Viggen Birdstrike Scene from Movie

[Hman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKP2fCoGmYA

Do we have any Swedish members, I would like to know what film it is from etc?

[Pellson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKP2fCoGmYA

Do we have any Swedish members, I would like to know what film it is from etc?

Alright, alright, I'll tell ya..

The film is called "Älskar, älskar inte" (in english: Loves, loves not) [IMDB link here: älskar älskar inte] and is - to be honest - perhaps not the peak of film entertainment. The main plot isn't at all about flying or the air force but rather revolving around one individual (the bird hitting pilot) and his recovery after a disabling swimming/diving accident. All emotions, tears and drama and very little flying. Well - none, apart from in the ingress, actually..

However, the first ca ten minutes of the film, the last 7.40 being shown in the clip linked above, are actually very good indeed, painting a very realistic picture of how a normal air-to-air training sequence was performed in the SwAF in the nineties. Also, the emergency landing procedure on a road base is well done. In reality, however, the audience would have been significantly more abruptly relocated to a safer position out of sight. Of more technical interest is perhaps the good demonstration of the STOL landing capabilities of the SAAB 37 system, as the landing a/c is using full reverse power as soon as the nose wheel hits the ground.

The film is set on the F7 Wing in western Sweden and the road base used is actually one of the widened roads in the vicinity of the Wing's home base, providing dispersal capacity.

The green Viggens are strike/recce AJS37:s while the grey ones are interceptor JA37:s from F16 Wing in Uppsala (since disbanded). Of interest is that the AJ:s are flown very aggressively indeed in the sequences and you can actually see the JA:s struggling to hang in with their opponents, their manouvers being clearly more reactive and coarse then the firm but smooth flying of the AJ:s.

Cockpit scenes are also taken inside a real Viggen (or the simulator) and the warning lights are well representative for a birdstrike with resulting flame-out. The film scenario is that at least two birds strike the a/c, one hitting just in front of the cockpit, partly entering the cabin while the other one goes into the engine inlet, smacking through the rear/outer wall of the inlet duct as this bends in towards the fan face, debris causing a recoverable flame-out. This has happened irl and I have actually myself seen a trainer Viggen after it experienced a very similar accident in 1987. Also this a/c was safely brought home by its pilot.

Any other questions?

[PR19_Kit]

Nice to have someone right 'on the spot'.

Do you think the AJ's pilots were more experienced than the JA's or did they deliberately fly like that for filming purposes? I noted that the chasing aircraft were lagging quite a bit behind the leading ones on the first pass through of the vid.

[Pellson]

Do you think the AJ's pilots were more experienced than the JA's or did they deliberately fly like that for filming purposes? I noted that the chasing aircraft were lagging quite a bit behind the leading ones on the first pass through of the vid.

My initial guess would be that both wings provided equally experienced pilots each for the shooting of the flying sequences. However, and as I suppose any pilot with some kind of formation flying experience could verify - it's tremendeously much more difficult to try to stay on someones tail than to try to shake someone off. That would also be the reason for the "shaky" flying by the "grey's".

[PR19_Kit]

Makes sense, yes. A terrific bit of video nonetheless, and the road landing was magnificent.

I have a soft spot for the JA37 as I installed the structural test system for the JA airframe in late 1978 at SAAB Linkoping, terrific place with some super restaurants. 

[Cobra]

This is a Cool but Scary Scene! has an Almost 'TOP GUN' Feel with the Flying Sequences! Thanks for Posting Dan

[Hman]

Pellson, thanks for the information.  I was hoping that it may have been a Swedish 'Top Gun' film!

Are many of the roads in the country usable as runways, or just those near airbases?

[rickshaw]

Few anxious moments there, even when you know it's a movie.  I love how the amateur cameraman starts to realise maybe filming from where he is, might not be such a good idea.  Pity the rest of the move apparently isn't as good.   

[Pellson]

Are many of the roads in the country usable as runways, or just those near airbases?

Well, thanks to mainly the current administration (conservative), the ambition to defend the homeland is all but extinct. We no longer have conscription but rather a fully professional defence structure. However, the pay is on such a level that 2nd line nurses assistants are better paid, thus the target force of some 21 000 personell is far, far from met. As a matter of fact, our supreme commander (who is not by any mans the PM, the King or something like that but rather a career officer) last winter issued a statement where he noted that he can defend ONE spot in the country, provided that:
a: It is somewhere where he rapidly can deploy, i.e. with undisturbed communications
b: He has ample warning, further explained as three months early warning, and
c: the attacking force is not larger than one (1) brigade, or equivalent.
Even if all of the above is met, he can only hold his defensive positions for max one (1) week.

Also, last Good Friday, two Tupolev Tu22M4 Backfires accompanied by four Sukhoi Su27 Flankers made a mock attack on two main base areas in Sweden, aborting only within miles of Swedish airspace. The SwAF was unforltunately on holday leave and couldn't react until on the tuesday after easter while the Baltic Air Policing (BAP) force, at that time Danish F-16AM:s, launched within minutes of tracking the strike force over the Gulf of Finland. Also Finnish F-18C:s had a look.

Given the above, you would think that they would care for the inexpensive backup basing system, wouldn't you? Not quite. What has happened is that during the last 10 years, the Road Administration has "increased road traffic safety" but smacking up fences in the middle of all these road bases, in order to separate the opposing road traffic lanes, obviously rendering them entirely useless as landing strips.

As a further measure, the government only days ago issued new budget liimitations for the defence, causing a further 500 officers to be terminated, this despite the fact that the ranks aren't nearly full. At the same time, the Minister of defence, actually a former Lt 1st grade in the Marines, with the stamina of a hung up vinyl LP (for those of you old enough to remember what I'm talking about) keeps retelling the mantra of "this goverment is reinforcing the defence forcefully" while NATO has given up on us, now actually rehearsing an occupation of the most strategic location in all of the Baltic - the island Gotland (whose Swedish defence in total amounts to 540 Territorial Army chaps without heavier firepower than .308 chainguns...)

See this swedish newsreel from yesterday when some 100 German paras from Luftlandebrigade 26 jumped over Visby on Gotland:
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/ostnytt/tyska-soldater-intar-gotland

Am I fed up with the traitor politicians of this country? You guess for yourselves.. 

[Amphion]

Ja e int bitter int 

[Captain Canada]

Holy...that was awesome ! Loved the two pairs in different camo.

Thanks !