Lesser Known aircraft--Sweden

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FFV Aerotech BA-14 Starling

The aircraft is a two-seat light monoplane developed as a joint venture between Malmo Forsknings & Innovations and FFV Aerotech. It is a shoulder-wing monoplane mainly built from composite materials. The semi-monocoque fuselage has a V-tail with a small ventral fin tailskid, the main landing gear is a fixed tricycle type.
The prototype first flew 25 August 1988 and was powered by a 115 hp Lycoming O-235 flat-four piston engine with a two-bladed fixed-pitch tractor propeller. The cabin has side-by-side configuration seating for two under a one-piece transparent canopy.

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Svenska Aero Falken

The Svenska Aero Falken was a Swedish biplane trainer aircraft.

It was a single bay biplane with unswept, constant chord, thin section wings. Both wings were built around rectangular section steel spars and were fabric covered.
The Falken could be powered by one of two radial engines, either a five-cylinder,135 hp Armstrong-Siddeley Mongoose or a seven-cylinder 200 hp Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx, known respectively as the SA-12 Skolfalken and SA-13 Övningsfalken.

The first and only SA-12 Skolfalken went to the Swedish Air Force Flight Academy at Ljungbyhed, it was given the Air Force basic trainer designation Sk 8. Tests resulted in a revised vertical tail, flat-topped and without the earlier prominent balance horn. It later moved to Malmö where it ended its 386 hours of flying in 1939 on a May bonfire.

There was also only one SA-13 Övningsfalken; known as the Ö 8 (Ö denoted an advanced trainer), was tested in the first half of 1930 but was lost a few months later in a fatal accident.

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Saab 21R

The Saab 21R was a Swedish fighter/attack aircraft.

It was a jet-powered development of the earlier piston-engined SAAB 21 and was the first jet aircraft to be produced by Saab.Sweden was under threat during World War II, so the government requested SAAB to develop an advanced fighter. The result was a twin-boom pusher, with a low wing, tricycle landing gear, and a heavy forward-firing armament. Options were then explored to improve performance, leading to the jet-powered version.

124 aircraft were planned, however this was soon reduced to 64,they were mainly used as fighter-bombers. It saw service in the late 1940s and early 1950s before it was replaced by a new generation of fighters designed from scratch with jet propulsion, such as the de Havilland Vampire and the Saab 29 Tunnan.

It was powered by a de Havilland Goblin II (Svenska Flygmotor RM1) centrifugal-flow turbojet engine, giving (2,980 lbf) thrust. Max speed was 500mph with a cruise of 380mph.

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Saab 90 Scandia

The Saab 90 Scandia was a civil passenger twin engine aeroplane.
The design of the 90 Scandia was fairly similar to the DC-3, however the 90 had tricycle landing gear while the DC-3 had a tailwheel. The Scandia also had a different vertical stabilizer shape, and numerous more subtle differences. The 90 had to compete with the many surplus DC-3s available on the market in the late 1940`s, making sales difficult.

Development of the aircraft began in February 1944,a prototype Saab 90 first flew in November 1946. It was capable of seating 24–32 passengers, with low-speed capability. It was to be fitted with Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines.The Type certificate was issued in June 1950. Delivery started in October 1950 but, after further testing, the engines were changed to the 1825 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2180-E Twin Wasp E fitted with four-blade Hamilton-Standard propellers.

The first production aircraft were delivered in 1950. SAS received eight between October 1950 and October 1954. SAS initially operated its Scandias on intra-Scandinavian flights. Scheduled services by Scandias were operated to European cities including Amsterdam, Brussels and London Airport (Heathrow) between 1951 and 1955.
VASP operated its fleet of new and ex-SAS Scandias on intra-Brazilian scheduled flights between October 1950 and late 1966. in total only 18 examples were manufactured, the entire SAS fleet was eventually purchased by VASP, in 1957, the last flight with a 90 Scandia was on July 22, 1969.

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AB Thulinverken

The Thulin E was a Swedish reconnaissance aircraft built in 1916.

It was the first original design conceived by Enoch Thulin's company. The aircraft was a two-seat biplane with the lower wings mounted at the bottom of the fuselage. The upper wing was supported by four wing struts and four V-shaped fuselage struts. Only the upper wings were fitted with ailerons. The fuselage had two open cockpits, in tandem, under the upper wing. The rear landing gear was a fixed spur spring.
The aircraft was powered by a Thulin A nine-cylinder air-cooled rotary aircraft engine, producing 90 hp, which gave a max speed of just under 70mph.
Five machines were built.

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Thulin K

The Thulin K was a Swedish naval fighter aircraft from the late 1910`s.

It was a wooden shoulder-wing monoplane,which used wing warping for lateral control. Powered by a 90 hp Thulin A Gnôme derived rotary engine, it could be configured as a single seater or tandem aircraft.

In early 1917, the Swedish Army purchased two of the single seat K versions. However, it was more successful as an export plane; the Royal Netherlands Navy bought twelve Ks between 1917 and 1918 and three Thulin KAs. Both types were delivered without armament, however the Dutch Navy fitted theirs with machine guns firing through the propeller arc and also experimented with 20 mm Madson cannon.

On 14th May 1919,Thulin's own Thulin K lost an aileron in a steep dive, crashing and killing him. The rest of the Thulin Ks were written off in 1920 and the Thulin KAs were withdrawn in 1922.

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Thulin H

The Swedish Miliatry had requested a large combat airplane for bombing and long range reconnaissance,issued in March 1916. The airplane was to have a crew of up to three,with forward and rearward armament, along with armour protection. AETA responded on April 16, 1916, with a tender for the three-engine Thulin H.
Thulin recommended the H model due to its three engines providing better performance.
September 7, 1916, an order was placed for a single prototype. The Department of Fortifications hoped to order a total of eight Thulin H's.But the requested funds were denied. In August 1917, the Thulin H had been completed, with the first two flights taking place on August 26th.
It was powered by three 90 h.p. Thulin A rotary engines, the Thulin H was the first multi-engine airplane designed and built in Sweden. Twin floats were fitted for the sea trials, but it was found that these were too small. Protracted tests resulted in a wheel landing gear being fitted in February 1918. The contract was then cancelled, due to the delivery schedule running very late.

The aircraft was then modified as an airliner,to carry up to four passengers. It was statically displayed in Oslo (then named Kristiania) in April 1922. The airplane was eventually scrapped following the liquidation of AETA, with some parts surviving until October 1922.

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Thulin LA

The Thulin LA was a Swedish two-seat, single-engine biplane built in 1917.
It was powered by a Thulin G engine which was an 11-cylinder 100 hp Le Rhône 11F manufactured under licence by Thulinverken in Sweden.It gave a max speed of 75mph.
They were operated in Sweden, the Netherlands (10) and Finland (1). This type also made the first passenger transport flights between Sweden and Denmark in 1919. Altogether there were 15 Thulin LAs built including a floatplane version.