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"This was one of the finest aircraft that I have ever flown. The responsiveness of the controls and overall handling was exceptionally nice. It was not a high altitude fighter but up to about 5000m (16,000ft) it could hold its own very well. We flew mock dog fights with P-51 Mustangs and they could not catch us below 4000m (13,000ft) but if the fight was higher than that we had to be very careful. At altitudes above 6000m (19,500ft) it was getting sluggish and at 9000m (29,000ft) it was not much power left. Stalls in turns and straight forward were usually not a problem. If you pulled really hard in turn it would sometime flip over on it's back. The first version, the 22-A, did not have much fire power, but the 22-B was better. The -A had 2 7.9mm machine guns and 2 13.2mm machine guns. The -B had 4 13.2mm machine guns. The 13.2mm's were later replaced by 12.7mm's as it was standard for US aircraft, like the Mustang, and we could thus use the same ammunition. My personal aircraft was Blå Adam ( Blue A), s/n 22239. The second aircraft in the picture below.

I remember that the top speed at SL was about 500km/h (310mph) as we often flew down low at full power. We didn't really care much about the limitations that they had put on the engine. If we were going somewhere in a hurry, it was usually full power and away we went!"

"Compared to the J9 and J20 (Seversky/Republic EP1 and Reggiane Re 2000)

it was a dream. If you didn't lock the tail gear for take off, it was very tricky and a few pilots learned the hard way as they would ground loop."

When I asked what aircraft he would compared it to, he replied:

"Of all the aircraft that I have flown, from that time period, I would compare it to the P-51. Of course it did not have the horsepower, armament nor the speed at altitude, but it was fast and agile below 4000m (13,000ft)."

What were the pro's and con's of this aircraft:

"It was very easily maintained and serviced. The mechanics that were used to the J20, basically cut their work load in half. It did not have any complex systems that could malfunction. The stick forces were light, unless you put in in a steep dive, where any aircraft will suffer from heavier controls. The instrumentation was not up to par. It did not even have an artificial horizon, so IFR flying and formation flying in and out of clouds was very difficult."

I have read that you once ended up in a dogfight with a FW 190?

"That is completely wrong. What happened was that I was over Malmö Harbor in a fight in my J22 with a Heinkel 111. He was shooting at me and I was shooting at him, trying to make him leave Swedish territory. I finally got him smoking. He was probably on his way to Copenhagen, but I don't think he made it as he was losing altitude. I saw an aircraft behind me and I thought it was a FW 190 as they also were stationed in Copenhagen and I pulled away as much as I could and was able to lose him. It turned out that it was my wingman. He was a little late taking off so he was rather far behind me. The J22 was very similar to the FW190 so it was difficult to tell them apart. We were really scared of the FW 190. We could probably out-turn them but we really didn't want to try... My wingman was a little angry at me after this incident, but I told him what happened and he understood."

Here is a picture of a FW190F-8/R1 that made an emergency landing at Bulltofta Airport in Malmö. The picture was taken on February 28th 1945. As you can see they are quite similar. The J22 is a J22-A, s/n 22210, from the F13 Wing. (Ref 18).

Julius Hagander, Pilot, 2nd Squadron (2:a divisionen), F10 Wing, Ängelholm

"Compared to the advanced trainer we were used to, the SK-14 (North American NA-16-4M),

It was like a piece of butter in a hot pan, a real hot rod. We flew against P-51 Mustangs and we could easily out turn them, but above 5-6000m (16-19,000ft) it was poor in performance. Once I tried to take it up as high as possible and I reached 13000m (42,000ft) and that was probably the highest anyone ever have flown a J22. It was below the red line of the airspeed indicator so I was basically stalling the aircraft. I was flying off the southern coast of Sweden, over Ystad, and I could see the northern coast of Germany! The throttle had a detent which you could override to get Combat power. I remember when flying as number 2 in a Rote (2 aircraft formation) and if the number 1 was using full power, we often had to go to combat power to keep up, especially in a turn. The regulations said that if we went to combat power, we had to report it and have the engine inspected, but we rarely did as we used it often! It was an aircraft that was very easy to fly. It was a bit sensitive in cross wind take-offs and landings. Some pilots had problems with the narrow wheel base, but I didn't think it was much to worry about.

Julius would later on become a very successful businessman in Switzerland and he sponsored the restoration of "Röd Kalle".

Per Gunnar (PG) Norberg, Pilot, 1st and 2nd Squadron (1:a & 2:a divisionen), F10 Wing, Ängelholm

"In a dog fight with the Mustang or another J22, and being jumped upon, we usually applied full rudder and full elevator. What happened was that the aircraft would enter a massive snap roll and lose speed very quickly and thus we could easily turn away from our opponent. The Mechanics and inspectors told us that we shouldn't do that since it could brake the airframe. I was 19 years old when I first flew the J22. It was a wonderful aircraft. Being so young I had no fear! It was tricky during taxiing as the forward visibility was poor. I started the initial training in the 1st Squadron and one time I taxied in to the empennage of the Squadron commander's J22 and I ended up in the F10 jail for a week! I flew a few different J22's but most of the time I flew "Blå Olov" (Blue O). Every aircraft was an individual and they all had their own characteristics. Some of them would stall rather violently in a hard turn and others would be more gentle. The controls were light. Most of the time you could fly the aircraft with 2 fingers. Up to 3-4000m (10-13,000ft) it could hold its own, even against the Mustang."

A J22 and a J26 (P51) in formation and a picture from the 70's when he was a Captain, flying for Transair Sweden AB.

This picture was taken from a J22 flown by "Julle" Dahlqvist, and the P51-B "Z HUB" is flown by Assar Svensson. This is probably the first encounter with a Mustang. The picture is taken in April of 1945. The Mustang had made an emergency landing and was taken over by the Swedish Airforce. (Ref 18).

From a pilots perspective

Send mail to hlangebro@hotmail.com with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: January 15, 2003

Send mail to hlangebro@hotmail.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: January 15, 2003