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SAAB Hinauskone – SAAB B17A in service with Finnish Air Force


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 I didn't know Finland used this type and found the background information on its use very interesting. The model is beautifully made and well done on the scratch items they are superbly done. Fabulous skills in every aspect of the build.:like:.

Cheers

Pete

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Thank you Chris, Pete and SAT69🙂

 

I'm glad that you like my little "Canary bird".

Such a shame really that both SAABs were lost in accidents so quickly. SH-2 (ex. Flygvapnet 17308, ex SE-BPR) arrived in Finland on 10.01.1960. In May it veered off the runway due to a brake failure at Vaasa airport. The wheel brakes were bad as they had to be repaired eight times in three months time. The aircraft run out of luck on 08.08.1960 when it was on a ferry flight from Utti AB to Oulu airport, when engine power was lost. The pilot had to land on a forest covered swamp. The aircraft was totally destroyed and miraculously only one of the three man crew received minor injuries (probably the armourer was sitting on the floor, as there were only two seats!). One of the pilot's told me that it wasn't uncommon that even five men were onboard. Something that was learned during the war with Brewster Buffaloes!

 

Cheers,

Antti

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Thank you TheyJammedKenny, 28ZComeback and Graeme🙂

 

I already have a Learjet 24 on the production line and it will be red overall... A lot of cutting, filling and sanding as the Revell kit is Learjet 35.

 

Cheers,

Antti

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That's a wonderful model. I love the detail and scratch work that you did.

Funny that SAAB took over the cumbersome reward-retracting landing gear from the Seversky P-35/J9 that Sweden bought in 1939. The rear wheel fairing is nearly identical with the one from the Seversky.

Really good job, this!

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As Noel has said, an excellent modelling job on a strange-looking aircraft.  Most of the strangeness for me comes from those enormous main undercarriage door fairings.  I wonder if they had any air-braking effect.  I believe that was the intention with the main undercarriage doors of the Folland Gnat, which of course saw Finnish service in its fighter form.

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Thank You guys for your kind words🙂

 

B17A surely looks strange. It was the very first design by a company we nowadays know as SAAB. American engineers gave their expertise about cantilever structures and riveting techniques during the design phase, but otherwise Swedish engineers designed the plane. Three different engines were used. The two Finnish examples were both powered by license built Twin Wasps; the very same engine was used in DC-3 and C-47.

 

Those landing gear fairings were indeed meant to act as dive brakes, as the original specification called for a dive bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Swedish Air Force replaced the wheels with skis during winters and a separate version had floats instead of wheels.

 

Although she looks cumbersome, B17A is very agile when airborne. Two of the pilots I talked to said that B17A was extremely stable and easy if somewhat "lazy" to fly. Take-offs and landings were demanding and the wind mill arm made things worse. You had to pull the nose up to the landing attitude early on final and start to push the stick forward once you felt the tires touching the runway. Also the fuel system required precise operation in flight, otherwise the engine quit and was very difficult to start up again because air entered the fuel pipes. This was possibly the cause for SH-2's forced landing.

 

Cheers,

Antti

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A thoroughly researched and brilliantly executed model!

 

The B 17 had a second lease of life in the Ethiopian Air Force. Sweden sold a total of 47 B 17A between 1947 and 1953 for use in Ethiopia's fledgling Air Force that was being rebuilt by Carl Gustav von Rosen. The last B 17A:s in active Ethiopian service were apparently struck off the roster in 1968!

 

The only flying B 17 is maintained by the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight and makes regular displays at air shows in Sweden.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

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Thank You tugcap, J-W and Joachim🙂

 

Marivox kit came with Ethiopian decals (among others) and Tarangus kit gives "Blå Johan" as one option. I have a book called "Ett år i luften - Flygets årsbok" that has a whole chapter dedicated to Count von Rosen. Ethiopian B17s are shown in the photos. I was very disappointed when the the plane couldn't come to Turku Air Show last year. Some problem with the engine... Hopefully I will see it in the future.  Meanwhile we can look at this, over and over again😉

 

Cheers,

Antti

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Thank You Martin and Reini78🙂

 

The windmill arm and bulges weren't that difficult to create. I attached several pieces of 4 mm x 4 mm plastic strip together and the simply carved them out using Tamiya knife and home made chisels. The rearmost windows had to be cut out of the canopy and replaced by pieces of styrene sheet. I cut teardrop shaped openings onto these plates and then attached the bulge on the Port side and the windmill arm onto the Starboard side. For me the work with those open cowl flaps and open oil cooler was more demanding.

 

Interesting photos, thank you Reini. I only have one photo of 4D-AA and it shows the plane only partially. It was nice to get confirmation  that this aircraft also carried the dark red wedge on it's tail (an international sign denoting target tug). Another interesting detail is the pitot tube which is identical with that of SH-2 (c/n 208, 4D-AA c/n 239). The other Finnish example SH-1 (c/n 255) had more modern pitot tube. Out of these three planes SH-1 was the first to enter service! It seems that Austrian Air Force didn't have much better luck with their B17A; repairs after repairs.

 

Cheers,

Antti

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I opened this link not exactly sure of what I was going to see but I was very impressed with what I saw. You learn something everyday.

The video was neat also.... couldn't help but notice how the rear portion of the canopy was shaking and flexing during the in flight shots that were

pointed out the back of the aircraft. A bit unnerving perhaps.    Thanks for the posts.

 

                                                                                                                        Todders

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Thank You Todders🙂

 

Finnish language can be ... confusing, can't it😉 But I'm glad that decided to have a look and that you liked my model.

 

I've noticed that shaking rear canopy too. A former pilot told me that the cockpit was freezing cold even in the summer as there was no heating. The really unnerving part of the operation was when the target sleeve was reeled back in. Part of the process was the armourer to open his canopy and then stand up in the air stream to keep an eye on the approaching target sleeve (it only took one minute to reel in a cable 800 meters -half a mile- long). At least once the pilot decided to "help" the armourer to see better and he pushed the stick forwards. The armourer was raised from the floor and for a moment he felt weightless. Those must have been long seconds...

 

Cheers,

Antti

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Fantastic model Antti!

 

Splendid and razor sharp, edpecially  the canopy frames :)

 

 

Now I know what I need to do on mine eventually!

Did not noticr the towing equippment before...

I thought more the lines of a simply  attached tow line...  you learn.something new every day!... 

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Thank you exdraken🙂

 

I just got word from a friend who works at the Air Force Museum at Tikkakoski, that they have the winch in their collection. Whenever I have a chance to see it I will post pictures and other useful data of the real thing.

 

Cheers,

Antti

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