The Saab 90 Scandia was a civil passenger aircraft, manufactured by Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB), in Linköping, Sweden. In 1944, as it became clear that hostilities in Europe (World War Two) would soon end, SAAB realised that the company had to diversify from purely military endeavours if it were to survive. The board therefore decided to manufacture a twin-engined, short- to medium-haul passenger aircraft, as a successor for the Douglas DC-3.
The design of the 90 Scandia was quite similar to the DC-3. The most distinct visible difference was that the 90 had tricycle landing gear while the DC-3 had a tailwheel. The Scandia also had a quite different vertical stabilizer shape, and numerous more subtle differences. The 90 had to compete with the many surplus DC-3s available on the market at the same time, making sales difficult.
Michael Magnusson has gathered all available information from first-hand sources and compelled this beautiful book illustrated with photographs and colour profiles.
