Saab 32 Lansen

what is it?

The Saab 32 Lansen (English: The Lance) is a two-seat, transonic military aircraft designed and manufactured by the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab AB. In late Autumn 1946, development of the Lansen began as a successor to the Saab B 18/S 18 attack aircraft. In December 1948, an initial contract for the design and mockup of Saab's proposed P1150 design was issued. As the design was refined, plans to use the indigenous STAL Dovern turbojet engine were put aside due to technical difficulties in favour of the license-built Rolls-Royce Avon powerplant.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 13 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,200 km/htop speed
• range 2,000 kmwithout refuelling
• size 13.5 tmax take-off weight
• built 450made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 74 years ago, in 1952.
• 🏎️Top speed is 9.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 13 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 2,000 km: 11× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1952-11-03

introduced

1956

retired

1997

status

retired

number built

450

role

second-generation jet fighter

origin

🇸🇪 Sweden

makers

Saab Group

engines

1× Svenska Flygmotor RM6A / Avon

crew

2

length

14.9 m

wingspan

13 m

height

4.7 m

max take-off weight

13.5 t

top speed

1,200 km/h

range

2,000 km

ceiling

15,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.