SE-JIR

Information

This aircraft was constructed by Schweizer in 1987. It was delivered to the Swedish Army in July 1987, and given the military registration 05245 and the callsign K-45. It was one of the last machines of a batch of 26 Schweizer 269C's delivered to the Swedish Army between 1982 and 1987. The helicopter type, designated Hkp5B in the Swedish military, was mainly used for flight training and as a light observation platform. All 26 aircraft were based at the AF2 helicopter base in Linköping. They became a part of the Swedish Armed Forces Helicopter Wing in 1999, when the helicopter units of the Army, Air Force and Navy, was united to a communion organisation.

K-45 was retired in 2003, as the Hkp5B helicopter system was liquidated. The task of selling K-45 and eight of her sisters was given to Rotor Konsult i Borlänge AB. Six machines were sold to a company in Germany and one was transferred to the Swedish civil aircraft register by Rotor Konsult (registered SE-JHN). This machine, 05245, and her sister 05246, which were the two machines with the least number of flight hours, were purchased by Flygvapenmuseum (Swedish Air Force Museum). The aim was to keep the machines airborne.

A cooperation was opened with the maintenance company Patria Ostermans Aero, which had organized the selling of the first 15 Hkp5's a few years earlier. A restoration project assisted by the Swedish Schweizer dealer, Helicraft AB, followed by a great deal of technical documentation and problem-solving got this machine, 05245, registered as SE-JIR (first machine in the JI-batch) on 2004-05-19.

The sister, 05246, was registered SE-JIS later the same year. The two machines was kept airborne and seen at flight exhibitions all around the country.

The helicopters will probably not be a part of the Swedish Air Force Museum's static exhibition since the museum already has got two older none-flying Hkp5's in their collection.