VL Pyörremyrsky

And the first post after hollidays is... the Finnish VL Pyörremyrsky, AKA VMT Pyörremyrsky as the factory had been formed into the State Metal Factories during the manufacturation process.
Back on 26th November 1942, the Finnish Air Force ordered two prototypes of the Pyörremyrsky. They were expected to be ready by May 1944 but one prototype was cancelled and eventually only one of them was built. The aircraft received the code letters "PM" from the Finnish Air Force which gave the aircraft the nickname of "Puu-Mersu" which means "Wooden Messerschmitt" although it was a completely independent design.
It was mostly made out of wood due to the scarcity of metals. The original objective was to create a fighter with similar flying characteristics of the Messerschmitt Bf.109G. In fact, both engine and propellers were taken straight from the Bf.109G and the landing gear was changed so it deployed inwards, instead of outwards towards the fuselage, in order to make it more easy to control on the ground and make take off and landing easier.
The first prototype flew for the first time some months later after the war, on 21st November 1945 at Härmälä, close to the city of Tampere, piloted by Esko Halme. After being flying for 25 minutes a piece of cowling fell off and Halme had to land because the cockpit was full of fumes coming from the engine. Halme was saved by his oxygen mask and the aircraft flew only three more test flights at Tampere, being the third time a transfer flight to Kuorevesi, in central Finland, on 16th January 1946, where it flew for an additional 31 test flights making a total of 27 flight-hours by 1947. It was flown at the hands of eight pilots: Esko Halme, Lauri Hämäläinen, Erkki Itävuori, Osmo Kauppinen, Lasse Heikinaro, Martti Laitinen, Heikki Keso and Lauri Lautamäki. The last flight lasted only 20 minutes with Captain Osmo Kauppinen at the controls on 22nd July 1947.
The design was considered a success as it could outclimb the Bf.109G-6 and was very maneouvrable, in fact, it was considered almost ready for mass production, being its only problem the low-quality glue used in the joints.
As the aircraft was still in the prototype stage when the war ended, the funds allocated for the project decreased dramatically so, after almost 30 flight-hours of testing, it was grounded and the project was cancelled because there weren't funds to purchase new aircrafts for the Finnish Air Force and there were still enough Bf.109G active with the Finnish Air Force that the armistice of Moscow allowed. It was officially written-off from the Finnish Air Force inventory on 1st April 1953 and its wing construction was later used in another Finnish aircraft, this time the Valmet Vihuri advanced trainer.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VL_Pyörremyrsky
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters