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91 Safir
Saab 91C of the Swedish Air Force
Role	Trainer
National origin	Sweden
Manufacturer	Saab
Designed by	Anders J. Andersson
First flight	20 November 1945
Primary users	Swedish Air Force Finnish Air Force
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).

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational history 3 Operators 4 Civil Operators 5 Specifications (91A) 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Design and development

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Operators

 Austria

• Austrian Air Force

 Ethiopia

• Ethiopian Air Force

 Finland

• Finnish Air Force

 Japan

 Norway

• Royal Norwegian Air Force

 Sweden

• Swedish Air Force

 Tunisia

• Tunisian Air Force

[edit] Civil Operators

 Australia

 France

• Air France

 Germany

• Lufthansa

 Paraguay

• Paraguayan Aeroclub

[edit] Specifications (91A)

Data from^{[citation needed]}

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: (7.8 m^[1])
• Wingspan: 10.6 m ()
• Height: 2.2 m ()
• Max takeoff weight: 1,075 kg^[2] ()
• Powerplant: 1× de Havilland Gipsy Major IIC four cylinder, 125 hp ()

Performance

• Maximum speed: 165 mph (265 km/h)
• Range: 660 miles (1062 km)

[edit] See also

Comparable aircraft

• Bücker Bü 181
• DHC-1 Chipmunk
• T-34 Mentor
• Valmet Tuuli
  

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saab 91

• Ärna Flygclubb Swedish language
• FC Flygkubb
• SAAB 91 D Safir - HB-DBL

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