | Oiva Tuominen | Olli Puhakka

Persondata
Name	Puhakka, Olli
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1916
Place of birth	Sortavala
Date of death	1989
Place of death