F 9 Säve
| Kungliga Göta Flygflottilj | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1936-1969 |
| Garrison/HQ | Säve, Gothenburg Municipality |
| Commanders | |
| Wing commanders |
Magnus Bång (1940-1948) |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | J 8, J 11, J 21, J 22, J 28B, J 29, J 34 |
F 9 Säve, Göta Flygflottilj, Göta Air Force Wing, or simply "F 9", was a Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Gothenburg in south-west Sweden.
History
The decision to set up the air wing was made in 1936 to defend the import/export harbours on the west coast. The wing itself was not commissioned until October 1, 1940 and the airfield took until 1941 to complete.
Initially, two squadrons of J 8 fighters were commissioned in 1940, but they were quickly replaced by three squadrons of J 11s.
In 1942 hangars and some of the base command were relocated inside large shelters blasted out of the rocks. Initially the shelter area was only 8,000 m² (72,000 sq ft.) but it was later extended to 22,000 m² (200,000 sq ft.) 30 m (100 ft) below ground level.
During 1943, the J 11s were replaced by J 22s and subsequently by J 21s in 1946. The J 21s served for only three years until 1949 when they were replaced by the J 28B.
After yet only two years the J 28Bs were in turn replaced by the J 29. The 29 Tunnan did serve for over ten years until they were finally replaced by the J 34 where some units came from F 8 Barkarby and F 18 Tullinge.
The squadrons were gradually decommissioned one per year 1967-1969 until the wing itself was decommissioned on June 30, 1969.
The airfield later operated as Gothenburg City Airport.
The old rock shelters house the Aeroseum.
See also
References
- Webpage listing all air force squadrons in Sweden
- Aeroseum flight museum inside the old base shelter
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Coordinates: 57°46′44″N 11°53′01″E / 57.77889°N 11.88361°E