Aircraft photography and aviation in general is my hobby, my passion. Why? Since my childhood I like traveling a lot and traveling can also be done in the mind by looking at maps (another of my passions), reading travel magazines and… standing at airports and viewing aircraft arriving from and departing to countries in different parts of the world. But aviation is more, its the technology, the fascinating history and of course the people behind all this. With a camera it is possible to capture unforgettable moments, a powerful take off as well as an atmospheric sunrise at the runway. Planning an outstanding shot can just be done to a certain point, everything can change within minutes, wind direction, clouds, unexpected aircraft… There is a tension that is kept up until the final „click“. Perhaps that’s the thing that keeps spotters going, the worst and best moments are often just inches apart.
So you may ask now, why in hell do you like Saab aircraft? Nothing special about, no 777 huge engines, no A380 size, just a boring commuter turboprop aircraft. But… at the time of development a milestone for Saab, the 1st commercial aircraft in its history after 30 years built from scratch. The difficult search for a partner needed for such an adventurous project. Thousands of decisions to be made together with the partner found in the American company Fairchild. The difficult time when Fairchild drew out of the project. The 1st aircraft to be certified by the European JAR 25 (joint code of airworthiness). All together an exiting history of an airliner, a fast one by the way, travelling at a „jet“-speed of 665 km/h making the Saab 2000 one of the fastest turboprop aircraft in the world.
I simply like the Saab 340 and 2000, its design, its history… Unfortunately production was ceased in the 1990s. Cheap aviation petrol and a general reservation from the passengers against turbo prop aircraft were the main reasons for decling orders. There are still a few hundreds of Saabs in operation. More and more Saab 340 are converted to cargo aircraft today.
Many Saabs still wait to be captured on a nice pic, so get out and try to get a shot! When the last Saab is scraped it will be too late!
If you have any questions, suggestions… please do not hesitate to contact me.