| Saab 91 Safir | |
|---|---|
| Saab 91C of the Swedish Air Force | |
| Role | Trainer |
| National origin | Sweden |
| Manufacturer | Saab |
| First flight | 20 November 1945 |
| Primary users | Swedish Air Force Finnish Air Force |
| Produced | 1946-1966 |
| Number built | 323 |
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).
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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.
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 Japan Defense Agency as an STOL test platform.[1]
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.
A single Saab 91 Safir was modified as the Saab X1G for research in Japan.
Data from Safir in the Air[2]
General characteristics
Performance
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