Saab 91 Safir

infobox Aircraft
name = 91 Safir



caption = Saab 91C of the Swedish Air Force
type = Trainer
national origin = Sweden
manufacturer = Saab
designer = Anders J. Andersson
first flight = 20 November 1945
introduced =
retired =
produced =
primary user = Swedish Air Force
more users = Finnish Air Force
number built = 323
status =
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

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

Design and develpoment

The Safir's first flight on 20 November 1945. The all-metal Safir was designed by Anders J. Andersson, who had previously worked for Bücker, where he designed the all-wood Bücker Bü 181 "Bestmann". The Safir thus shared many conceptual features of its design with the Bestmann.

The Saab 91A is powered by a 125-hp four cylinder De Havilland Gipsy Major 2c piston engine, or a 145-hp Gipsy Major 10 piston 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 later used as a platform to test at low speeds the new swept wing for the Saab 29 Tunnan jet fighter.

Operational history

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.

Operators

; AUT
* Austrian Air Force; ETH; FIN
* Finnish Air Force; JPN; NOR; SWE
* Swedish Air Force; TUN

Civil Operators

; AUS; FRA
* Air France; GER
* Lufthansa

pecifications (91A)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=Fact|date=July 2007

crew=1
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main=
length alt=7.8 m [91B, B-2 and C: 7.9 m, 91D: 7.9 m ]
span main= 10.6 m
span alt=
height main=2.2 m
height alt=
area main=
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main=
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 1,075 kg [91B: 1,165, B-2 and 91C: 1,215 kg, 91D: 1205 kg]
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)=de Havilland Gipsy Major IIC
type of prop= four cylinder
number of props=1
power main= 125 hp
power alt=
power original=

max speed main= 165 mph
max speed alt= 265 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 660 miles

range alt=1062 km
ceiling main=
ceiling alt=
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=

avionics=

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=
* DHC-1 Chipmunk
* T-34 Mentor
* Valmet Tuuli

sequence=

see also=

References

External links

* [http://www.saabsafir.com/ Ärna Flygclubb Swedish language]
* [http://www.fcfk.com/safir/ FC Flygkubb]
* [http://www.hb-dbl.ch/ SAAB 91 D Safir - HB-DBL]