Göta Wing (), also F 9 Säve, or simply F 9, was a

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

with the main base located near

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

in south-west

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

History

The decision to set up the air wing was made in 1936 to defend the import/export harbours on the west coast. The wing itself was not commissioned until October 1, 1940 and the airfield took until 1941 to complete. Initially, two squadrons of J 8 fighters were commissioned in 1940, but they were quickly replaced by three squadrons of J 11s. In 1942 hangars and some of the base command were relocated inside large shelters blasted out of the rocks. Initially the shelter area was only 8,000 m² (72,000 sq ft.) but it was later extended to 22,000 m² (200,000 sq ft.) 30 m (100 ft) below ground level. During 1943, the J 11s were replaced by J 22s and subsequently by J 21s in 1946. The J 21s served for only three years until 1949 when they were replaced by the J 28B. After yet only two years the J 28Bs were in turn replaced by the J 29. The 29 Tunnan did serve for over ten years until they were finally replaced by the J 34 where some units came from Svea Wing (F 8) and Södertörn Wing (F 18). The squadrons were gradually decommissioned one per year 1967-1969 until the wing itself was decommissioned on June 30, 1969. The airfield later operated as Gothenburg City Airport. It was later closed to commercial traffic in 2015 due to damage to the runway caused by heavy aircraft, and presently serves as a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

airport under the name Säve Airport. The old mountain hangars house the ''Aeroseum'' museum.

Barracks and training areas

The wing was first based at F 7 and from 16 June 1941 on the Säve Airfield at

Hisingen Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus Fortress, Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by t ...

in the

City of Gothenburg Gothenburg Municipality ( or ) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg. When the first Swedish local government acts were implemented in 1863 the City of Gothenburg, founde ...

. The runway system comprised three runways and the wing had two underground hangars; one from 1944 and one from 1955. File:F 9 Säve 01.JPG, Guardhouse and control tower File:Entrance to The Aeroseum (7490297192).jpg, Entrance to the underground hangar File:Saab SH 37 Viggen 37911 001-1.jpg, A

Saab 37 Viggen The Saab 37 Viggen (''The Tufted Duck'', ambiguous with ''The Thunderbolt'') is a single-seat, single-engine multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab AB, Saab. It was the first Canard (aeronautic ...

in the underground hangar File:Berghangar F 9 Säve.jpg,

Saab 29 Tunnan The Saab 29 ''Tunnan'' (''The Barrel''), colloquially also ''Flygande Tunnan'' (''The Flying Barrel''), is an early jet-powered fighter aircraft designed and produced by the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab. It was the second turbojet-powered ...

in the underground hangar in the 1950s

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "The coat of arms of Gothenburg, azure, with waves argent six times divided bendy-sinister argent, charged with a double-tailed crowned lion rampant or, armed and langued gules".

Colours, standards and guidons

The colour of the wing was presented by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf at the Säve Airfield on 13 October 1941.

: "On blue cloth in the centre the badge of the Air Force; a winged two-bladed propeller under a royal crown proper, all in yellow. In the first corner a rampant yellow lion with an open crown." Decor through inserting and embroidery. File:Fana m1939 Göta flygflottilj.jpg, The 1939 colour.

Commanding officers

Commanding officers from 1940 to 1969. The commanding officer was referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander") and had the rank of colonel. *1940–1948: Magnus Bång *1948–1959: Arthur Åhmansson *1959–1960: Åke Mangård *1960–1969: Ulf Cappelen-Smith

Names, designations and locations

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

Web

External links

Webpage listing all air force squadrons in Sweden

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gota Wing Wings of the Swedish Air Force Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1969 1940 establishments in Sweden 1969 disestablishments Hisingen Bunkers in Europe Gothenburg Garrison Disbanded units and formations of Sweden