Saab 91 Safir

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Finnish Saab 91 Safir

The SAAB 91 Safir (English:"Sapphire") is a three (91A, B, B-2) or four (91C, D) seater, single engine trainer aircraft built by Saab in Linköping, Sweden, (203 aircraft) and De Schelde in Dordrecht, Netherlands (120 aircraft).

The 91A has a four cylinder De Havilland Gipsy Major 2c (125 hp) or Gipsy Major 10 (145 hp) engine. The 91B, B-2 and C have a six cylinder Lycoming O-435A engine with 190 hp. The 91D has a four cylinder Lycoming O-360-A1A engine with 180 hp.

The Safir was designed by Anders J. Andersson, who had previously worked for Bücker, where he designed the Bücker Bü 181 "Bestmann". The Safir thus shares much of its design with the Bestmann.

The "Safir" was later used as a platform to test the new swept wing for the Saab J 29 Tunnan jet fighter.

Contents

1 Specifications

1.1 General characteristics

2 Service

2.1 External links

Specifications

Saab 91 "Safir"

General characteristics

Length:

:91A: 7.8 m,

:91B, B-2 and C: 7.9 m,

:91D: 7.9 m

Wingspan: 10.6 m

Height: 2.2 m

Max weight:

:91A: 1075 kg

:91B/B-2: 1165/1215 kg,

:91C: 1215 kg,

:91D: 1205 kg

Max Speed:

: 165 mph (265 km/h)

Range:

: 660 miles (1062 km)

Service

First flight on November 20, 1945, 323 units were built in 5 versions (A, B, B-2, C and D). The Safir was used by the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Austrian, Tunisian and Ethiopean air forces as a trainer aircraft, and a single aircraft was used by the Japanese Self-Defense Force as an STOL test platform.

Major civilian users were Air France, Lufthansa and the Dutch Rijksluchtvaartschool (RLS) in Eelde, near Groningen.

During development of the Saab 29, 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; this was designated Saab 202.

External links

Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers

| Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation

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