1:72 Hawker S 34B (modified Hunter Mk.50), Swedish Air Force, mid/late Sixties

[DogfighterZen]

Not what i was expecting to read here...
Get well soon and keep your head up, brother.

[Dizzyfugu]

Some good news: I was able to get myself together and make some final pictures of the S 34B. Editing next, I want to finish this one.

[Old Wombat]

 

[DogfighterZen]

 

[Dizzyfugu]

Found enough esprit to tackle the photo selection and editing phase. Not completed yet, but I make progress. The S 34B looks surprisingly good and believable "in real life"! 

[Dizzyfugu]

Finally, after many delays... 


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr



Some background:
The Hawker Hunter was a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing and was the first jet-powered aircraft produced by Hawker to be procured by the RAF. On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for aircraft, achieving a speed of 727.63 mph (1,171.01 km/h; 632.29 kn).

The single-seat Hunter was introduced to service in 1954 as a maneuverable day interceptor aircraft, quickly succeeding first-generation jet fighters in RAF service such as the Gloster Meteor and the de Havilland Venom. The all-weather/night fighter role was filled by the Gloster Javelin. Successively improved variants of the type were produced, adopting increasingly more capable engine models, and expanding its fuel capacity amongst other modifications being implemented.


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The Hunter was exported to many countries all over the world, and one of the first foreign customers was Sweden. In the early 1950s, the Swedish Air Force saw the need for an interceptor that could reach enemy bombers at a higher altitude than the J 29 Tunnan that formed the backbone of the fighter force. A contract for 120 Hawker Hunter Mk 50s (an export version, equivalent to the RAF's contemporary Mk. 4) was therefore signed on 29 June 1954 and the first aircraft was delivered on 26 August 1955. The model was locally designated J 34 and was assigned to two fighter wings F 8 (Barkaby) and F 18 (Tullinge) near Stockholm to defend the country's capital as an interim solution before a more modern interceptor in the form of the indigenous Saab J 35 Draken was ready for service.
The J 34 was not fitted with a search radar, it only had a simple ranging radar for the guns and was consequently a pure day fighter aircraft. Its flying characteristics were excellent, though. It was a fast aircraft, with a maximum speed of 1.150 km/h, in spite of the fact that the Rolls-Royce Avon 23 (locally designated RM 5B) engine with a thrust of 4.080 kp lacked an afterburner. The Swedish Hunters' mission was primarily to intercept enemy bombers, which were expected to attack from high altitudes, and they complemented the Swedish Air Force's fleet of Saab J 32B, a radar-equipped all-weather/night fighter version of the Saab 32 Lansen fighter-bomber..

The J 34 was initially only armed with four 30 mm (1.18 in) cannon but soon retrofitted with launch rails for two AIM-9 Sidewinders (Swedish designation Rb 24) under the outer wings that markedly improved the interceptor's effectiveness. A project to improve the performance of the J 34 further resulted in one Hunter being fitted with a Swedish-designed afterburner in 1958. While this significantly increased the engine's thrust, there was little improvement in overall performance, so that the project was shelved.
The Hunters' career as an interceptor in Swedish service did not last long, though: During the 1960s, the J 34s were gradually replaced by supersonic J 35 Draken and reassigned to less prominent air wings, F 9 in Gothenburg and F 10 in Ängelholm.


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


At that time the Swedish Air Force was in a critical transitory phase concerning tactical photo reconnaissance. The current standard type for this mission was the Saab S 29C from the late Forties, complemented by the bigger Saab S 32C, which was a photo reconnaissance version developed from the A 32A attack aircraft. 45 of the latter aircraft had been built between 1958 and 1959 and the machines were equipped with a PS-432/A radar with extended range and with six cameras. Additionally, a photo reconnaissance version of the state-of-the-art supersonic Saab 35 Draken was under development, but when its first prototype flew in 1963, it was uncertain when it would become fully operational - the Draken's interceptor variants had priority, and technology was advancing so fast at that time that upgrades were already in the making while the first production J 35s were delivered. In the meantime, the S 29C had become outdated and the more modern S 32C was rather optimized for maritime patrol. The relatively young surplus of J 34s fighters offered the opportunity to convert several airframes into tactical photo reconnaissance aircraft for low-level use over land, primarily as a replacement for the S 29Cs and as a stopgap until the S 35E would arrive at frontline reconnaissance units.

This led to the S 34B (the J 34s were consequently re-designated J 34A for better differentiation) conversion program. Sixteen airframes with relatively few flying hours were set aside and modified by Saab at Linköping in 1963. The airframe remained at the Hunter Mk. 50/Mk.4s' standard and retained the type's original non-afterburner engine and unmodified wings (in the meantime, a dog-toothed wing had been introduced with the Mk.6 that improved handling). The nose section was thoroughly modified to carry a broad array of cameras, and lengthened by about 4'. To compensate for the center of gravity shift through the extra equipment in the nose and create enough space for it, the Hunter's fuselage-mounted 30 mm guns were completely deleted. The area under the cockpit was widened into a shallow tub with a flat floor, together with an extended, pointed tip which improved low-level flight stability with the now nose but still lacked any radar.


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The re-contoured nose/cockpit section contained climatized compartments and windows for a total of six cameras, optimized for low-level reconnaissance and mountable in different angles:
- a long focal-length forward-looking SKA 16b (Vinten F.95) camera in the nose tip
- a sideways-looking wide angle SKA 42-44 camera (facing either to portside or starboard)
- a left oblique/forward infrared camera (various types were used, e.g. an SKA 16a/150 or an SKA 10/92
- a right oblique/forward SKA 16/10
- a vertical SKA 15/15 (F.49 Eagle IX Mk. 2)
- a vertical SKA 16a/150 infrared camera

The Hunter's four underwing hardpoints were retained, though. All were plumbed to accept drop tanks for long-range missions and the capability to carry a pair of Sidewinders on the outer stations for self-defense was retained, too – even though this option was later in service almost never used. Later during their career, the S 34Bs could alternatively carry defensive equipment like chaff dispensers (e.g. the Motmedelskapsel KB a.k.a. BOZ-100) and early ECM devices like the Petrus/Adrian jamming pods from the Saab 32. However, most of the time the S 34Bs were operated in clean configuration to maximize low-level speed and handling, or just with a pair of drop tanks for long-range patrols along the Swedish borders.

An initial S 34B prototype was built in 1964 and flown late during the same year. Thorough operational tests with the camera installations lasted until mid-1965 at the Swedish Air Force's Försökscentralen in Linköping. The full conversion program started in June 1964 and the first S 34B conversions were delivered to the Södermanland Wing (F11) in August 1965, where they were exclusively operated and replaced all S 29Cs of the unit's first squadron, while the second squadron stuck to the S 29C but received four Sk 35C Draken trainers, a measure to prepare the unit for the eventual complete conversion to the S 35D. A total of seventeen Hawker Hunter Mk.50s were modified until 1966, including the prototype, which was brought to the operational S 34B status, too, and integrated into the active fleet. Unlike the J 34A fighters, the recce Hunters received a disruptive and unique three-tone camouflage in dark blue and two shades of dark green on the upper surfaces, reflecting their low-altitude mission profile. Another odd feature of F11's J 34Bs were their individual tactical codes in the form of colored (red) numeric characters instead of letters, sharing this practice with F11's contemporary S 32C Lansens.


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Overall, the Hunter's service with the Swedish Air Force was not long, though. The J 34A day fighters were already retired from service in 1969 and partly sold, while the S 34Bs were kept active until 1974, when operations at F11's home base were expanded: the Swedish Air Force Intelligence School (FV UndS) was relocated to Nyköping and Saab 35 Draken fully replaced the last S 29Cs and the recce Hunters (which both lacked trainer versions). But already a year later, when the Palme government presented its bill 1975:75, a dismantling of two flotilla administrations, Södermanland's air fleet (F 11) and Kalmar air fleet (F 12), was proposed. The background was that the Swedish Defense Forces' peace organization investigation (FFU) in January 1971, tasked with investigating how the air force's peace organization from the mid-1980s could be adapted to the development of the war organization. That the flotilla would be dismantled was a matter of course, as the FFU considered that the reconnaissance divisions should be redistributed to other flotillas, primarily for operational and readiness reasons. Furthermore, the aircraft that the flotilla was armed with, the S 32C Lansen and the S 35D Draken, were to be replaced in the 1980s with the new SH/SF 37 Viggen. This also meant that aerial reconnaissance could then be solved in three aviation divisions, instead of the five reconnaissance aviation divisions that then existed within the Air Force.



General characteristics:
    Crew: 1
    Length: 49 ft 0.5 in (14.98 m)
    Wingspan: 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m)
    Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
    Wing area: 349 sq ft (32.4 m²)
    Airfoil: Hawker 8.5% symmetrical
    Empty weight: 14,122 lb (6,406 kg)
    Gross weight: 17,750 lb (8,051 kg)
    Max takeoff weight: 24,600 lb (11,158 kg)

Powerplant:
    1× Rolls-Royce RM5B1 (Avon 23) turbojet engine, 9,000 lbf (40.8 kN) thrust

Performance:
    Maximum speed: 623 mph (1,003 km/h, 541 kn, Mach 0.94) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
                               715 mph (621 kn; 1,151 km/h) at sea level
    Range: 385 mi (620 km, 335 nmi) with internal fuel only,
               1,900 mi (3,100 km, 1,700 nmi) ferry range with maximum external fuel
    Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
    Rate of climb: 17,200 ft/min (87 m/s)
    Wing loading: 51.6 lb/sq ft (252 kg/m²)
    Thrust/weight: 0.56

Armament:
    No internal guns;
    4× underwing hardpoints with a total capacity of 7,400 lb (3,400 kg)




1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 (Whif/modified Revell kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


This modified photo reconnaissance Hunter looks simple, but the nose modifications were more severe and demanding than expected. The result looks pretty strange, esp. the pointed nose takes away the Hunter's Fifties look. The Swedish markings and the three-tone camouflage suit the Hunter well, though, the S 34B looks quite convincing. I am also amazed how effective the blue/green camouflage with the additional lighter shade of green works!

More good news: the Swedish Hunter stirred my inspiration, so that I have started in the meantime another Swedish what-if project, and I had the idea for another GB submission, a Lightning rooted in reality that almost came to be...

[Gondor]

Well worth the wait 

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

What a cracking model! 

And that camo works SO well too.

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you! 

[Nick]

I like that!  The photos of the bunker hangar make it that bit more realistic too.

[NARSES2]

Looks really good Dizzy 

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you, too. And a late addition... 


1:72 Hawker S 34B 'Hunter'; 'Röda Två (Red Two)' of the Swedish Air Force Södermanland (F11) Wing, 1st Squadron; Nyköping (Sweden), 1968 - Fake box art by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[PR19_Kit]

Oh yes, that Matchbox kit was meant to be sold all over the world, but their Swedish distributors bought the entire stock! 

[Old Wombat]

Excellent build, Dizzy!

[AeroplaneDriver]

VERY nice!