Saab aircraft you can see
| Type | First flew | Built | UK museums |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saab J 29 Tunnan | 1948 | 661 | 1 |
| Saab Safir & Fouga Magister | 1957 | ~1,300 | 2 |
| Saab Viggen & Draken | 1967 | ~940 | 1 |
Saab in brief
The Saab 21 of 1943 was the first aircraft fitted with a modern ejection seat. The J 29 Tunnan, built from 1950 to 1956, was Saab’s first purpose-built jet fighter. The Draken, Viggen and Gripen followed. The Safir was a light trainer, and the Saab 340 a regional airliner. Saab also built cars from 1949, a business later spun off.
Saab AB is still an independent company, headquartered in Stockholm. Its aircraft development and manufacturing remain at Linköping. The Wallenberg family’s Investor AB is its largest shareholder.
Museums holding Saab aircraft
| Museum | Saab types | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newark Air MuseumNewark, Nottinghamshire | 2 | £12.50 | 95 | Vulcan XM594, with cockpit tours occasionally given by former Vulcan aircrew, which reviewers describe with the reverence normally… |
| Midland Air MuseumCoventry, Warwickshire | 1 | £11 | 66 | Vulcan XL360 with cockpit access and volunteer-led tours (ask for the instrumentation talk), plus the Whittle jet heritage collection a… |
| Ulster Aviation Society (Maze Long Kesh)Lisburn, County Antrim | 1 | By appointment | 63 | The Shorts family — SC.1 vertical take-off research aircraft included — plus a Buccaneer, Phantom, Wildcat, and a newly arrived AV-8… |
Frequently asked
Is Saab the same company as the car maker?
Saab began making cars in 1949, but the car business was later spun off. Saab AB is the aircraft and defence company.
What does Tunnan mean?
‘The barrel’, a nickname for the J 29’s stout fuselage. It was built from 1950 to 1956.
Where are Saab aircraft built?
At Linköping, Sweden, where Saab has designed and built aircraft since around 1939.