FlyPast Classics: The Brilliant Barrel

Sweden’s small yet forward-looking aircraft industry became a world leader in the late 1940s, with the creation of the pugnacious but advanced J 29 fighter. Malcolm V Lowe describes this important jet-powered warplane

An Austrian J 29F, numbered 29457, of 1.Jagdbomber-Staff el displays the pugnacious but also rather graceful lines of the series. Austria operated 30 Tunnans, and this view shows to advantage the underwing fuel tanks, useful for extending the type’s endurance.

Sweden remained neutral during World War Two, but there was a growing belief that the country’s military needed to significantly upgrade its increasingly outdated equipment as the war in Europe came to an end.In particular, the advent of jet-driven combat aircraft had left Sweden’s air force, the Svenska Flygvapnet (usually abbreviated to Flygvapnet), at a potentially considerable disadvantage. Short-term improvement of its frontline capability came, in part, mainly with the supply of weaponry from the victorious Allies.

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