Fjällbäck’s  Näktergalen (Nightingale) or ”Bastarden”, 1914-1916

Page 1 (1)

A young aviator and engineer educated by Blériot in France, Lars Fjällbäck, designed in 1913 an aircraft which got the name ”Näktergalen” (Nightingale). It was manufactured at Svenska Aeroplanfabriken, a small enterprise owned by Fjällbäck and his friends Tord Ångström, Allan Jungner and Gösta von Porat. All of these four young men made later  careers in the Swedish military and civil aviation.

Fjällbäck's design made its maiden flight in the spring of 1914. Test pilot was Tord Ångström. During the summer the aircraft was used for in marketing campaign for a famous Swedish toothpaste. When the WWI broke out in August, the aircraft was sold to the Swedish Army Aviation in 1914 and used as a trainer and as a target aircraft. The common name of the aircraft was ”Bastarden”, in English ”the Hybrid”,  because it incorporated features from several well-known types of contemporary aircraft. In 1916, the aircraft was taken out of service due to wear.

The fuselage was constructed by welded steel pipes. The forward part was, as can be seen on the photo, covered by aluminium plating. Otherwise the fuselage and the wings were covered by grey linen canvas.

”The Hybrid” was fitted with a 50 hp Gnome engine and was capable to reach 100 km/h.

At the underside, you can see the blue-and-yellow roundel and the black “S” that preceded the crown-marking.

Length:  7,3 m. Span: 8,8  m.  Maximum take-off weight: 390 kg. Max. speed: 100 km/h.

Updated 2009-05-13