SAAB SK-37 Viggen Jet To Arrive In The United States

Posted on 02. Sep, 2008 by Ryan in 2000-2009, JA 37 (Viggen)

Photo Credit: Saab Automobile AB

As many of us have heard during the Saturday night banquet at the 2008 Saab Owners Convention, there will be an original SAAB SK-37 Viggen (two-seater) arriving in the United States this fall.

The aircraft will be upon arrival, located in Stow, Massachusetts, the same state where SAAB Motors Inc, had their first port of origin at the Collings Foundation.

The SAAB SK-37 Viggen, based off of the attack version of the JA-37 Viggen, was a two-seater version of the Viggen with some other modifications that were made to accomodate the new seating arrangement, including a periscope for the co-pilot.

Viggen means The Thunderbolt in Swedish, derived from the Norse god Thor’s warhammer Mjölner.

The SAAB Viggen, one of SAAB’s most famous jets was celebrated at the turn of this century by Saab Automobile when they launched a car to create a spiritual link to the performance and safety and aerodynamic characteristics of the jet, now on the ground.

The Saab 9-3 Viggen Automobile debuted in 1999 and ran its course until 2002 when the hatchback model lineup ended. Much like the VIGGEN SK-37 and JA-37, the Saab 9-3 Viggen came in both three and 5-door variants.

It is my hope that this SAAB SK-37 Viggen that will be arriving (in parts), will be put back together and readied in time for Swedish Car Day 2009 this October, however after receiving an e-mail this morning from the future home of the aircraft, the Collings Foundation, this will not be the case as indicated below.

To read and experience more, including some great videos about both the SAAB JA-37 VIGGEN Jet and the Saab 9-3 Viggen Automobile, please read both respective sections here on Saab History linked here.

Below is the news from Peter Gilbert, Saab Enthusiast and million mile SPG owner and recipient of a free Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon.

Below Peter’s news, is an update today from the Collings Foundation, very interesting indeed!

From: Peter Gilbert
Subject: [saab_viggen] SK-37 Viggen to move to USA!
Date: Saturday, August 30, 2008, 9:46 PM

It is with great pleasure to announce to the group, that one of the very last SK-37 Two-Seater Viggens is to retire in Stow, MA, USA.

When I drove the millionth mile in my 1989 Saab 900 SPG, my second goal was to have the Swedish Air Force, save a Viggen from being
re-cyled into beer cans. So last year, when I participated in the 60th Anniversary of Saab, in Trollhattan, I also spent a day at the Flygvapenmuseum, in Linkoping. I also contacted the FMV.

About six months ago, the FMV sent me a DVD on the developement of the Viggen, together with an encouraging letter.

In a parrallel universe The Collings Foundation, in Stow, MA, near Boston, was also seeking the plane as they have a lot more hangar space, than my garage. Because I was at the US Saab Car Convention last week, I went down the road to meet the plane’s new owners. The plane will be shipped by sea, as the cost of insurance is prohibitive. So number 813 will be kept in a beutiful private hangar, that will be
open to the public on a limited basis.

Three years ago, I flew in the only B-24 Liberator Bomber, that takes passengers. The Collings Foudation offers tours during the summer, all
over the USA, and collingsfoundation. org has a great website with video of their collection. I could not think of nicer people or an organization to accept our group’s favorite plane. I would like to propose that they join our group.

I shall keep you posted with events, and we are trying to have The Saab Club greet the arrival.

Sincerely,

Peter G. Gilbert, Glendale, WI. USA

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Update 9.2.2008 From The Collings Foundation to Saab History

Collings Foundation wrote:

Hello,

Your information about the Viggen coming to Stow is correct except for the timing. We are still working on setting up the shipment via ship from Sweden, so I do not think that it will be here by the end of this month. Getting space large enough for the aircraft reserved on a ship, can sometimes take weeks to get. Once it arrives here in the US, it will have to be cleared through customs (which can take weeks if they want it to) then trucked either from Boston (if we can get it shipped to there) or New York. That will require oversize load permits, and most likely travel only at night because of the size. Once it does arrive here in Stow it will take at least a month to get it put back into pieces. The timing of that will depend on crane rental to lift the wings and fuselage off of the shipping racks, and to mate them back together.

I do not think the aircraft will be ready for display by those dates in mid-October. We will be in touch with those groups that you have mentioned when we have a better timeline of when the aircraft will be ready for display. Most likely a public display event here is unlikely to happen this fall. With the other events that we have here, the weather will most likely push any event like that back to next spring at the earliest. We were given the aircraft 16 months ago, so this is not a process that happens quickly.

- Collings Foundation

Tags: B-24 Liberator, Collings Foundation, Saab 9-3 Viggen, Saab Automobile AB As, Saab Club, SAAB JA-37, SAAB Motors Inc., SAAB SK-37, Swedish Air Force, Viggen