Östgöta Wing (), also F 3 Malmslätt, or simply F 3, is a former

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, 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 escalatin ...

wing with the main base located at Malmen air base near

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

in south-eastern Sweden.

History

In August 1912, the first pilot school in Sweden was set up at Malmslätt by

Carl Gustav Cederström Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

at the location of the 1st Life Grenadier Regiment (I 4). In 1927, that regiment merged with the 2nd Life Grenadier Regiment and moved to new garrisons in

Town to give room for the newly set up 3rd Flying Corps ''F 3''. The name was changed in 1936 to ''Östgöta flygflottilj'' (Östgöta Wing). Initially, the corps, or wing, operated the S 1, S 6, S 16, S 17, S 18 and S 22 in reconnaissance squadrons until 1948 when it was converted to a fighter wing by converting the S 22s and replacing other reconnaissance aircraft with three squadrons of J 22s. In 1950, F 3 received the J 28A from

Bråvalla Wing Bråvalla Wing (), also F 13 Norrköping, or simply F 13, is a former Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Norrköping in south-eastern Sweden. History The Air Wing was established in 1943 as the fourth fighter wing, and the thi ...

(F 13) which was replaced rather quickly with J 29As in 1953. Not until 1965 were they in turn replaced by J 35Ds. One squadron was decommissioned in 1970 and the two remaining were converted to J 35Fs. The two remaining squadrons of J 35F were moved in 1973 to

Blekinge Wing Blekinge Wing (), also F 17 Kallinge, or simply F 17, is a Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Ronneby in southern Sweden. The wing also operates the air base on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. It is one of four wings ...

(F 17) when the air wing was decommissioned. The remaining administrative part of the wing was decommissioned in 1974. The air base was still kept active as a detachment to Bråvalla Wing (F 13) as F 13 M until 1994, to

Uppland Wing Uppland Wing (), also F 16 Uppsala, or simply F 16, is a Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located at Ärna Air Base northwest of Uppsala, Sweden. History F 16 was established by buying farmland from Ärna gård and Bärby gård in 1943 ...

(F 16) as F 16 M until 2003 and now serving as F 17 M to Blekinge Wing (F 17). The airfield is known today as Malmen Air Base (ICAO: ESCF). It is currently home to the

Swedish Air Force Museum The Swedish Air Force Museum () is located at Malmen Airbase in Malmslätt, just outside Linköping, Sweden. Malmen is where Baron Carl Cederström, nicknamed the "Flyer Baron" founded his flying school in 1912. Malmen Airbase is home to the Roy ...

Barracks and training areas

The

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and the 2nd Life Grenadier Regiments' old training area Malmen outside

was taken over and modernized, while the Swedish Air Force Maintenance Depot at Malmslätt (''Centrala Flygverkstaden Malmslätt'', CFM) retained the parts that belonged to the Aviation Company (''Flygkompaniet''). The old training heath was the airfield. When the

jet fighters Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the air ...

were introduced, the first runway was built in an east–west direction. A northbound crossing runway was built in 1969 and became the main runway. File:FVMF.00255 03.jpg, Chancellery building 1940 File:FVMF.002602.jpg, Hospital in 1942 File:FVMF.002646.jpg, Cadet barracks in 1945 File:FVMF.003115.jpg, Air Force Maintenance Depot, chancellery and other buildings File:FVMF.002902.jpg, Four

Saab 35 Draken The Saab 35 Draken (; ''The Kite'', ambiguous with ''The Dragon'') is a Swedish interceptor aircraft, fighter-interceptor developed and manufactured by Saab AB, Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Saab AB, SAAB) between 1955 and 1974. Development of ...

's in 1968 File:FVMF.003558.jpg, PS-239 radar in 1972

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "Gules, the provincial badge of

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

, a griffin segreant or with dragonwing and tail, armed and langued azure between four roses argent".

Colours, standards and guidons

A colour was presented on 6 June 1939 at F 8 at

Barkarby Airport Barkarby Airport was a disbanded Swedish Air Force base, near Akalla north of Stockholm used for general aviation. Barkarby Airport was one of Sweden’s oldest active airports until it was closed in 2010. A large shopping complex is still sit ...

by His Majesty the King

Gustaf V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxe ...

. It was transferred to F 13 in 1974 and is today preserved at the

Swedish Army Museum The Swedish Army Museum () is a museum of military history located in the district of Östermalm in Stockholm. It reopened in 2002 after a long period of closure, and was awarded the title of the best museum of Stockholm in 2005. Its displays il ...

: "On blue cloth in the centre the badge of the Air Force; a winged two-bladed propeller under a royal crown proper. In the first corner a griffin segreant or with dragonwing and tail, armed and langued gules between four roses argent". File:Fana m1938 Östgöta flygflottilj.jpg, Colour

Commanding officers

Commanding officers from 1926 to 1974. The commanding officer was referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander") and had the rank of colonel. *1926–1926: Gösta von Porat *1926–1932: Emil Björnberg *1932–1934: Axel Gyllenkrok *1934–1941: Gösta von Porat *1941–1951: Hugo Beckhammar *1951–1952:

Lennart Peyron Major General Knut ''Lennart'' Peyron (19 November 1909 – 30 December 1981) was a Swedish Air Force officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Östgöta Wing (F 3), Chief of the Air Staff and the Third Air Group (E 3). E ...

*1952–1959: Nils-Magnus von Arbin *1959–1962: Åke Sundqvist *1962–1965:

Bengt Rosenius Major General Bengt Rosenius (30 November 1918 – 28 December 1979) was a Swedish Air Force officer. Rosenius served as wing commander of the Östgöta Wing, Inspector of Flight Safety and Commanding General of the Attack Command. Later in his ...

*1965–1971: Olof Knutsson *1971–1974: Gösta Norrbohm

Names, designations and locations

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

* *

Web

External links

(in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostgöta Wing Wings of the Swedish Air Force Military units and formations established in 1926 Military units and formations disestablished in 1974 1926 establishments in Sweden 1974 disestablishments in Sweden Linköping Garrison 20th-century establishments in Östergötland County 20th-century disestablishments in Östergötland County