Saab 91
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The Saab 91 Safir (Swedish for
sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...
) is a three (91A, B, B-2) or four (91C, D) seater, single
engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
trainer
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...
. The Safir was built by
Saab AB Saab AB (originally , later just SAAB and Saab Group) is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. Headquartered in Stockholm, the development and the manufacturing is undertaken in Linköping. Saab produced automobiles from 194 ...
in Linköping, Sweden (203 aircraft) and by '' De Schelde'' in
Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
,
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
(120 aircraft).


Design and development

Development of the Safir began in 1944 as part of a plan to compensate for reductions in orders for military aircraft when the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
finally ended. Three major civil programmes were planned, the Type 90 Scandia airliner, the Type 91 Safir light aircraft and the
Saab 92 The Saab 92 was the first production car from Saab Automobile, Saab. The design was very aerodynamic for its time, with a drag coefficient (''cx'' or ''cw'') of 0.30. The entire body was stamped out of one piece of sheet metal and then cut to ac ...
motor car. The Safir was designed by Anders J. Andersson, who had previously worked for Bücker, where he had designed the all-wood Bücker Bü 181 "Bestmann". The Safir thus shared many conceptual design features with the Bestmann. It was primarily of metal construction, although it did have fabric-covered control surfaces. Development was slowed by the need to concentrate on more urgent military work, and by
industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike action, strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay a ...
in suppliers. The Safir's first flight took place on 20 November 1945. While the prototype was first powered by a four
cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...
de Havilland Gipsy Major The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major engines still power vintag ...
IC piston engine, the Saab 91A initial production model used a Gipsy Major 10. The Gipsy-engine Safir was considered underpowered by military customers, and as a result, the Gipsy was replaced by a six-cylinder Lycoming O-435A rated at , with the re-engined type becoming the Saab 91B, flying on 18 January 1949. The Saab 91C, first flying in September 1953, retained the O-435 engine, but has a revised four-seat cabin. The 91D replaced the O-435 with a lighter four-cylinder
Lycoming O-360-A1A The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between 145 and 225 horsepower (109 to 168 kW), with the basic O-360 producing ...
engine rated at . As well as its primary role as a trainer/touring aircraft, the Safir was also used as an aerodynamic testbed. The first prototype was used as a platform for low speed testing of the swept wing for
Saab 29 The Saab 29 ''Tunnan'', colloquially ''Flygande tunnan'' or just ''Tunnan'' ( en, "The flying barrel", "The barrel"),. is a Swedish fighter that was designed and manufactured by Saab in the late 1940s. It was the second turbojet-powered comb ...
jet fighter, and was later further modified to test the wing for the
Saab 32 The Saab 32 Lansen (English: Lance) is a two-seat, transonic military aircraft designed and manufactured by Saab AB from 1955 to 1960 for the Swedish Air Force (''Flygvapnet''). Three principal variants of the Lansen were built for attack (A 32A ...
Lansen fighter. In addition, one ex-Swedish aircraft was sold to Japan, going through a variety of modifications to test high-lift devices for the
Shin Meiwa PS-1 The Shin Meiwa PS-1 and US-1A is a large STOL aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and air-sea rescue (SAR) work respectively by Japanese aircraft manufacturer Shin Meiwa. The PS-1 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) variant is a flying ...
flying boat.


Operational history

Production of the Saab 91A began in 1946, but sales were slow owing to the large numbers of cheap ex-military trainers for sale after the end of the Second World War. Major users of the 91A were the Swedish and Ethiopian Air Forces. In 1951, Sweden ordered 74 91B trainers to replace its remaining Bestmanns, but Saab was busy building J29 Tunnan fighters, so production of the Saab 91B was moved to the Dutch company De Schelde at their
Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
factory. De Schedle continued building the Safir until 1955, completing a total of 120 Saab 91B and 91Cs. Saab restarted production of the Safir at its
Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...
factory in 1954, building 25 Saab 91B-2s for Norway, 30 Saab 91Cs, all for military customers, and 99 Saab 91Ds. Production continued until 1966, when the last Safir, a Saab 91C for Ethiopia, was completed. Total production was 323 aircraft including the prototype. The Safir was used by the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Austrian, Tunisian, and Ethiopian
air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
s as a trainer aircraft, and a single aircraft was used by the Japan Defense Agency as an
STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...
test platform. The type remained in Norwegian and Finnish service until the late 1980s, and in Austria until 1992. While it was replaced as a trainer by the
Scottish Aviation Bulldog The Scottish Aviation Bulldog is a British two-seat side-by-side (with optional third seat) training aircraft designed by Beagle Aircraft as the B.125 Bulldog. The prototype Bulldog flew on 19 May 1969 at Shoreham Airport. The first order for ...
in Sweden in 1971, it remained in use as a liaison aircraft, still being in service in 1994. Major civilian users were
Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
,
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
and the
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
''Rijksluchtvaartschool'' (RLS) on the
Groningen Airport Eelde Groningen Airport Eelde is a minor international airport in the northeastern Netherlands. It is located near Eelde in the Province of Drenthe, south of the city of Groningen in the province of Groningen. In 2015, the airport handled 220,710 ...
, near
Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
. During development of the
Saab 29 The Saab 29 ''Tunnan'', colloquially ''Flygande tunnan'' or just ''Tunnan'' ( en, "The flying barrel", "The barrel"),. is a Swedish fighter that was designed and manufactured by Saab in the late 1940s. It was the second turbojet-powered comb ...
, 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 The Saab 32 Lansen (English: Lance) is a two-seat, transonic military aircraft designed and manufactured by Saab AB from 1955 to 1960 for the Swedish Air Force (''Flygvapnet''). Three principal variants of the Lansen were built for attack (A 32A ...
; this was designated Saab 202. A single Saab 91 Safir was modified as the Saab X1G for research in Japan.


Variants

*91A – Original production version, powered by
de Havilland Gipsy Major The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major engines still power vintag ...
10 engine. Three seats. 48 built. Swedish Air Force designation Tp 91. *91B – Three seat version with
Lycoming O-435 The Lycoming O-435 is an American six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engine made by Lycoming Engines Lycoming Engines is a major American manufacturer of aircraft engines. With a factory in Williamspor ...
. 106 built by De Schelde. Swedish Air Force designation Sk 50B. *91B-D - Improved 91B. Three built by De Schelde. *91B-2 – 91B variant for
Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...
with minor modifications, . 25 built by Saab for Norway. *91C – Four seat version of 91B, with fuel tanks moved to the wings,''Flight'' 1 January 1954, p. 2. and a constant speed propeller. Eleven built by De Schelde and 30 by Saab. Swedish Air Force designation Sk 50C. *91D – Four-seat version, powered by
Lycoming O-360 The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between 145 and 225 horsepower (109 to 168 kW), with the basic O-360 produc ...
engine driving a constant speed propeller. 99 built by Saab.


Operators


Military operators

; *
Austrian Air Force The Austrian Air Force (german: Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte, , Austrian Air Combat Force) is a component part of the Austrian Armed Forces. History The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Al ...
- received 24 Saab 91Ds from 1964. Remained in service until 1992. ; *
Ethiopian Air Force The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during nati ...
- received 16 Saab 91As from 1947, 8 91Bs and 16 91Cs. Some still remained in service in the early 1980s. ; *
Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; fi, Ilmavoimat, , Air forces; sv, Flygvapnet, , Air weapon) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of Finnis ...
- 35 Saab 91Ds and 1 91B. Withdrawn from use in late 1980s. *
Finnish Frontier Guard The Finnish Border Guard (; ) is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. It is a military organisation, subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior in administrative issues and to the President of Finland in issue ...
Former operator ; *
Technical Research and Development Institute Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data * Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...
; *
Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...
- received 25 Saab 91B-2s from 1956 and 5 ex-Swedish Air Force 91Bs. ; *
Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...
- received 20 91As, 76 91Bs and 14 91Cs. ; *
Tunisian Air Force The Tunisian Air Force ( ar, جيش الطيران, french: Armée de l'Air) is one of the branches of the Tunisian Armed Forces. History The Tunisian Air Force was established in 1959, three years after Tunisia regained its independence from ...
- received one 91B-D and 14 91Ds.


Civil operators

; ; *
Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
; *
Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
; * RLS ; * Paraguayan Aeroclub ; *
Kelvin Hughes Hensoldt UK, formerly Kelvin Hughes, is a British company specialising in the design and manufacture of navigation and surveillance systems and a supplier of navigational data to both the commercial marine and government marketplace. The company ...
- one 91-C (G-ANOK) used as a development and test aircraft.


Specifications (91A)


See also


References

* * * * *


External links


Ärna Flygclubb Swedish language

FC Flygkubb

SAAB 91 D Safir – HB-DBL

SAAB 91 Safir for MS Flight Simulator
{{Swedish military aircraft designations 91 1940s Swedish military trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1945