J29 was called “Flying Barrell”, and SAAB didn’t like it

This article was updated with feedback from the members of the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight group on Facebook. Thank you for all the comments!

J29 was a Swedish-build fighter designed in the 1940s and officially introduced to service in 1951. It was one of the first fighters with swept-back wings in the world. It was the second jet built by SAAB, after J21R (which was a conversion from prop driver plane) and ended up being very successful design. Between 1947 and 1956 a total of 661 were built, which makes it the most produced aircraft by SAAB. They served in Swedish and Austrian air forces.

Some designed principles of J29, like swept-wing, have been based on wartime Messerchmitt designs that were obtained by Swedish intelligence in Switzerland in 1945. Some German engineers who fled to Switzerland were also recruited to work in Swedish industry after the war.

Initially, the plane was supposed to use deHavilland Goblin engine, but later it was replaced by the newer Ghost that could still fit the fuselage and offered better performance. Ghost was license-built in Sweden as RM2 and it’s later afterburning version as RM2B.

J29 because of its chubby fuselage shape it quickly gained the nickname “Tunnan” (“The barrel”) or “Flygande Tunnan” (“The flying barrel”). Obviously, SAAB didn’t like that nickname but eventually officially adopted the shorter version.

Wikipedia has very good article about Tunnan, so head there to read more aboot the type.

Story of the SE-DXB airframe

This particular plane started life as J29E and it was delivered on 14th April 1955 to F9 (Flygflottilj 9 which was based in now-defunct Säve airbase near Gothenburg. Fighter wings in Sweden are usually permanently attached to the airbase and hence both airbase and airwing can be referred to as F9). It wore marking 9-Yellow R.

In November 1956 it was transferred to F10 (Ängelholm) and in December same year send to SAAB for modification to F version. The main difference between E and F version is more powerful, afterburning version of the de Havilland Ghost engine. The modification was completed in March 1957 and after tests, it returned to service at F10 in June 1957. Today, it’s wearing marking from that period. In the winter between 1963 and 1964 it got installation for carrying heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles (Swedish designation Rb24).

In 1964 it got transferred to F3 (Linköping). It was temporarily borrowed to F20 (Air Force Officers College in Uppsala) between December 1966 and June 1968, where it carried “20-16” marking. Finally, it was decommissioned in 1970 and passed to Swedish Air Force historical collection in Malmslätt outside of Linköping.

In 1992 it was transported by ground to F10 Wing in Ängelholm and renovated by the F10 Veterans Association (Kamratförenings). The plan was to get it airworthy by the F10’s 50th anniversary in the August of 1995. The plane was put on the civil register on 7th of July 1995. Four days later, on July 11th 1995 Rolf Rimsby took it to the skies for the first time after the renovation. In the first few minutes of the video below, you can see the renovated J29F on an air show in 1995. Around 35:00 minute mark, there’s first flight after the renovation.

What’s the current fate of the aircraft

Later on, SE-DXB joined the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight fleet and currently operates from F7 in Såtenäs where rest of jet fleet of SwAFHF is based. It wears the markings from its time at F10 with Yellow-R aircraft designation. SwAFHF is a non-profit organization with a goal to maintain and keep in flyable condition aircraft that were previously operated by the Swedish Air Force. It’s supported by Swedish Armed Forces and SAAB and membership fees among others. In regular airshow season, you can experience the Tunnan in a few airshows across Europe quite often accompanied by other aircraft operated by SwAFHF.

Sources

https://www.swafhf.com/j29-tunnan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_29_Tunnan
https://forum.flyghistoria.org/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=8669&p=29847
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SE-DXB_(aircraft)