This
is my second entry to the ARC gallery and my second model of an airplane from
the Saab Company. It’s the Saab J-29 Tunnan (“flying barrel”).
The kit was
a limited resin kit made by the Austrian branch of the IPMS. The model I built
shows a fighter-bomber of the 1st echelon at the Airbase Wien-Schwechat, which
is close to Vienna, Austria. It served from 1961 until 1969.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The
Saab 29 is a turbo-jet-engine powered military aircraft right from the
post-WWII era. The Swedish nick name Tunnan arises from the appearance of
the plane, because in some perspectives it seems to be a flying
ton/tube/barrel. This plane was the first serial manufactured jet fighter
in Western Europe
after the war. When the war ended in May 1945, the aerodynamic knowledge of
the German scientists on back-swept wings (like the Me-262) becomes generally
known. On labyrinthine trails some of the German documents made their way
to hands of Swedish engineers very quickly. For that reason Sweden
was the first country to realize that knowledge, which results in a single
seat, mid-wing airplane, made totally out of metal and having swept-back
wings, a turbo-jet-engine, retractable landing-gears and automatic slats
(that increased slow flight quality). The Saab 29 design shows big
analogy to the design of the Eastern European Mig-15 and to the US
F-86 fighter. The first flight of the Saab J-29 took place on September 1st, 1948.
In
1954 the Tunnan established a world record: The aircraft was the first to
accomplish a 500km distance with an average flight speed of 977km/h.
Overall a total of 224 planes were manufactured. Only 30 of them were sold
to a foreign countries. The Austrian Airforce bought them in 1960 and
had the J-29 in service until 1973.
The
model-kit from the IMPS Austria
is made of resin. The parts are easy to work with; they have good engravings of
panel lines and the fit is perfect. The kit box came along
with photo-etched parts, two vacuum formed canopies and appropriate masking film
for painting. The box includes decals with markings for all planes in Austrian
service and in addition you are able to build 4 different Swedish aircraft. The
construction manual is extensive, in colours and with a bunch of pictures of
walkarounds that make building this kit a real pleasure.
Enjoy
- greetings
Juergen
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images below to see larger images
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