The Thulin D was made by the Thulins Aeroplanfabrik, at Landskröna. It was a parasol monoplane with a mast that held the wing in its place with ropes. The first aircraft was manufactured in autumn 1914 and was presented to the public in May 1915 at Stockholm. Later, in 1918, it was tried to replace the two-bladed propeller with a four-bladed one. Only five airplanes were manufactured and the first one was donated to the Swedish Army by the Skane country women association on 20th August 1915. The next year, in 1916 they donated another airplane. All of them were withdrawn from the active service in 1918 as they were deemed obsolete. The other three were employed by the Thulins airline at Ljungbyhed and another one, that belonged to Eric von Rossen, who donated it to Finnish whites to use it in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. In fact, that airplane, is considered to be the first one in the Finnish Army Corps of Aviation. It was delivered in a flight piloted by Nils Kindberg and von Rossen himself as a passenger on 6th March 1918, which is regarded as the founding day of the Finnish Army Corps of Aviation. For that action, Eric von Rossen was charged with violations of the Swedish neutrality act for the World War I and was sentenced for it.
In Finnish hands, still wearing von Rossen's personal emblems, it performed up to 30 missions, mainly for Finnish General Mannerheim's headquarters, mainly scouting and light-bombing. It operated mainly from improvised airfields in Tavastland, but it crashed in Tampere on 16th April 1918 killing the Swedish volunteer Westman who was the pilot and Nylund the mechanic-observer who was in the second seat.
Finland bought a second Thulin D but it was destroyed by a fire when it was storaged at the base of Orivesi on 28th March 1918.
Nowadays a full-sized replica is being hold at the Finnish Air Force's museum
Sources:
1. https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thulin_Typ_D (translated)
2. http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft29888.htm
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