During the Second World War, Sweden was sorely missing planes. When the conflict broke out, Sweden had only a few hunters like the Gloster Gladiator. In 1940 she ordered 120 Sekersky P-35 and 144 Vultee Vanguard from the United States and in the autumn she also bought Fiat CR.42 and Reggianne Re 2000 Falco. Unfortunately, only 60 Sekersky could be delivered and no Vultee. Sweden was obliged to design her own equipment after all the orders that had fallen into the water. Obtaining aircraft from foreign countries had become quite impossible because of the war.
Sweden had to find a solution as quickly as possible because of its lack of hunters. SAAB, this manufacturer was already totally concentrated on the construction of bombers like the Saab B17 and reconnaissance aircraft. So it was decided that the construction of this new single-seat fighter should be developed and built by a group of technicians led by Bo Lundberg and a special center, FFVS (Flygförvaltningens Verkstad). He had to be able to have a speed comparable to the speed of the Spifire and the Messerchmitt Bf 109.
The studies for the new aircraft began on January 1 and the first flight of one of the two prototypes of the J22 was on September 21, 1942 at Bromma Airport, where the final assembly plant was located. The aircraft was a thin monoplane made of steel and wood (due to a lack of equipment) and its lines resemble those of the FW 190. Service deliveries began in October 43 and replaced Gloster Glaliator , The Fiat CR.42 and the Reggianne 2000. The J22 was built in two versions: the J 22 A which was equipped with 2 7.9 mm machine guns and the J22B armed with 4 of 13.2 mm. The aircraft was very popular with the pilots, but the only drawback was that the visibility was very limited when driving on the runway.
A total of 198 J22 were produced, including 120 J22A and 78 J22B. It was kept in service until 1952. For the post-war Swedish aeronautics, the construction of the J22 gave a huge boost.
Specificatons :
Length 7,80 mWing span 10,00 m
Wing area 16,00 m²
Height 3.60 m
Drive SFA STWC-3G 14-cylinder air-cooled star motor, 795 kW (1,065 hp)
Max speed 575 km / h
Range 1.270 km
Crew A pilot
Service height 9,300 m
Empty weight 2.020 kg
Flying weight 2,835 kg
Armament four 13.2-mm M / 39A Browning M2 machine guns
0 commentaires :
Post a Comment