Saab 91 Safir
 |
Finnish Saab 91 Safir |
The
SAAB 91 Safir (English:"
Sapphire") is a three (91A, B, B-2) or four (91C, D) seater, single
engine trainer aircraft built by
Saab in Linköping, Sweden, (203 aircraft) and
De Schelde in
Dordrecht,
Netherlands (120 aircraft).
The 91A has a four
cylinder De Havilland Gipsy Major 2c (125
hp) or Gipsy Major 10 (145 hp) engine. The 91B, B-2 and C have a six cylinder
Lycoming O-435A engine with 190 hp. The 91D has a four cylinder
Lycoming O-360-A1A engine with 180 hp.
The Safir was designed by Anders J. Andersson, who had previously worked for
Bücker, where he designed the
Bücker Bü 181 "Bestmann". The Safir thus shares much of its design with the Bestmann.
The "Safir" was later used as a platform to test the new swept wing for the
Saab J 29 Tunnan jet fighter.
General characteristics
*
Length: ::91A: 7.8
m, ::91B, B-2 and C: 7.9 m, ::91D: 7.9 m
*
Wingspan: 10.6 m
*
Height: 2.2 m
*
Max weight: ::91A: 1075
kg ::91B/B-2: 1165/1215 kg, ::91C: 1215 kg, ::91D: 1205 kg
*
Max Speed: :: 165 mph (265 km/h)
*
Range: :: 660 miles (1062 km)
First flight on
November 20,
1945, 323 units were built in 5 versions (A, B, B-2, C and D). The Safir was used by the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Austrian, Tunisian and Ethiopean
air forces as a trainer aircraft, and a single aircraft was used by the Japanese Self-Defense Force as an
STOL test platform.
Major civilian users were
Air France,
Lufthansa and the
Dutch Rijksluchtvaartschool (RLS) in
Eelde, near
Groningen.
During development of the
Saab 29, the initial Saab 91 prototype was modified with a scaled down version of the Saab 29's swept wings; this aircraft was designated
Saab 201 Experimental Aircraft. This same airframe was later fitted with wings designed for the
Saab 32 Lansen; this was designated
Saab 202.
External links
*
Ärna Flygclubb*
FC Flygkubb*
SibWings lab - Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 add-on - SAAB 91 Safir*
SAAB 91 D Safir - HB-DBL
