Saab 17
Encyclopedia : S : SA : SAA : Saab 17
The Saab 17 was a Swedish bomber-reconnaissance aircraft.
Development and service
The project first started in the end of the 1930s as the L 10 by ASJA, but after the merge with SAAB in 1937 it was named Saab 17. The wings were reinforced to make it possible to use it as a dive bomber. Since there was a shortage of engines the planes were flown to the destination where the engine was removed and reused for the next delivery. The plane was also made in three versions with different engines. The B 17A used a Swedish built Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp, the B 17B a Polish licence-built British Bristol Mercury XXIV, and the B 17C an Italian Piaggio P.XI. It could be fitted with wheels, skis or floats. An unique feature of the Saab 17 was its use of the lowered landing gear assembly, with its large covers, as dive brakes.The first test flight was on May 18, 1940 and first deliveries to Flygvapnet in 1942. However, the time of jets was coming and it had a short service history. When the planes ended service in 1947-1950 46 of them were sold to Ethiopia where they were in service until 1968.
Operators
- Sweden, Ethiopia, Finland, Austria.
Specifications (B 17A)
References
Related content
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.