On this day in aviation history: In 1955 the Swedes begin to train their Dragon. In September 1949, as the jet era began, Sweden saw the need for a jet fighter that could intercept bombers at high altitude and also engage fighters. The aircraft would also have to undertake a combat role unique to Sweden. It would need to operate from reinforced public roads used as wartime runways, and be refueled and rearmed in less than ten minutes by conscripts with minimal training The Swedish Defense Material Administration began working with Saab to design the required fighter. The aircraft’s design, now named “Draken,” or Dragon, incorporated a distinctive “double-delta” wing configuration, with one delta wing within another larger delta. The inner wing had an 80° angle for high speed performance, while the outer 60° wing gave good performance at low speeds. The double-delta shape was so revolutionary that Saab built the only sub-scale test aircraft ever used in Sweden. The Saab 210, unofficially nicknamed “Lilldraken,” or little dragon. The 210s successful testing led to an order for three full-size Draken prototypes. Although the J 35 was not designed to be a pure dog-fighter, it did have a small turning radius and was a capable fighter. It entered service with the Swedish Air Force in 1960. A total of 651 Saab Drakens were manufactured. The last model built was the J 35F. These aircraft were retired in the 1990s as they were replaced by the Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Oddly, there are Drakens in the US. The National Test Pilot School owns six J 35s that formerly flew with the Danish Air Force. They are based at the Mojave Spaceport in California.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 13:00:01 +0000
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