Saab 29 Tunnan

Saab 29 "Tunnan"
29670 "Gul Rudolf" in flight over Malmen
Role	Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer	Saab
First flight	1 September 1948
Introduction	1950
Retired	1976
Status	Retired
Primary users	Swedish Air Force Austrian Air Force
Produced	1948–56
Number built	661

The Saab 29, colloquially called Flygande tunnan (English: "The flying barrel"), was a Swedish fighter designed and manufactured by Saab in the 1940s. It was Sweden's second turbojet-powered combat aircraft, the first being the Saab 21R; additionally, it was the first Western European fighter to be produced with a swept wing after the Second World War, the Me 262 being the first during the war. Despite its rotund appearance, from which its name derives, the J 29 was a fast and agile aircraft for its era. It served effectively in both fighter and fighter-bomber roles into the 1970s.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, it was decided that Sweden required a strong air defence utilising the newly developed jet propulsion technology. According to aviation author Bo Widfeldt, there was a perception that Sweden had not kept up with wartime innovations and technical progress, and that Saab was eager to make aeronautic advances, particularly in terms of developing jet propulsion. Accordingly, project "JxR" was initiated in the final months of 1945, leading to the requirements being drawn up in October 1945. This led to a pair of proposals being issued by the Saab design team, led by Lars Brising. The first of these, codenamed R101, was a cigar-shaped aircraft which bore a resemblance to the American Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. The second design, which would later be picked as the winner, was the barrel-shaped design, codenamed R 1001, which proved to be both faster and more agile upon closer study.

The original R 1001 concept had been designed around a mostly straight wing, but after Swedish engineers had obtained German research data on swept-wing designs, the prototype was altered to incorporate a 25 degree sweep. A member of the Saab engineering team had been allowed to review German aeronautical documents, which had been stored in Switzerland following their capture by the Americans in 1945; these files had clearly indicated delta and swept-wing designs to have the effect of "reducing drag dramatically as the aircraft approached the sound barrier." In order to make the wing as thin as possible, Saab elected to locate the retractable undercarriage upon the aircraft's fuselage rather than upon the wings.

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