Holtzauge
Senior Airman
This weekend, the Swedish Air Force celebrated its 100th birthday. It was great show, with Swedish built B17, J29, J35, AJ37, JAS39 etc. flown (see video link below).
However, there was also a special Spitfire there: A Rolls-Royce owned Spitfire PR.XIX (G-RRGN) which for the occasion had been painted in Swedish colours.
Sweden bought 50 PR.XIXs after the war, designated S31 in Sweden, where the "S" stands for "Spaning" which means reconnaissance in Swedish. And the 31 means that it was the 31st aircraft type adopted into SwAF service.
The aircraft were all painted in standard P.R. blue and with Swedish markings applied by the British before delivery. Interestingly though, the aircraft were repainted in Sweden since the original national markings applied were smaller than SwAF regulations, the yellow too reddish, and the background blue too dark.
Under the cockpit is the emblem of the SwAF's 11th Wing (Flygflottilj), F11, based in Nyköping, and which is also why there is a yellow "11" on the fuselage.
The "26" call-sign on the tail means it was number 26 of the 50 delivered. So its SwAF number was 31026 (see black text on fuselage in front of stabilizer), with the 31 defining it as a S31, and the 26 simply the delivery number.
The spinner colour designated from which "Division" (Wing in English) it was operating, with red being first, blue second, yellow third, white fourth and green the fifth, meaning that this particular S31 was from the fifth Wing.
The SwAF S31s did of course not have the white "ROLLS ROYCE" text in front of the cockpit, and it is probably only there as a bit of "marketing" from the current owners.
Anyway, it was really nice to see it fly and to hear the engine and propeller noise from the Griffon/five blade combination, which was somewhat different from the Merlin/4-blade one is more accustomed to hear.
Below is a picture I took of it this Sunday, and below that a link to a nice video from the airshow put together by a professional YouTuber (the S31 flying can be seen about 14:50 min into the video).
View: https://youtu.be/Ufb7Tm_xqDA
However, there was also a special Spitfire there: A Rolls-Royce owned Spitfire PR.XIX (G-RRGN) which for the occasion had been painted in Swedish colours.
Sweden bought 50 PR.XIXs after the war, designated S31 in Sweden, where the "S" stands for "Spaning" which means reconnaissance in Swedish. And the 31 means that it was the 31st aircraft type adopted into SwAF service.
The aircraft were all painted in standard P.R. blue and with Swedish markings applied by the British before delivery. Interestingly though, the aircraft were repainted in Sweden since the original national markings applied were smaller than SwAF regulations, the yellow too reddish, and the background blue too dark.
Under the cockpit is the emblem of the SwAF's 11th Wing (Flygflottilj), F11, based in Nyköping, and which is also why there is a yellow "11" on the fuselage.
The "26" call-sign on the tail means it was number 26 of the 50 delivered. So its SwAF number was 31026 (see black text on fuselage in front of stabilizer), with the 31 defining it as a S31, and the 26 simply the delivery number.
The spinner colour designated from which "Division" (Wing in English) it was operating, with red being first, blue second, yellow third, white fourth and green the fifth, meaning that this particular S31 was from the fifth Wing.
The SwAF S31s did of course not have the white "ROLLS ROYCE" text in front of the cockpit, and it is probably only there as a bit of "marketing" from the current owners.
Anyway, it was really nice to see it fly and to hear the engine and propeller noise from the Griffon/five blade combination, which was somewhat different from the Merlin/4-blade one is more accustomed to hear.
Below is a picture I took of it this Sunday, and below that a link to a nice video from the airshow put together by a professional YouTuber (the S31 flying can be seen about 14:50 min into the video).
View: https://youtu.be/Ufb7Tm_xqDA
