SAAB Aircraft celebrated their 70th anniversary at their home of Linköping, Sweden at the end of August and I have just received their press release and photographs that describe this celebration.

It is important to note that while all SAAB aircraft were present during the celebration, there was one exception which was the SAAB Scandia 90 commercial airliner. The last remaining SAAB Scandia 90 resides at a museum in Bebedouro, Brazil, South America. SAAB tried to buy this for their 50th anniversary in 1987, their 60th in 1997 as well as their recent 70th anniversary this year, but the owners continue to ask for a figure that is deemed unreasonably high time and time again.

Aside from the airplanes, the Saab Performance Team as well as legendary rally champion, Erik “On The Roof” Carlsson were also present amongst other notables for this very special event as you will see in the photographs above.

Here is a press release that describes a segment of this 70th anniversary celebration.

Guests celebrated Saab’s 70th anniversary
8/31/2007

A flyby of Saab’s aircraft started the customer day that is part of Saab’s 70th anniversary. Around 700 customers, partners, suppliers, analysts and media came to join the celebrations.

The VIP day took place at the Saab compound in Linköping, Sweden, on Friday August 31. Åke Svensson, President and CEO of Saab wished everyone a warm welcome.

“It is fantastic to have you here today. I am so proud of this company” he said by way of introduction. A short film about the history of Saab was shown and Åke Svensson spoke about Saab’s development from 1937 to the present day.

”Focus has changed. Previously the emphasis was on one large Swedish customer, today we have broadened our horizons and the internationalisation has increased.”

Saab in the future

The emphasis of the seminar that followed was on the future and what Saab might be working on at the time of the 100th anniversary in 2037. The seminar discussed what the future might hold within civil security and air (unmanned aircraft), sea (naval command and control systems) and land areas (multistatic radar).

Lennart Sindahl, business unit manager for Saab Aerosystems, and Michael Franzén, project manager for UAV operations in the business unit, spoke about the possibilities of unmanned aircraft. In their vision of the future we will be flying with unmanned passenger aircraft several years before Saab celebrates 100 years.

Lars Tossman, business unit manager for Saab Underwater Systems, and Richard Colling, point of contact Sea, spoke about the importance of flexible, autonomous underwater vehicles in the future.

Air show with all still flying Saab planes

The day was rounded off with a flying display featuring nearly all Saab’s aircraft that are still flying: Saab B17, Saab 32 Lansen, Saab 91 Safir, SK60, Saab 35 Draken, Saab 37 Viggen, Saab 39 Gripen and Saab 2000.

I just received a photograph from Saab Automobile that was done a few months ago that features the Saab Aero-X and the Draken Fighter Jet. I think the winter backdrop is quite nice. Enjoy.

The SAAB J35 Draken was designed by Erik Brett and had its maiden voyage on October 25th, 1955 and went into production in 1960. Production itself started in 1955 and went until 1974. The Draken was retired by the Danish Air Force in 1993, Swedish Air Force in 1999, Finland in 2000 and Austria in 2005.

Source: Saab Draken / Wikipedia

For more information on this story, please visit this link here at Flight International.

Here is some stock footage of the SAAB J35 Draken Fighter.

If the creator of this video could send us a note here, I would be interested in finding out where one can download that SAAB plane in X-plane flight simulator. It looks like fun!

If you would like your own SAAB Draken, you have a few choices.

Option A) Buy a 1:1 real-life scale Draken

For more information, visit http://www.saabvideos.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/ext-4.jpg

Option B) Buy a 1:72 scale model Draken

Option C) Download a digital copy of the plane for use with the X-plane flight simulator software for MacosX, Linux and Windows at http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?autocom=dlmanager&do=viewfile&fid=6641

I have provided three of my most favorite advertising photos from the archives featuring a SAAB JAS 39 Gripen, a SAAB JA 37 VIGGEN and a J 35 DRAKEN respectively. Enjoy the vintage photography, I certainly do.

Airframe:
789 Hours Total Time
Engine(s):

Volvo Flygmotor RM 6C Afterburning Turbojet

12,787 lbs. Thrust (5,800 kg)
17,637 lbs. Thrust with Afterburner (8,000 kg)
1,442 Hours Total Time

217 Hours SMOH

Overhaul Interval on Condition
Landing Gear:
Hydraulically Retractable Tricycle Gear System
Retractable Twin Wheel “Tail Scraper” Unit

* FAA Approved Maintenance Program
* Inspection completed August 2005
* Logbooks Reviewed, No Abnormalities
* Complete Set of Translated Maintenance Manuals
* Ready to Fly! (Forget those TSA security lines!)
* Two Seat Flying Checkout and Maintenance Expertise Available
* Aircraft Hangared at Stockton Metropolitan Airport (SCK)
* Armament: (These could come in hand during rush hour)
o (Disarmed) Bombs, Cannons, Rockets, Missiles
o Two 30mm Automatic Cannons
o Sidewinder Air-to-Air Guided Weapons
* Crew: Single Seat

For More information visit For Sale