Þørgautssøn Eldfågel

The Eldfågel in Svierish service, designated as the Lättviktigjørðøverfjalljetfly LJØJF m/1969

## Specifications

### Sevice ceiling

42,000 Feet

The Þørgautssøn Eldfågel, or Simply Eldfågel (Firebird), is a light ground attack and trainer aircraft developed in the mid 1960s. the Eldfågel was introduced as a ground attack trainer in the late 1960s, but later saw combat operations as a counter insurgency aircraft.

## Development

in the early 1960s the Svierish army and air force were interested in obtaining a new jet powered trainer aircraft for ground attack. The Þørgautssøn Aviation Firm stepped forward and presented a light, economical 2 person trainer aircraft to fit the order. after the military had evaluated the aircraft, they formed a list of improvements they wanted be made, this list included:

* Stronger wings.
* 4 weapon hardpoints on each wing.
* Increased fuel capacity for greater endurance.
* A 7.2mm machine gun in the nose.
* Enhanced communication equipment.
* Stronger landing gear for field operation.

These improvements nearly doubled the weight of the aircraft loaded, in addition the aircraft would now need to carry significant arms payloads. For this the aircraft's engines were upgraded to a pair of Magnåsøn T60/D turbojets, providing a greatly increased 5720 lbf total.

The improved prototype first flew in August 1962 but before take off a mechanical transport safety hadn't been disabled, and the pilot was unable to control the aircraft and made an extremely rough landing in the field at the end of the runway. There were no injuries, however the prototype suffered extensive damage to the landing gear, belly, and some to the wing spars. the prototype was repaired and the landing gear was minorly improved to be better suited to rough fields, and in October the plane made a 2nd test flight. This flight went without issue, lasting 19 minutes before landing. While the test went without issue, the aircraft didn't perform well, the pilot commented on it having extremely sluggish maneuverability, describing it as "Like flying a cinder block."

After many improvements and further test flights, in May 1964 the new aircraft was presented to the air force. The air force was quite pleased with the aircraft on their preliminary evaluation, and ordered 29 of them for an extended trial. By the end of the trial in November, the air force was very happy with the aircraft as a trainer and even as a combat aircraft in certain roles. The military was preparing to order full production of the aircraft for adoption, however in January 1965 there was a budget cut to the military and the funds for this new trainer were no longer available. as a result the program was out on a long term hiatus until funds to resume became available. During the hiatus Þørgautssøn offered the aircraft on the open market, but no significant purchases of the aircraft were made at this point. In September 1968 the Svierish military once again had the funds to purchase their new trainer, the order was placed in October, and the aircraft was formally adopted in January 1969.

## Operational History

### Peravlizan Service

Initially the Peravlizan Airforce purchased roughly 28 of the aircraft, all 28 aircraft served under 3 close air support wings. Following the rise of Mésolmos Avição in Peravliza, the new company purchased a license for production of the aircraft in 1986. Mésolmos Avição produced a further 35 aircraft under the license, the production of aircraft remained limited due to Peravlizan's Aviation Industry Scandal, where it was cited that Mésolmos Avição was producing too many aircraft (Mostly under license) which fulfilled the same role.

In 1993, civil war broke out in Peravliza once more, which saw the aircraft being put to their first major combat role. During the war all 43 aircraft preformed amazingly in the CAS role, however by 1995, communist and fascist insurgencies had acquired Marnin and Sayik made SAM and MANPADS systems. This caused the aircraft's effectiveness to come into question as within 3 months of insurgents getting modern anti air systems, 12 of the 43 Eldfågels were downed. After further investigation by Peravlizan forces, it was found the aircraft was not at fault, but simply doctrine and usage of the aircraft by the Peravlizan Airforce. After reevaluation and retraining of pilots, the plane had only lost a further 3 to AA in the following two years. To make up for the losses, Mésolmos Avição started production lines back up to manufacture a further 12 to make up for the 15 lost.