DETLEF BILLIG COLLECTION
No. 9242. Malmö Flygindustri MFI-9B Fpl 801 (801-42 c/n 42) Swedish Air Force
Photographed at Flygvapenmuseum, Linköping, Sweden, by Detlef Billig

Malmö Flygindustri MFI-9B Fpl 801

09/30/2009. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "The MFI-9 was one of the many designs made by Björn Andreasson (1917-1993) from Sweden, and was based on the BA-7. The BA-7 was designed and built by Andreasson in spare time, while working for Convair at San Diego, California, USA, as an assistant design group engineer. The BA-7 flew for the first time on October 10, 1958 registered as N28060.

In 1960 Andreasson returned to Sweden and became Head of the Aircraft Division and Chief Designer at AB Malmö Flygindustri (MFI), his BA-7 became the prototype for the MFI-9 Junior. The first production prototype MFI-9 flew for the first time on May 17, 1961, fitted with an 100 hp Continental O-200 instead of the 75 hp Continental A75 in the BA-7. It was followed by the first production aircraft on August 9, 1962. The type was also produced under license in Germany as the Bölkow BO 208 Junior, the first flew March 30, 1962.

A military development was the MFI-9B Militrainer, with a larger cockpit and reinforced wings to carry pods with machine guns or rockets. In 1966 ten unarmed aircraft were leased by the Swedish AF for evaluation as a trainer, under the designation Fpl 801 (flygplan, aircraft), s/n 801-42 to 801-49,
801-51, 801-52). After a year the aircraft were returned to MFI, as the Swedish AF opted for the larger Scottish Aviation Bulldog as trainer. Five of the returned aircraft (and an additional four) were supplied to the AF of Biafra.

Sold to a privat person, 801-42 came on the civil register as SE-EUK, being resold to Chalmers Flygklub in 1970. In January 1979 it was sold to the Flygvapenmuseum and subsequently finished in the markings it carried while in service with the Swedish AF in 1966-1967."


Created September 30, 2009