First Hungarian Gripen roll-out

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Roll-out ceremony of the first Hungarian Gripen in Sweden today. The aircraft had no. 30 on nose and was painted “air force two-tone grey”.
The first five Hungarian pilots arrived to Sweden on Monday for training at F 7 Wing at Såtenäs. Second group will arrive in 2006. The Hungarian technicians coming to Halmstad, Sweden in April.

Links:
http://www.gripen.com/5.1c8ef5610195e08e997fff1215.html
http://svt.se/content/1/c6/32/24/13/rollout.ram
http://www.corren.se/archive/2005/1/25/i0rcykja31esdw9.xml?category1=1096984640-22&

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Cool bit of info!

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Very interesting. Thanks for the info.

Regards, Rick

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According to an eye-witness on Swedish Aviation Historical Society (SFF) Forum http://f16.parsimony.net/forum28824/messages/14125.htm, the Hungarian Gripen was painted with a fake canopy under the nose (like Canadian Hornets). At the fin there was the Hungarian national marking and the text HUNAF and below that 59th TFW.
The aircraft is the first of fourteen to be based at Keskemet. Serial no. 39301. According to the forum eye-witness nobody could explain the number 30 in the nose. At the nose there was also a low-viz panther (?) and a Hungarian text.
The aircraft will make its first flight in the middle of March.

5

Looks a beauty, just like the first Czech one. I can’t wait to see how the South Africans paint theirs up.

I suppose the “30” on the nose is simply the tactical number as was so common on the noses of Warsaw Pact aircraft during Socialism. The Czech Gripens carry four digit tactical numbers on their noses. I suppose some things will never change.

As for the panther, thats the unit marking. I have the Verlinden “Lock On” book of the MiG-21 MF and it features almost exclusively photos of that unit’s MiG-21s. There was a picture of a pilot getting suited up and he had a shoulder patch that was red and white with a panther head in it. After the MiG-21 was retired from Hungarian service, that unit transitioned onto the MiG-29, I’ve seen a few photos of their Fulcrums that had the red and white panther head marking on the vertical stabilizers above the national markings.