But since flight testing revealed that the intake did not provide enough airflow, the forward fuselage was redesigned and a proper nose was introduced, with the intakes moved back to each side of the cockpit. The aircraft originally had an oval nose intake, separated in the middle by a nosecone in the shape of a pyramid/chisel. As results showed no major problems, the Saab 210 70% scale demonstrator aircraft was built. This included wind tunnel experiments using pulse-jet-powered models. But before building this aircraft, ground testing was done on the double-delta configuration. Rather than risk the whole programme by building a full-scale prototype, Saab first decided to test the design’s handling characteristics by building a small demonstrator, the Saab 210. Project 1250 met the requirements of the FMV, but it was an extremely radical design that could easily have ended up a disaster. Project 1250, a follow-on to the original Project 1200. This configuration was frozen under Saab’s The outer portion was thinner and provided lift for short-fieldĪnd low-speed operation while still keeping drag low enoughįor supersonic flight. Thick in order to accommodate the fuel and landing gear, while TheĬranked delta wings began at the air intakes and were sweptĪt 76 degrees, but halfway along the wings this was reduced Saab initially envisaged a long, pureĭelta-winged aircraft with an incredibly large wing sweep angleĪs handling problems were foreseen with suchĪ radical and advanced layout, the design was modified. Large items like the landing gear and systems, yet still haveĪ low drag coefficient. Successful wing planform that would be thick enough to hold This is where Bratt came up with a unique and highly To chord ration could still be obtained by making the chord If the wing was made thick, a low thickness Shortcomings and took a totally different approach. Team briefly considered this configuration, but noted its considerable Speed, they resulted in very high wing loading, very high takeoffĪnd landing speeds and severely limited agility. The vertical tail! Although such thin, sharp wings gave impressive Into a long slim fuselage and made the wings little larger than To achieve Mach 2.2 speed on theĬontemporary F-104 Starfighter, Lockheed had crammed everything Ratio (chord is the shortest distance between the leading and Wing had to be quite thin and have a low thickness to chord In order to achieve supersonic flight, the
#SAAB DRAKEN HOW TO#
Part was how to fit in everything else like the landing gear, The first part was easy: the radar, cockpitĪnd engine were arranged in a straight line. Instead of designing the airframe firstĪnd then trying to fit in all the essential equipment, Bratt’s Bratt preferredĪ single-engine configuration because it saved weight and costĪnd reduced complexity. Into the smallest airframe with the lowest drag. The desired high performance was to fit the most powerful engine
In November 1949 a Saab engineering team underĭesigner Erik Bratt examined a number of different options to Its independence against any threat, especially that of Cold Sweden was a neutral country and was determined to defend Of fast, high-altitude jet bombers travelling at around Mach One of the most important requirements was that it had to haveĪ very high rate of climb in order to catch the emerging threat Sections of public roadway (under the Swedish BASE 90 distributedĪirfield scheme), be rugged, easy to maintain and cheap to operate. Of at least Mach 1.4, be able to operate off specially-built
The endeavour was named Project 1200 andĬalled for a new supersonic aircraft that would have a speed Single-seat all-weather interceptor to replace the Saab J29 Of the Swedish Air Force (FMV) issued a requirement for a new The inception of the Draken (Dragon) datesīack to September 1949 when the Royal Swedish Air Material Board The Draken had a successful career with a number of air forces and remained in service 50 years after its maiden flight – quite an achievement, especially considering that two successors have been built! Its unorthodox design allowed it to easily surpass the speed of sound, making it Sweden’s first supersonic fighter aircraft and one of Europe’s best performing fighters. When it was conceived in the early 1950s, Saab’s Draken was a very radical and unusual machine.