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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 0009.PDF
1 January 1954 To left and right are the 91C and 91b Safirs respectively. The 91C (below) can accommo date a stretcher patient and attendant. The wide- opening hatches allow easy access for loading and front seat and stick are quickly removable. lighting dimmer switches are mounted centrally on the panel, together with starter button, isolator switch and engine instru ments. Here also is a cover behind which are located all the air craft electrical fuses. Pairs of fuses are held in rubber blocks and can easily be changed in flight should failure occur. The colour showing on the reversed rubber block indicates any fuse that has been replaced, thus facilitating subsequent servicing. Three ventilators let air into the cabin, one to the feet and two past the windscreen. The starboard panel is taken up by radio equipment and a map locker. All flight instruments are positioned opposite the first pilot's seat, and in this first 91C there are six, with turn-and-bank indicator and simple magnetic Saab 91b Safirs, built in Holland for the Royal Swedish Air Force, are shown here in service in Sweden. *%**«*•!& 'iMfiintfl^Ar^.^ .M "-<%iP compass in the centre. They include a variometer, altimeter, and A.S.I., but these are all calibrated in metres, kilometres per hour and metres per second; this was my first experience of metric instruments, and I was able to make practically no sense of them during the very short and rather harassed flight I was to make on that day. Also in front of the first pilot there are the priming pump, fuel cock (L., R., and reserve), carburettor hot-air control, emergency fuel pump and a small locker. The cabin of SE-BYZ is somewhat austerely but reasonably comfortably furnished, the seats all being quickly removable to allow for various types of load. This arrangement was fairly hastily put together on this particular aircraft, and I hear that Saab are at present engaged in designing a luxury interior. Considerable ingenuity has gone into designing the general cabin fittings: besides being readily removable, the front two seats can be adjusted for pitch. Compartments in the rear cabin floor hold toolkit, batteries and first-aid kit, all ready to hand. Cockpit access, as on other Safir models, is through large up ward-opening panels, two to starboard and one to port and, since the wing root is just above knee level, it is remarkably easy to climb in. Cloth sunblinds are fitted in the roof-lights and there is a clear-vision panel high in the windscreen for the port pilot. A cabin heater is also provided. Even this equipment is by English light-aircraft standards lavish, but Saab intend further to provide A.D.F., a cabin clock, and such radio equipment as customers may require beyond the present eight-channel V.H.F. Another admirable fitting is the instrument lighting system, controlled by a rheostat. The lights are under the green instrument panel and each instrument is thus lit from the inside, causing no glare or reflection. Mr. Andersson showed me that the starting procedure was admirably simple. The normal checks, pitch fine, throttle slightly open, mixture rich, fuel, right-hand tank; a few strokes to raise fuel pressure; two quick jabs at the priming pump; switch on— this with a normal car-type ignition key—and press the button. The engine started instantly, and idled quietly and smoothly. We now paused to warm up and made a final appraisal of the weather. It was forbidding, to say the least. A quick radio conversation with the tower showed 1,000 yd visibility in a mist which lay to over 1,000ft. The sun was almost set; in fact, a murky winter's day was drawing to its close. With some hesitation we decided to try at least a quick circuit. None of our eight channels could provide us with a homing or let-down, and the compass was of the most freely swinging magnetic type. We strapped in (the harness, of the peg-and-clip type, seemed soft and rather flimsy after the sterner stuff one is accustomed to in Service aircraft). Mr. Andersson remarked that it was advisable to leave the shoulder straps a little loose in order to be able to lean forward to make the full travel of the undercarriage-raising lever. Hatches closed and "no obstruction" checked, we taxied out. Once rolling straight, directional control could be comfortably maintained with rudder alone, at a speed of about 10 m.p.h. View over the nose was good, there being only very small blind area for about 25ft over the starboard bow. Turning, however, took some practice; once the nosewheel was appreciably deflected it was difficult to straighten out without a considerable burst of throttle; but, once this was accepted, the task was quite simple. We arrived at the marshalling point and ran through the age- old litany of vital actions: Trim neutral, throttle friction nut tight, mixture rich, pitch fine; fuel, flaps take-off, instruments (still mostly incomprehensible in metres and kilograms). At this point a Viscount hummed out of the murk, passed close by and touched down out of sight in the fog. We exchanged looks, called for "line-up," and heard from the Viscount that visibility was now 900 yd. We lined up, opened the throttle and bowled down the run way. Acceleration was smooth and there was no tendency to swing. At 90 to 100 km/hr (60 m.p.h.) the Safir came easily off the ground and I immediately reached, as previously instructed, for the undercarriage lever. A quick twist on the grip, a long, easy push forward and the wheels were up with no (Continued on page 21) B
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