Saab 91 Safir

Development of the Safir began in 1944 as part of a plan to compensate for reductions in orders for military aircraft, in anticipation of the end of the Second World War. Three major civil programmes were planned, the Type 90 Scandia airliner, the Type 91 Safir light aircraft and the Saab 92 motor car. The Safir was designed by Anders J. Andersson, who had previously worked for Bücker, where he had designed the all-wood Bücker Bü 181 "Bestmann". The Safir thus shared many conceptual design features with the Bestmann. It was primarily of metal construction, although it did have fabric-covered control surfaces. Development was slowed by the need to concentrate on more urgent military work, and by industrial action among suppliers. The Safir's first flight took place on 20 November 1945. While the prototype was first powered by a four cylinder de Havilland Gipsy Major IC piston engine, the Saab 91A initial production model used a Gipsy Major 10. The Saab 91C, first flying in September 1953, retained the O-435 engine, but has a revised four-seat cabin. The 91D replaced the O-435 with a lighter four-cylinder Lycoming O-360-A1A engine rated at . ==Operational history==

Production of the Saab 91A began in 1946, but sales were slow owing to the large numbers of cheap ex-military trainers for sale after the end of the Second World War. Major users of the 91A were the Swedish and Ethiopian Air Forces. In 1951, Sweden ordered 74 91B trainers to replace its remaining Bestmanns, but Saab was busy building J29 Tunnan fighters, so production of the Saab 91B was moved to the Dutch company De Schelde at their Dordrecht factory. De Schelde continued building the Safir until 1955, completing a total of 120 Saab 91B and 91Cs. The type remained in Norwegian and Finnish service until the late 1980s, and in Austria until 1992. Major civilian users were Air France, Lufthansa and the Dutch Rijksluchtvaartschool (RLS) on the Groningen Airport 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. ==Variants==

• 91A – Original production version, powered by de Havilland Gipsy Major 10 engine. Three seats. • 91B-2 – 91B variant for Royal Norwegian Air Force with minor modifications, . 25 built by Saab for Norway. and a constant speed propeller. Eleven built by De Schelde and 30 by Saab. • 91D – Four-seat version, powered by Lycoming O-360 engine driving a constant speed propeller. 99 built by Saab. ==Operators==

Military operators ; • Austrian Air Force - received 24 Saab 91Ds from 1964. Remained in service until 1992. ; • Ethiopian Air Force - received 16 Saab 91As from 1947, 8 91Bs and 16 91Cs. Some still remained in service in the early 1980s. ; • Finnish Air Force - 35 Saab 91Ds and 1 91B. Withdrawn from use in late 1980s. • Finnish Frontier Guard Former operator ; • Technical Research and Development Institute ; • Royal Norwegian Air Force - received 25 Saab 91B-2s from 1956 and 5 ex-Swedish Air Force 91Bs. ; • Swedish Air Force - received 20 91As, 76 91Bs and 14 91Cs. ; • Tunisian Air Force - received one 91B-D and 14 91Ds. Civil operators ; ; • Air France ; • Lufthansa ; • Politeknik Penerbangan Indonesia Curug ; • RLS ; • Paraguayan Aeroclub ; • Kelvin Hughes - one 91-C (G-ANOK) used as a development and test aircraft. ==Specifications (91A)==