SAAB B17B      No.17

                                 

                                        Svenska Aeroplan AB was founded in 1937 by the merger of Svenska Jarnvagsverkstaderna
                                        and Svenska Flygmotor AB to build aircraft and aero engines for Swedish home consumption
                                        and also for export.   The SAAB-17, which made its first flight in August 1940, was a light
                                        bomber with very clean lines.   The B17B variant, seen above, was a dive bomber powered
                                        with a 980 hp Swedish built Bristol Pegasus XXIV radial engine.   322 SAAB-17s of all sub
                                        variants were manufactured between 1942 and 1946.  46 of them were sold to Ethiopia where
                                        they served until at least 1968.