F-35 makes first public flight

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by Skybird

The Swedes with their Viggen, draken and Gripen, did it so much more clever than the Eurofighter consortium. Every time they released their latest baby, it was state of the art. And came with a much better bang-for-the buck ratio.

That's not entirely true. Although Sweden has an excellent aerospace and technology industry and has developed and produced a number of excellent combat aircraft, Sweden's latest fighter aircraft, the Saab Grippen, had a number of teething troubles including software issues, flight control systems and a number of delays.

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Testing, production, and improvements


Saab rolled out the first Gripen on 26 April 1987, marking its 50th anniversary. Originally planned to fly in 1987, the first flight was delayed by 18 months due to issues with the flight control system. On 9 December 1988, the first prototype (serial number 39-1) took its 51-minute maiden flight with pilot Stig Holmström at the controls. During the test programme, concern surfaced about the aircraft's avionics, specifically the fly-by-wire flight control system (FCS), and the relaxed stability design. On 2 February 1989, this issue led to the crash of the prototype during an attempted landing at Linköping; the test pilot Lars Rådeström walked away with a broken elbow. The cause of the crash was identified as pilot-induced oscillation, caused by problems with the FCS's pitch-control routine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_JAS_39_Gripen







External video


The Saab Viggen ( Thunderbolt ) was dubbed " Thor's Hammer " and was by all accounts a capable, formidable and innovative aircraft featuring a double delta wing configuration.

http://www.military-today.com/aircra..._37_viggen.htm