Swiss Saab J29CH 'Tönnli', September 1959

[nönöbär]

Saab J29CH 'Tönnli', September 1959

The Plane:

After World War II, jet fighter aircraft got standard quite quickly. The Swiss Airforce introduced its first jets as soon as 1946 with the tests of the first Vampire MkI.

As Switzerland is a neutral country, the production of the Saab J29 in Sweden caused interest of the Swiss military. This plane would open the opportunity to use a plane of another "neutral" country.
In 1950, the Saab J29 was tested by the Swiss Luftwaffe and was seen as a good alternative to the Vampire. Therefore, orders of the Vampire were reduced and 78 Saab J29CH were ordered. Compared to the Swedish model, the Swiss plane got minor changes for operations in mountainous areas.
Based on the original nickname "Tunnan" the Swiss called the J29 "Tönnli" - little ton.

The Tönnli were used by the Swiss Luftwaffe until the early 1970s when the last planes were put out of service. In the 20 years of operation, 7 of them were lost in accidents, three of them crashed into the Swiss mountains during bad weather conditions.
In 1963, a J29Ch had to make an emergency landing at the small town of Bendern in Liechtenstein. This caused some diplomatic issues and the plane was sized by the Liechtenstein government - the only time that Liechtenstein possessed a jet fighter aircraft.







The Model:

The model is an OOB build of the 1:72 scale Matchbox J29 kit, re-released by Revell. Painted with Revell Aqua color, some decals of a Swiss F-5 were used to give it a "Swiss" look.

[Captain Canada]

Love it. Looks great in those colours !

[Martin H]

The Swiss markings suit the J29 well.
I like the look of this build  

[zenrat]

Fabulous.

[NARSES2]

That does look neat