''Frid'' Benjamin Filippus Wänström (May 8, 1905,

Lidköping Lidköping () is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2021. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidkö ...

– September 11, 1988,

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 ...

) was a Swedish aviation engineer who after

KTH Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a Public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in Institute of technology, engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest te ...

in 1932 was employed by the flygstyrelsen (predecessor to

Royal Swedish Air Force Materiel Administration The Royal Swedish Air Force Materiel Administration (, abbreviated KFF) was a Swedish government agency active between the years 1936 and 1968. The agency was amalgamated into the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration. History The Royal Swedi ...

), from 1936 head of the calculation department

Saab AB Saab AB (originally , , acronym SAAB), with subsidiaries collectively known as the Saab Group (), is a Swedish aerospace and defense company, defence company primarily operating from Sweden. The company is headquartered in Stockholm, but its de ...

in Linköping. Frid Wänström is mentioned for leading the work with

Saab 29 Tunnan The Saab 29 ''Tunnan'' (''The Barrel''), colloquially also ''Flygande Tunnan'' (''The Flying Barrel''), is an early jet-powered fighter aircraft designed and produced by the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It was the second turbojet-powered ...

. It was the first fighter aircraft in Sweden with

Swept wing A swept wing is a wing angled either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than perpendicular to the fuselage. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigated in Ge ...

. Information about arrow wings came from Switzerland and should have included drawings on

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in parti ...

s Me P1101, P1110, P1111 and P1112. SAAB:s project manager Frid Wänström fetched these secret papers from Switzerland to Sweden in 1945. The documents came from engineers from Messerschmitt who moved to Switzerland at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Frid Wänström also participated in the following Saab projects

Saab 32 Lansen The Saab 32 Lansen (English: Lance) is a two-seat, transonic military aircraft designed and manufactured by the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab AB. In late Autumn 1946, development of the Lansen began as a successor to the Saab 18, Saab B 18 ...

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 ...

and

Saab 37 Viggen The Saab 37 Viggen (''The Tufted Duck'', ambiguous with ''The Thunderbolt'') is a single-seat, single-engine multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab AB, Saab. It was the first Canard (aeronautic ...

. Frid Wänström was awarded the Swedish Aeronautical Society's

Thulin Medal The Thulin Medal () is an annual award given by the Swedish Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. It is given to individuals who have contributed to the advancement of aeronautical or aerospace engineering through their studies or work. The a ...

both in silver 1948 and in gold in 1968, and contributed to the formation of the Saab Veterans Association. He is buried in Vårdnäs cemetery.

References

1905 births 1988 deaths Aircraft designers 20th-century Swedish engineers Aerodynamicists Swedish civil engineers People from Lidköping {{Sweden-engineer-stub