Got a new Whiff starting up

[upnorth]

I've had the idea of a Czechoslovakia and Poland that never went Communist in my head for a while now and one of the ideas connected to it is that the aviation industries of Czechoslovakia, Poland and Sweden forged a strong alliance in the immediate post war years.

All three nations had the ability to independently produce a combat aircraft, but why not pool resources with your friends and defray costs in the immediate post war years if you can?

Anyway, I decided I'd apply this priciple to the Airfix/Heller SAAB 29 I just picked up.

I'm not changing the time frame of the aircraft's development, just its organization; it was a tri-national design from the outset intended to meet the requirements of the three nations involved.

With a few ammendments stipulated by Czech and Polish requirements, the design was mostly credited to SAAB. SAAB was also the marketing engine for the type, henceforth, it was the consortium member people most associated with the aircraft. Beyond the design itself, Sweden was responsible for the lion's share of the avionics development and cannons.

It was decided that the type should be produced at a centralized location and the PZL factory at Poznan was chosen for this, with a secondary line at Zlin in Czechoslovakia.

Poland's primary role was the fabrication and assembly of all major airframe components, in later variants, PZL spearheaded design refinements in the wings and tail region.

Czechoslovakia's primary responsibilities (beyond secondary construction line) were powerplant and undercarriage development, handled by Skoda and Tatra respectively.

The aircraft was an attention getting performer from  its very first public showing in 1950. Equiped with a Skoda Liska (fox) engine able to put out a maximum 5100  pounds of thrust, it was definitely one of the fastest non experimental things in the sky at the time. At about this time, the name "SkodaSAAB" was bestowed upon it by the press and the name stuck.

Thats the story so far, I hope to refine and detail it a bit more once I start the build (right after my non whiff Grippen, whiff TSR.2 and float plane P-47).

I have a nice set of Czechoslovak postwar Spitfire decals to put on it.

Does anyone know if a Rolls Royce Nene could be plugged into a SAAB 29 with minimal mods to the aircraft? The Skoda Liska was about the same size.

The only design mod I've decided on so far is the all moving stabilators that PZL developed from the second batch of aircraft onward.

Any suggestions are most welcome.

[Radish]

I like the idea of Poland and the Czechs staying with the West, post WW2.
It opens the way for Polish Meteors, F9F Panthers, Sabres, F-84s, Spitfire 24s, etc..

Nene in the Saab 29 wouldn't have been a problem at all I would think, and anyway, just do it!  

[jcf]

I like the idea of Poland and the Czechs staying with the West, post WW2.
It opens the way for Polish Meteors, F9F Panthers, Sabres, F-84s, Spitfire 24s, etc..

Nene in the Saab 29 wouldn't have been a problem at all I would think, and anyway, just do it!

What about Poland's own aircraft industry in that scenario?

PZL, RWD, LMS, etcetera...they all had world class designers some of whom ended up working in the West post-war. Ditto for the Czechs. So, if their countries had not become Communist states they probably would have stayed home and who knows what they would have produced.

Cheers, Jon