Service in the Swedish Airforce 1943-1952 |
I conducted a few interviews with pilots that actually flew the aircraft inservice and here are their opinions: Ove Müller-Hansen, Squadron Commander, 2nd Squadron (2:a divisionen), F10Wing, Ängelholm (Unfortunately, now deceased)
"This was one of the finest aircraft that I have ever flown. Theresponsiveness of the controls and overall handling was exceptionally nice. Itwas not a high altitude fighter but up to about 5000m (16,000ft) it could holdits own very well. We flew mock dog fights with P-51 Mustangs and they could notcatch us below 4000m (13,000ft) but if the fight was higher than that we had tobe very careful. At altitudes above 6000m (19,500ft) it was getting sluggish andat 9000m (29,000ft) it was not much power left. Stalls in turns and straightforward were usually not a problem. If you pulled really hard in turn it wouldsometime flip over on it's back. The first version, the 22-A, did not have muchfire power, but the 22-B was better. The -A had 2 7.9mm machine guns and 213.2mm machine guns. The -B had 4 13.2mm machine guns. The 13.2mm's were laterreplaced by 12.7mm's as it was standard for US aircraft, like the Mustang, andwe could thus use the same ammunition. My personal aircraft was Blå Adam ( BlueA), s/n 22239. The second aircraft in the picture below.
I remember that the top speed at SL was about 500km/h (310mph) as we oftenflew down low at full power. We didn't really care much about the limitationsthat they had put on the engine. If we were going somewhere in a hurry, it wasusually full power and away we went!" "Compared to the J9 and J20 (Seversky/Republic EP1 and Reggiane Re 2000)
it was a dream. If you didn't lock the tail gear for take off, it was verytricky and a few pilots learned the hard way as they would ground loop."
When I asked what aircraft he would compared it to, he replied: "Of all the aircraft that I have flown, from that time period, I wouldcompare it to the P-51. Of course it did not have the horsepower, armament northe speed at altitude, but it was fast and agile below 4000m (13,000ft)." What were the pro's and con's of this aircraft: "It was very easily maintained and serviced. The mechanics that wereused to the J20, basically cut their work load in half. It did not have anycomplex systems that could malfunction. The stick forces were light, unless youput in in a steep dive, where any aircraft will suffer from heavier controls.The instrumentation was not up to par. It did not even have an artificialhorizon, so IFR flying and formation flying in and out of clouds was verydifficult." I have read that you once ended up in a dogfight with a FW 190? "That is completely wrong. What happened was that I was over MalmöHarbor in a fight in my J22 with a Heinkel 111. He was shooting at me and I wasshooting at him, trying to make him leave Swedish territory. I finally got himsmoking. He was probably on his way to Copenhagen, but I don't think he made itas he was losing altitude. I saw an aircraft behind me and I thought itwas a FW 190 as they also were stationed in Copenhagen and I pulled away as muchas I could and was able to lose him. It turned out that it was my wingman. Hewas a little late taking off so he was rather far behind me. The J22 was verysimilar to the FW190 so it was difficult to tell them apart. We were reallyscared of the FW 190. We could probably out-turn them but we really didn't wantto try... My wingman was a little angry at me after this incident, but I toldhim what happened and he understood."
Here is a picture of a FW190F-8/R1 that made an emergency landing atBulltofta Airport in Malmö. The picture was taken on February 28th 1945. As youcan see they are quite similar. The J22 is a J22-A, s/n 22210, from the F13Wing. (Ref 18).
Julius Hagander, Pilot, 2nd Squadron (2:a divisionen), F10 Wing,Ängelholm
"Compared to the advanced trainer we were used to, the SK-14 (NorthAmerican NA-16-4M),
It was like a piece of butter in a hot pan, a real hot rod. We flew againstP-51 Mustangs and we could easily out turn them, but above 5-6000m (16-19,000ft)it was poor in performance. Once I tried to take it up as high as possible and Ireached 13000m (42,000ft) and that was probably the highest anyone ever haveflown aJ22. It was below the red line of the airspeed indicator so I was basicallystalling the aircraft. I was flying off the southern coast of Sweden, overYstad, and I could see the northern coast of Germany! The throttle had a detentwhich you could override to get Combat power. I remember when flying as number 2in a Rote (2 aircraft formation) and if the number 1 was using full power, weoften had to go to combat power to keep up, especially in a turn. Theregulations said that if we went to combat power, we had to report it and havethe engine inspected, but we rarely did as we used it often! It was an aircraftthat was very easy to fly. It was a bit sensitive in cross wind take-offs andlandings. Some pilots had problems with the narrow wheel base, but I didn'tthink it was much to worry about. Julius would later on become a very successful businessman in Switzerland andhe sponsored the restoration of"RödKalle".
Per Gunnar (PG) Norberg, Pilot, 1st and 2nd Squadron (1:a & 2:adivisionen), F10 Wing, Ängelholm "In a dog fight with the Mustang or another J22, and being jumped upon,we usually applied full rudder and full elevator. What happened was that theaircraft would enter a massive snap roll and lose speed very quickly and thus wecould easily turn away from our opponent. The Mechanics and inspectors told usthat we shouldn't do that since it could brake the airframe. I was 19 years oldwhen I first flew the J22. It was a wonderful aircraft. Being so young I had nofear! It was tricky during taxiing as the forward visibility was poor. I startedthe initial training in the 1st Squadron and one time I taxied in to theempennage of the Squadron commander's J22 and I ended up in the F10 jail for aweek! I flew a few different J22's but most of the time I flew "BlåOlov" (Blue O). Every aircraft was an individual and they all had their owncharacteristics. Some of them would stall rather violently in a hard turn and others wouldbe more gentle. The controls were light. Most of the time you could fly theaircraft with 2 fingers. Up to 3-4000m (10-13,000ft) it could hold its own, evenagainst the Mustang."
A J22 and a J26 (P51) in formation and a picture from the 70's when he was a Captain,flying forTransairSweden AB.
This picture was taken from a J22 flown by "Julle" Dahlqvist, andthe P51-B "Z HUB" is flown by Assar Svensson. This is probably thefirst encounter with a Mustang. The picture is taken in April of 1945. TheMustang had made an emergency landing and was taken over by the Swedish Airforce.(Ref 18). |
