F11 and F11 Museum
F11/Södermanland’s Air Squadron, at Skavsta in Nyköping, was inaugurated on October 15, 1941.
The squadron was a dedicated air reconnaissance squadron. The aircrafts initially included Saab 17, Saab 18, and Caproni (Sweden bought 84 from Italy). In 1948, Spitfire was added (Sweden bought 50 from England). As these planes were of the fighter and attack types, the aircraft technicians at F11 had to construct the camera mounts themselves and find suitable cameras. This knowledge was utilized by Saab on the following aircraft: Tunnan, Lansen, Draken, and Viggen, which all were designed for reconnaissance from the beginning, thus receiving an “S” in their type number. F11 was Sweden’s largest air squadron with about 900 permanent employees during its heyday in the 1950s. Approximately 15,000 conscripts completed their service at the squadron.
After the closure in 1980, the F11 comrades association started. Members collected aircraft parts, pictures, and documents that would have been discarded. On October 15, 1991, the F11 Museum was inaugurated, with intriguing collections of aviation curiosities, instruments, and documentation. It was then housed in the building, which is today’s extended Museum building. Fairly soon came the addition of aircraft – S29 Tunnan and S32 Lansen – that were renovated by the members. The planes stood outdoors. The museum also had the opportunity to incorporate Sweden’s only preserved mobile intelligence platoon, where film developing, photo interpretation, and air control in the field can be demonstrated. In the year 2000, the Airplane Hall was inaugurated, after a few years of construction work by members among others. The planes could finally be moved indoors. The collections soon expanded with S35 Draken and SF37 Viggen. A few years later, the museum had the opportunity to display an American reconnaissance balloon that, on its way to the Soviet, crashed in Lake Yngaren on 1/20 1956.
Today, the F11 Museum is a popular experience center with two flight simulators – Viggen and Cessna.
A third simulator (MU-2, twin-engine jet plane used by Saab for target flying) is planned to be operational at the beginning of 2015. The F11 Museum holds the status of Sweden’s aerial reconnaissance museum. This makes us unique, with visitors from many parts of Europe.