Last flight of Finnish AF Vinka

The Valmet L-70 Vinka primary school planes will be removed from Air Force service in early September after over 40 years of service. The last Vinka service flight of the Air Force will fly on 31 August 2022.

The piston engine Vinka, designed and built in Finland, was developed in the 1970s to replace the Saab Safir as an Air Force primary school plane. Vinka's prototype L-70 made its first flight on 1 July 1975.

The first plane in the production series VN-1 flew its first flight on 29 December 1979 and the Vinka came into use by the Air Force in 1980. In total 30 examples of the trainer were delivered to the Finnish Air Force.

Photo by Eero Saarela via AirHistory.net