In the swedish Flugvapnet the aircrafts are designated as follows: One up to three letters contain the profile the aircraft is used for followed by a number e.g. ASJ37: A = Attack, S = Spanning (which means reconaissance), J = Jakt 37 = Viggen. TP = Transport, HKP = Helicopter and SK = Skol (Trainer).

There was of course a reason for celebrations. In july the F21 became 40.

The days in Luleå are very long in june. It’s not getting dark during the night and the sun is just vanishing behind the horizon for a short while. So no need for a hurry and so the gates opened at noon. Around 40.000 people visited the airshow and found a lot of airplanes in the static display. They enjoyed it to experience the aircraft first hand. The static display was dominated by jets that were in use of the Flygvapnet (J29 Tunnan, J32 Lansen & J35 Draken) or are in use like Sk60, Viggen and Gripen. There was no Hawker Hunter as the Swedish Federal Aviation Authorities raised the fees for running warbirds quite a lot. Several Versions of the Viggen and Gripen were on show including weapons. Foreign participants were rare. The USAFE sent 2 F-15 from Lakenheath together with a KC-135 from Mildenhall to Luleå. Die Finnish Air Force took part with the F-18C and the RnoAF sent 2 F-16AM, the RAF two Jaguars and a Tornado GR.4. Several Warbirds and civil planes were added to the static as well.

Nearly everything the Flygvapnet used after 1945 was shown in the flying display. The show started with some parachute jumpers followed by a Recce-Run of a Viggen which took photos of the audience. After that several historical planes were shown in the air e.g. the Saab Safir, Saab B17, J28 Vampire, Tp83 Pembroke, Tiger Moths and a J26 Mustang. A HKP9 (Bo-105) made a agile demonstration which underlined the capabilites of the helicopter quite good. But there was more to come. Most of the spectators had already noticed the Viggen which rested in the grass in front of the crowd with a collapsed front gear since the start of the show. This aircraft is used for the training of the fire department and rescue personal and that was demonstrated very impressive. It started with a simulated explosion followed by a fire of the Viggen. The fire fighters came and did their work. Then they had to open the canopy according the emergency procedures to get the pilot out of the jet. The pilot was flown away with a HKP10. The front gear of the Viggen was fixed and the jet was towed away. That all happened within a couple of minutes. Respect!

After that it was time again for some jets. It started with a four-ship of Viggen followed by a solo display of a Lansen and a Draken. This Draken is the last flying example in Sweden. Another Saab aircraft was demonstrated and it was the impressive Viggen and four-ship Gripen could be seen. Then a Tp.84 Hercules took to the air and after that a F-16 from Belgium and a F-18C from Finland showed their power. The Grand Finale consisted of the Team 60 which operated only with four aircraft this year and the solo display of the Gripen which also made a Fly-by with a Saab B17.

A small but very good show and you won’t see a four-ship Viggen or Gripen outside of Sweden.