Saab 340 / 2000 - крылатые маршрутки

Video from the channel SkyShips about Saab 2000, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 14:52. Video type: Documentary.

Documentary about the Saab 340 and Saab 2000 regional turboprops: their origin in the partnership with Fairchild, their design, their evolution and the end of their production.

In the 1970s Saab wanted to relaunch its civil branch with a roughly 30-seat turboprop regional airliner, amid the oil crisis. In 1980 it partnered with Fairchild Aircraft, which handled the wing, engine nacelles and tail surfaces, while Saab built the fuselage, the fin and systems integration, with final assembly in Linköping. The SF 340 reached the market in 1984 with Crossair as the launch customer. After Fairchild's withdrawal it was renamed Saab 340, and in 1989 the 340B arrived, of which about 200 were built. The Saab 2000 flew in 1992 and was certified in 1994, and in 1995 the 340B Plus appeared. Falling fuel prices and regional jets crushed demand: in 1997 the end of production was announced, and in 1999 the last 340, number 459, and the last 2000, number 63, rolled out.

The 340 used two General Electric CT7 engines of about 1,735 hp, 1,870 hp in later versions, with four-blade propellers, reaching about 500 km/h and carrying 34 to 36 passengers in a cabin 216 cm wide, with a range of up to 1,700 km. The 2000 stretches the fuselage by 7.5 m, grows from 13 to 22 tonnes and fits two 4,152 hp Rolls-Royce AE 2100P engines, reaching 680 km/h, up to 9.5 km altitude, a 2,860 km range and active noise and vibration suppression. By early 2020 around 200 aircraft remained in service, almost all of the 340 model.