mambo

The wait is well worth it,:thumbup:

Superb, cockpit lighting is great! thank you.

Good text passage from a RAF pilot interview: Squadron exchanges were a regular occurrence at Coltishall, and while on 41 Mike participated in a particularly interesting one with F6 wing of the Swedish Air Force at Karlsborg, flying the AJ37 Viggen. Right from the start, he and his colleagues realised that much was exceptional about the way the Swedes trained and operated, not least considering that the majority of the pilots were effectively doing national service. ‘When you looked at the people who were flying the aeroplanes, I thought that we could learn from this, definitely. The guy who flew me was a Honda 500cc works motorcycle rider; they had rally drivers, go-kart racers, all kinds of things. These weren’t people with good degrees in underwater basket-weaving, these were people who were recruited to fly the Viggen. The first to go up in the Viggen was our boss, Hilton Moses. I remember going out with him to the aeroplane and seeing him laughing and smiling, and then seeing him getting out and coming back to the crewroom looking like he’d just been put through some kind of crazy combination between a fairground ride and a washing machine. Then I went flying in the afternoon, and it changed my life. ‘They would fly around at Mach 0.95, 650kt give or take a bit, and they trained at 10m. We flew through firebreaks in trees, we flew all over northern Sweden at 30ft, and we never went below 600kt. All of this, I should add, was done under about a 150 to 200ft overcast with no breaks. In the RAF, anybody who wanted to get old would not have flown in that weather. After about 40 minutes, we pulled up into cloud, and the pilot then flew a 4-degree hands-off approach with his hands on his head into a remote airstrip, landed, reversed into a parking bay, did an engine-running refuel without any communication with the people on the ground except hand signals, taxied out and took off in the direction that we’d landed in. Wind
 direction just wasn’t factored.Then we did some approaches onto roadways, flying at 15 or 20ft to clear the cars and warn them that there were going to be some aeroplane movements before doing practice approaches. And the aerobatics beggared belief. The next day, it was time to take the Swedish pilots flying in the Jaguar. I was at a bit of a loss as to how I was going to mission was on 19 January, and even then explain to this guy that we flew at 420kt when they flew at 620kt. So I decided that the way ahead was to leave the part-throttle reheat in, accelerate to 620kt and then give him the aeroplane. That’s what I did I tookoff,and gave him control at 620kt and about
 150ft. He pushed the nose down, took the Jaguar down to 30ft and proceeded to fly it at about 30 to 40ft and 600kt-plus quite happily. It knocked all the myths about who’s got the best aeroplanes, who’s got the best-trained pilots and so on. The Swedish Air Force had aeroplanes that were light years ahead of anything the RAF had, or was going to get, or has got now, and their pilots were in a totally different league to us. This was not just an individual — I flew with three of them, and all three were like that. Each of them was able to fly the Jaguar faster and lower from the back seat than I could from the front seat.

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In the summer of 1985 a Soviet Su-15 crashed in international waters in the Baltic Sea off the Liepaja in Latvia. Now, twenty-five years after the tragic event, can Viggen pilot Göran Larsson tell you what really happened. The cold war had moments when it got hotter. The incidents along the border between East and West were numerous. Not least in the Baltic Sea, the water that in Communist propaganda was called the sea of ​​peace. For the non-aligned Sweden, with its location in the middle between the blocks, it was required to be active; partly to guard their neutrality, and to gather information. Sunday, July 7, 1985 the South Military Command sent an order to the reconnaissance division who was on stand-by, "Martin Red" at F13 in Norrköping. Naval forces of the Warsaw Pact conducted an exercise in the eastern Baltic Sea and the division was assigned to keep an eye on them. For the times it was a relatively routine mission. But the mission, numbered "Ftg 417" would be one of the more dramatic. "Martin Red 03" was a SH 37, a SAAB 37 Viggen version specialized for maritime surveillance. The aircraft took off from its home base in Norrköping with Captain Göran Larsson as the pilot. After about 35 minutes Larsson got contact with the target ships exercising just outside Soviet territorial waters. - The Russians met me immediately. A pair of Su-15 Flagon F stood for the welcome. I concentrated on identifying vessels in the north end of the "cake", reconnaissance jargon for a group of ships. It was spread out with a couple kilometers separating the ships. It forced me to twist and turn a bit. One Russian kept next to me and the other held a bit awaiting away, says Larsson. Meetings with foreign powers aircraft over the Baltic Sea was not unusual. But to have them in close in tow could be both stressful and disruptive when at the same time as you were supposed to conduct a reconnaissance mission where you had to focus on data collection and photography. Larsson conducted a number of maneuvers, but the Russian showed no tendency to want to leave his place at the Swede's wingtip. Larsson got up hand camera and photographed his companion - a Flagon F with the individual label "Yellow 36". The Warsaw Pact fleet exercise covered a large number of vessels scattered over a wide area. To document all of them at one same flight proved difficult, so Larsson decided to divide the work in two flights. He returned to home base to refuel. Refueling went quickly and efficiently. Larsson's second reconnaissance flight started on the late afternoon. The aircraft was still "Martin Red 03", unarmed and equipped with a surveillance camera of the type SKA 24 on a body mount. - The second session was radio silent because I did not have any company. The other side listened to our radio traffic and could thereby know when we were coming. After Ark island I dropped to 150 meters. I had neither radio or radar turned on at the time. I crossed Gotland at the height of Slite and just outside the Swedish territorial waters I turned on a straight easterly course. The route then followed Latvia and Lithuanian coasts to the south and southwest. Larsson then recieved information from Command and Control about Russian interceptors having taken off from Vainode in Latvia. Shortly before 18 o'clock Göran Larsson sent of a so-called radar blast against the naval base in Liepaja. He then turned northwards to complete his documentation of the ships in the "cake". Radio communication with the command central was impossible because the altitude was too low and the distance is large. Therefore, as a routine, Swedish fighters at high altitude near of Gotland were deployed. They acted as a relay station during missions like this. It was from them Larsson got the warning: "interceptors from northeast, distance 50 kilometers." about three minutes later, the Soviet aircraft arrived. The 54th fighter regiment used the same two Su-15s that had been courting Larsson earlier during the day, but now it was their roles were reversed. - It was the second air craft in the pair who came close and joined me. We turned around a lot, but then I needed space to work. I thought that he ought to give up and that there had been enough dancing, said Larsson. To understand what now came unfold it might be time for a short introduction of the participants. Viggen was a potent and maneuverable military aircraft at the time. The Maritime surveillance version SH 37 was perfect for a mission like this. Adding to that the plane was in the hands of a very experienced and skilled pilot. Larsson knew where he had his machine and how he could take maximum advantage of its performance. The Su-15 Flagon F was a twin engine "interceptor" primarily for designed to go up against high-flying bombers. The Flagon was by no means harmless in other environments, but its performance was optimized for something completely different then dogfighting at low altitude. In contacts with the Su-15 over the Baltic Sea the Swedish Air Force observed that the Flagon F routinely were equipped with a full weapons load. This consisted of two radar missiles, two IR missiles and sometimes even capsules with automatic cannons under the body. Larsson speaks about a lot of twisting and turning at low altitude, loops and other maneuvers. Russian kept with him all the time at a distance of about 50 meters. Finally, the Swede decided to get rid of his with his troublesome companion. - I conducted a half-roll [http://imgur.com/a/r2fPu] at a hight of about 500 meters. The speed was 550-700 km/h and G-load was high. As Larsson completed the maneuver leveling out at about 100 meters, he saw in the rear-view mirrors how the Russian pilot, instead of realizing the limitations of his machine, followed the Swede in the half-roll. Unable to save his aircraft he continued towards the water. - I saw him fly with a high nose, stalled. He hit the 200 meters behind me. I did not see any ejection. The water splash was followed by an explosion and a huge fireball. Four live missiles probably enhanced the effect. The tragedy was a fact. Larsson decided to abort the mission and that as quickly as possible to return to base. He turned to a northwesterly course and accelerated to full speed and combat controll of his location. - When I headed towards the island of Gotland, I saw the second Su-15 at about five kilometers. He swung in behind mid. I lit the afterburner and increased the speed to Mach 1.1, about 1350 kilometers per hour. - I tried to remain at an altitude of 50 meters, but it became more difficult the more the speed increased. Over Mach 1 the aircrofted was behaving anxiously due to the low altitude. When my radar detector indicated that Russian had missiles locked on me, I turned off the afterburner. I tried to turn and look back, but was unable to due of the high speed. The fighter pair acting as relay station steered towards the southeast to meet their colleague and mark their presence. The Russian broke off pursuit after a minute and returned to the crash site. It is not difficult to understand that Larsson was concerned about the consequences of his involvement in the incident. Already during the return flight to home base he pondered over how he would word the report. It was important not to be too generous with details of how it all happened. Routinely, he wrote a so-called IFL, "Observance of Foreign Air Vehicle". Staff from the intelligence department interviewed him. Larsson was also called to the commander over the first air squadron in Gothenburg To explain the course of events. Although some maneuvering were common when encountering foreign aircraftt, the official directives were that such should be avoided. In order not to reveal the characteristics of the flight, a more "neutral" version of incident was given in the report and interviews. The Radar Intelligence Services weekly report sates that the remaining Su-15 stayed for about 40 minutes in the accident area before it returned to Vainode. The Warsaw Pact air and naval units kept searching during the evening and the following two days. During the following week the Soviet fighter regiments along the Baltic coast were sent up against several foreign flights, but at no time did they contact make contact. It seemed as if they deliberately remained at over 30 kilometers. The air base in Vainode did not resume regular flight operations until Friday, July 12.

The manual is just amazing!!!,thank you

One of the best movies I've seen, thanks Ice

Awesome, great work, thank you very much :thumbup:

Swedish Air Force Viggen pilot interview 1. What is your opinion about the Viggen compared to other fighters from the same era? For example the Tornado, F-15 Eagle, Mig-29 and so on. Well... Not an easy question to answer. The air-to-air combat arena is very complex and involves factors like; how many are you? Distance? Weapons carried by both the opponent and your own group, etc. It’s not as easy as to say that whoever turns best comes out on top. But to give some kind of answer would be that I, having a choice, would not go into a dogfight with the Fighterviggen versus the F-15 or the MiG-29. Tornado Yes. Basically based on rate-of-turn performance. On the other hand I would consider to face both the F-15, MiG-29 and Tornado if I had enough distance at setup, flying with a wingman who knows what he is doing and my sensors gave me good situation awareness. 2. What makes Viggen such a charming fighter, is there more to it then just brute force? I would say that the looks and the sound of the aircraft make a big part of the charm. But for the pilot there’s more to it than that. The Fighterviggen was an aircraft that you could really rely upon when flying and felt kind of like an extension of your body and mind. Meaning that you could forget about the aircraft itself, and totally focus on your situation and status in the air. I’m talking about the Fighterviggen now. The AJS37 was another deal... 3. Viggen is supposed to be a defensive fighter, not able to engage in close dogfights. How does that affect the way you fly the plane when training dogfights? Again, it all depends on the opponent and situation. If you as an example met a F-16 with full armament and external fuel tanks while being light yourself, the difference in performance is close to zero. So you always consider status before entering dogfight. If you find the picture not in favour, we train to engage while keeping distance, avoiding dogfight or outnumber the opponent. Basic fighter tactics since forever. 4. You have flown most of the Viggen versions, how do they differ performance wise? The difference between old recce/attack/EW and the fighter version is tremendous. Let’s break it down to just engine and manoeuvrability to limit the answer some. The modified RM8B was paramount for the viggen to be effective in air combat. Not so much the extra power, but the carefree handling the modification allowed. You could yank the throttle from idle to full burner and back, while in high AoA, without complaints from the RM8B. It was also stronger, giving better acceleration. Especially at high altitude, going for high supersonic speed with an unlimited engine that we had a few rare examples of. The extra hydraulic cylinder for the rudders combined with the audio warning system allowed for an easy ride at close to supersonic speed at high G with the JA37. You just couldn’t get yourself into trouble. You were effective in that machine. The recce/attack/EW was another story... To sum it up it is a brutal and fun ride in an old AJS viggen! But man you had to watch what you were doing... In air-to-air combat the engine, RM8A, was more than likely to end up in engine stall if you even touched the throttle at some high AoA or altitudes. You could not pull more than 6 G and you had no audio warnings while at the same time the alpha meter and G meter were located ridiculously far away from each other in cockpit. You had to be aware of transonic speeds due to the steering system and so on... So, the AJS was less than a good airplane at air-to-air combat. But if you were one of the rare old dogs who had done nothing more than been flying the AJS viggen for some twenty years, you could use the lower weight of the aircraft to your benefit. The AJS actually accelerated better than the JA at most altitudes and a good pilot could outturn the JA37. The sensitive steering system also makes it my choice in low level flying, where the AJS really excelled. Still, it had no gun... In air-to-air I would pick the JA37 at any time. 5. The RM8B from Volvo Flygmotor is a powerful engine, how sensitive is it? How did you have to treat it once your in the air? Not sensitive at all in normal flying, as shows partly in previous answer. I know only one guy who had a minor engine stall after passing jet-wash. You had to watch yourself though while flying at extreme high altitudes for the A/C envelope. You could end up in a high temperature stall, which you normally cured by shutting down the engine and restart it a few thousand meters below! 6. Since we all know that Viggen means raw power, why don't you tease us with describing how it feels to travel from cruise speed to when you engage full afterburners? Well, some sorties I still remember. Especially flying at supersonic speed at low level. We used to fly at 300 meters above the bay of Bothnia at Mach 0.90, and after picking up radar contact with hostiles started to accelerate. Giving full afterburner at that speed and altitude slams you back in the seat and within a few seconds you have passed the sound barrier, noticed by some pitch oscillation and transonic warning. Now, here is where the big engine really shows off. The acceleration keeps pressing you back while the speed increases. Soon odd things are starting to show. The roar from outside your aircraft is so loud the radio transmissions are almost unreadable even at max volume. You can actually feel the temperature rising in the cockpit from the friction between the aircraft and the air. I once put my hand at the fuselage next to the throttle and could feel the heat! Finally when the aircraft has reached its maximum allowed speed, close to 1500 km/h, the angle of attack is so low that the roll centre of the aircraft has moved up to your head. So when you roll your body swings away underneath you, while the head remains at the same position. It is at this point you can actually believe that the engine is capable of producing some 100000 horsepower! 7. The JA37 version had an automatic cannon, supposed to steer the aircraft for you once its locked on to the target so that every round hit its target. Does it really? And if yes, how much control does the aircraft have during this moment? It does work. In fact it works extremely well. It often replaced the Sidewinder as weapon of choice because of its 360 degrees capability and explosive force. The aircraft is in control of yaw and pitch. You just make sure to keep the proper roll angle. The aircraft is pretty brutal in its attempts to keep the alignment, so motion sickness was actually a common outcome for some pilots after a sortie! 8. According to several magazines, Viggen could have been updated/modified and carried on for 20 more years. Instead the airforce opted to buy the Gripen. Do you think this is a correct decision and why? Well, yes I think it is a correct decision. Keep in mind that the potential of the Gripen is better than for the Viggen. The Fighterviggen was at the end a formidable fighting machine with its data-link, AMRAAM capability and integrated jamming systems. But it could not outmanoeuvre a modern light-weight fighter in close combat. And you have to be able to do all these things. The cost to integrate AA-refuelling and a modern even more powerful engine to the Viggen must be huge. Remember that the Viggen is a heavy aircraft, and weight costs money. So... even though I always loved the fighterviggen it is time for the Gripen to carry the legacy of the Viggen into the future! 9. Viggen has its unique thrust reverser but the Gripen lacks such a system. Why do you think they choose to go this way? Which one do you prefer from a pilots point of view? Actually, the Gripen uses its wheel brakes combined with rudders to create high friction towards the surface. Reason for this is that the reverser-system is very heavy and is seldom used. So, you carry along a lot of weight for little use. On the other hand, you could land a Viggen at short runways on ice and snow conditions. Not too easy with the Gripen, which requires good runway conditions. But then again! We do not use short strips anymore, with our new tasks to be interoperable to NATO /EU, so the answer to what system to prefer would be the system that Gripen has got. It's more weight efficient. 10. In Sweden, during some exercises the air force used our main roads as small bases for refuelling/rearming the Viggen and now Gripen. I have heard that some pilots compare it with carrier landings. Have you ever landed a Viggen on a regular road? If you have, how much harder is it compared to landing on a runway? To compare it to carrier landing is in my opinion a little exaggerated! After all, the runway is 800 meters and doesn’t move! I have landed on short runways many times, and it is a business that requires some concentration. You need to be fast and precise, because every second you wait with brakes or power the aircraft eats runway. Especially the winter landings were a thrill. To force down 14 tons into a white little strip in 250 km/h seems just... wrong. 11. One thing caused more tragic accidents with the Viggen then any other: The low level flying. To make it clear for our readers, several variables have to meet before any pilot crashes at low altitude. But is it easy as a pilot to loose your bearings in general, or is this common when you fly the Viggen at low altitude? Low level is a risky business no matter what aircraft you fly. Especially over sea and in winter conditions, where low contrast often is the reason for accidents. The Viggen had extreme low level tactics with the recce and attack versions, so that explains the number of accidents to some extent. But the major reason for low level accidents was the recce/attack-verion's lack of warning systems. You had no audio/visual warning system when you were about to hit the surface. The Fighter version did have such a system, and to my knowledge never had a CFIT. (Controlled Flight Into Terrain) Remember that the recce/attack Viggen flew at tree top level in up to 4-ship formation at close to supersonic speed. Once again. Risky business. 12. Have you ever had a 'close call' of any kind? If you fly fighters long enough, sooner or later you will have close calls. It’s part of the job unfortunately. I had my share in both Viggen and other aircraft, but they could have happened in any type of aircraft, so I’m just glad that it was some time ago and hopefully will not happen again in the near future. 13. The new generation fighters can cause some pilots to suffer from 'information overload'. Have you had any experience of this syndrome? How do you think the pilots situation awareness gets affected in the Gripen compared to the Viggen with all this new information to process? A pilot can only handle a certain amount of information, that is true. You would be surprised how little sometimes! The big thing with the Gripen is that the aircraft itself is very easy to fly, so you have maybe 90 percent of your capacity to handle the tactical situation! In the Fighterviggen you had 80 percent, in the recce/attack 50 percent while the old 35 Draken pilot had no capacity at all to think about his tactics, while struggling with an aircraft that just loved to be in a superstall! My own experience is that I had a lot to do sitting in the recce Viggen, just handling the system, while the fighter version was just an immaculate man-machine integration! You were totally focused on the mission, and never worried about the aircraft itself. The Gripen is close to, if not better than the Fighterviggen regarding these matters. But the Viggen has got the looks...

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:):):) starting with something!

Thanks Snail,but I would like any page from Leatherneck manual :music_whistling:

The more I read about Viggen more I like it, unique in many aspects, pity that there is not much information in English, Cobra filter some info from the manual please!!!

I wish you good luck in your new journey :thumbup:

First supersonic biplane :)

Thanks Snail :thumbup:

Nice video,thank you

Ok, thank you But i was referring to the ability of the autopilot to maintain automatic aiming on the target, after radar lock on, regardless of it is internal cannon or gunpods

Someone knows if AJS 37 autopilot, has the automatic aiming cannon like JA 37 ?

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+1

Great news, full ready to buy!!!

Red Flag flight procedures here: http://www.vusaf.us/RFN/resources/RFNIFG.pdf Useful info for this great campaign

After update oculus rift works smooth again!!! Thank you:thumbup:

Congratulations Apache, just finished Mig 15 campaign and i have enjoyed a lot; great inmersión, wide variety of missions and very funny,really well done! Thank you for your great work.:thumbup: