The Bulldog design was a based on the well-known Beagle Pup. The side doors were deleted and instead a sliding canopy was used. The aircraft was three-seated with the seats for teacher and student  placed side-by-side.

The delivery of the 58 aircraft to the Air Force took place in 1971-1972. They were given military registration numbers 61001 - 61058. The Swedish designation of the type became SK 61, with the sub designations SK 61A for the standard unarmed variant and SK 61B for six aircraft that could carry the RB 53 wire-controlled Bantam missile. The missile casing was fitted at the starboard wing tip and the missile was controlled from the starboard seat. The installation of the RB 53 at some of the Bulldogs was sometimes utilized to train AJ 37 Viggen pilots before using the advanced (and much more expensive) RB 05 attack missile. The latter was like the RB 53 controlled by the pilot, although with radio signals.

In 1972-1973, the Army got its 20 Bulldogs. These aircraft were designated FPL 61C and got registration numbers in the interval 61061-61080. This version was mainly intended for liaison and for artillery fire spotting and direction. For this duties it had additional equipment as wire cutter and radio equipment for communication with army units on the ground. The rear windows could be opened for photographing from the air. Skis were delivered to the aircraft that were based in the North of Sweden. As the Bulldog is nose-wheeled, it took several years to solve this problem satisfactory. The nose-wheel and the smaller main wheels required better airstrips than the earlier tail-wheel designs (like the Super Cub).   

In the beginning, the SK 61 was used for basic training at the Air Force Flight Academy (F 5) at Ljungbyhed. The pupils flew about 40 hours in the SK 61 before they began to fly the jet trainer SK 60. In 1987, the training programme was changed. The pupils nowadays start directly with the SK 60 jets. In 1989, the Army transferred their Bulldogs to the Air Force and replaced them with helicopters. FPL 61C now became SK 61C. These two events made of course most of the Swedish Bulldogs supernumerary. Some aircraft were distributed among the Air Force Wings, but the largest part was stored in hangars at Ljungbyhed.

Some SK 61s were equipped with avionics for training of civilian commercial pilots at TFHS (Trafikflyghögskolan – Lund University School of Aviation), also located at Ljungbyhed. These aircraft are designated SK 61D and SK 61E, depending on the equipment installed.  F 5 was disbanded in 1997. A few years later, TFHS had to transfer its Bulldogs to the civil register. 28 aircraft were modified to civil regulations 2000-2001.

Many of the ex. SK 61:s have been sold abroad.

The FPL 61C was powered by a Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 engine, delivering 200 hp.  

Photo above: FPL 61C # 61061 (c/n 179) at Norrköping, 1974-05-11.
Photo below: FPL 61C # 61070 (c/n 188) at Nyge Aero AB, Brandholmen, 1974-05-09

More photos at Trainer Aircraft - SK 61.

FPL 61C: Length: 7,08 m. Span: 10,11 m. Height: 2,73 m. MTOW: 1.065 kg. Max. speed: 261 km/h.