13 Saabs in one Museum

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On December 8, the office staff where I work at FOI made a field trip to The Swedish Air Force Museum in Linköping. Here the rich heritage of the Saab brand is portrayed in a very nice way. The whole museum is without no doubt one of the premier aerospace museum in the world. It is by no way the largest I have been to some of them, USAF Museum in Dayton, OH, Duxford Imperial Museum in Cambridge, Canadian AirForce Museum in Ottawa to name a few.

But none of these museums comes close to how the Linköping museum have intertwined swedish aircrafts and the history of that time period. One area displays the cold war of the 50 ies not only with planes but with housing interiors and political issues of that time period. It is almost like a combination of a ethnographical/interior architect and modern history museum with a lot of military aircraft hovering above safeguarding the traditional swedish way of living.

Every model of SAAB plane can be seen here rom the first propeller B-17 dive bomber to the 39 Gripen prototype plan no.2 and the Saab Shark UAV attack prototype. Of special interest is the B-18 ongoing restoration that is going on inside the museum on public display. On the floor under a soviet Mig 17, parked next to a Saab Safir propeller plane sits a 1950 Saab 92 in cellulose green paint. It is on loan from the Saab Car Museum in Trollhättan.

In the basement rests the remains of a newly salvaged DC-3 Signal detection spy plane that was shot down by a soviet interceptor. The four workstations utilized highly classified US instruments and machinery, hence the reason for the russians to shoot down the plane. Sweden with its close proximity to Soviet served the US and its allies with vital information gathered from signal espionage and eavesdropping.

If You plan to visit sweden or drive by Linköping it is a definite much to take 3-4 hours here. As a Saab enthusiast it is the 8th death sin not to go here.

If you ever visit Sweden and have the slightest interest in airplanes and the history of what has happened in Sweden in regards to international big time politics from 2nd world war and on. Then I have a recommendation for you. Just some 180km south of Stockholm in Linköping the Swedish Air Force Museum is situated. Unlike many old and dusty museums around the world with just planes lined up in long rows this museum take the experience to a new level.

Technological advancements but the best of all how the intertwine of the world political agenda with the Swedish realities and how Sweden worked with the situations evolving around our borders. Here one can follow the decisions on how to set up an air force that was the 3rd largest in the world with many world-class military jets. The museum tells the story on how a small country arranged its defense in a very special and unique way.

– Saab B-17

– Saab B-18

. Saab J21

– Saab J21R

– Saab “Lilldraken”

– Saab JAS 39 Prototype -2

– Saab J29 Tunnan, AJ32 Lansen, J35 Draken, JA37 Viggen

27 thoughts on “13 Saabs in one Museum”

  2. It should be movies of Saab planes, I address the issue to the other crew guys. The movie of the 99 is meant for another posting……

  3. For some reason it linked each video to the play list and embedded the latest uploaded video, had to edit the embedding code for each clip in order to make them work…

  4. Thanks, Trued, that is what I call a v e r y interesting article! I didn’t knew about that museum, now I will cross the border to Sweden next summer and combine a visit there and in Trollhättan.

    More of such important SAAB heritage stuff, please 🙂

    Cheers from Norway
    -Olav-
    Always on the longest road home when out there with my SAABs. Always!

  5. Olav, promise it will be more. I will bring my gear to Trollhättan next time and do more interesting stuff! Glad you liked it. I do as always straight up and no editing. Natural as it comes.

    • Thanks, Trued! I am really looking forward to see what you bring in here next time! I really enjoy how you do this, keep up your great work 🙂

  6. The Flygvapenmuseum is indeed well worth a visit when visiting Sweden. I spent a wonderful day there
    en route to the 60th Anniversary in 2007. The gift shop has nearly every type of SAAB aircraft models and the experience of the Gripen flight simulator is a must do on the bucket list.

  7. Lately, I find myself working at not posting a comment about the state of Saab’s United and can no longer resist writing. I’m doing so to offer my thoughts and feedback, (understanding it may not be shared by everyone).

    I want to start by saying how much I appreciate all the work you’ve done not only to promote Saab the company, but also the value it’s played in my life and consequently the people around me. I use information here to share with others, a testimony of how good you guys are!

    Sadly, the site is slowly losing me. I’m becoming less interested in the content and find myself not looking forward to reading as much as I used to. Perhaps this is just an indicator of the demise of the company. I sure hope not.

    So what’s the solution you ask? Quite frankly,I’d simply like to read more of what I’d want to share with others. That is more current events/news/info about technology and less merchandise and nostalgia.

    Yes, I’m aware there may not be much else to cover and If that’s the case, then I guess that says it all about the state of Saab.

    • Right now the company is being built up, everything is top secret and very little is leaked to anyone. We’ve found out some things about the future which have us a bit excited but getting confirmation about anything right now is very difficult. And by publishing that stuff we could hurt the company rather than help it so right now we’re all in a sort of waiting mode to see whats happening next… that I’m afraid is out of our control and up to NEVS.

      I can tell you that we are communicating directly with NEVS managers all the way up to Kai Johan Jiang and given the fact that NEVS sent their vice president to the Octoberfest really tells how dedicated they are to the fans. But right now at this moment in time, there really isn’t much to tell…

      We were all accustomed to getting news about Saab everyday, most of it brought from the media and I’m actually happy that this isn’t the case anymore, since most of what was reported in the news was hurting the company.

      This time of the year there are very few events happening which naturally is caused by the poor weather so one might ask, what are we supposed to write about?… Well, its not easy…

      So in the end, the state of Saab is good, really good if you look at it from the right point of view: that Saab is being rebuilt, a slow process, but its a process that moves in the right direction!…

      • I guess watching a mason building one brick at a time has to be boring. I just hope the end result is an architectural masterpiece. I really need SAAB to come back. I can’t stand to think of my old 96’s as orphans.

      • You know Tim, I understand what you’re saying, but at least in some aspects, I’m feeling the same frustration that I think Fanofsaab is feeling. When it comes to Jesus, I have faith—-and I’m willing to have faith. But being asked to have faith in NEVS because they’re really good, but things are top secret—we just have to wait—-this isn’t God, it’s a car manufacturer. And this whole thing is wearing thin on many of us (not referring to you or the site—referring to NEVS). Lack of a real website and tight lips on any morsels of information—-this isn’t building intrique, it’s making people walk way and go somewhere else. Maybe that should be communicated to them. They’re not as smart as they might think they are—-maybe they are quite competent at battery technology, but at building a business and planting the seeds for future sales, they are abysmsal. They don’t get it.

        • For a person who is in the market for a new car within the next two years, I do not see how a fancy website will make any difference.

          I see a website as a tool to push products and services. Currently I am not aware of NEVS having any products and services. Nor do they seem to be trying to attract more investors.

          The main saab.com site is operated by Saab Parts, and for a parts supplier I think it looks fairly ok.

          Honestly, when NEVS starts pushing products out the door, I hope they will be judged on the merits and qualities of those products rather than how fancy their webpage look.

          • Rune: We’re in the 21st century. Companies are judged based on their websites. You might not like and I’m not sure I do. Doesn’t matter—-it’s a fact. And I’ve been involved in advertising/marketing of one sort or another for 26 years. You don’t turn it on and off like a light switch or a water faucet. You start to win over some potential customers years ahead of their purchase—based on image, ambition and some variables that are a bit complicated to get into in a paragraph or three. Suffice to say, if they wait until they’re ready to introduce their cars before they introduce a website that isn’t a “point and laugh” embarrassment—-they will be making a really critical mistake—-one that a college sophomore marketing student is well aware of. Is the problem that they can’t walk and chew gum? They don’t have enough money to do something serious? And Rune, when NEVS starts “pushing products out the door” a website is going to be one of the components of getting their message to the buying public. It’s not about being fancy—-it’s about offering rudimentary information and clear vision. It’s about building excitement among the base—-and capturing the attention of new buyers—-perhaps those who are environmentally concerned. People turn to websites to learn about the “qualities of those products.” And honestly—-can you visit that website and tell me with a straight face that you think it’s adequate/appropriate? Wouldn’t they be better off without a website for the time being than they are with that one?

            • Tim started writing an article about NEVS to be posted early next week, I suggest we move this discussion there rather than continue off-topic here.

      • Hi Tim and Crew
        I do not normally post but felt you need some support here.
        I am a Saab owner, driver and enthuthiast and I see Saabsunited as the place to share items that fulfill mine and I am sure a lot of others interest and this includes nostalgia, merchandise, updates and of course news.
        You all do a great job and I think some people forget that this is an enthusiasts site and not just the conduit for news from NEVS.
        It is a great site to dip in and out of and read the bits you want and maybe ignore the bits you dont.
        The web would be a much worse place without SAABSUNITED and for those that do not like the format look elsewhere.
        Keep up the good work and try to ignore the negative posts.
        All the best
        Nick.

        • Thanks NIck, we try to do the best we can keeping the international crowd pleased. It is a transition period for the car brand, but why not take the time to learn its history. For sure we will when we can tell about the future.

        • You are absolutely right, Saab United is for me an enthusiast site. We all hope that NEVS will start production of new SAAB but until it becomes clear, we here at SaabsUnited can talk about our love for the brand. There are over one million Saab on the market. Many are for sale ranging from almost no cost at all to € 50,000. Buy such as long or maintenance the Saab you have in your possession. There is a Swedish saying that goes like this: He who waits for something good does not wait too long. And by the way I found this article very interesting.

  8. Trued, thanks for this interesting post. It is an example of the variety of SAAB related subjects that can be found on Saabs United.

    By the way, the audio quality is excellent and added to the visual experience.

    • 3cyl great that someone sticks to the topic and comments the posting.
      The movies where shot with a Sony Nex 7 camera with a røde stereo microphone.

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