Genesis of the BHT-1 ’Beauty’ SE-ANXOn 7 May 1943 three young engineers sat in the Bacchi Wapen restaurant in Stockholm together with Åke Forsmark, manager of Skandinaviska Aero, and chatted about aircraft. The three were Erik Bratt, Karl-Erik Hilfing and Björn Törnblom, all students at Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, the Royal Technical University in Stockholm. Their ideas gradually evolved into this sketch, on the back of a menu. It was originally meant to be a glider towing aircraft, and by May 1944 the design work was complete, with 4,000 drawings and 2,500 load calculations, performed by Törnblom, the only one of the three who had previous experience in aircraft design. He also designed the wings, fin and rudder. Hilfig was responsible for the fuselage and Bratt worked on the engine installation, propeller and landing gear.
Erik Bratt later achieved fame as the designer of the Saab Draken.
Information board photographed in the Aeroseum, Gothenburg, on 19 December 2013. See also
picture #19762 which is of the aircraft itself.
Picture added on 22 December 2013 at 07:41
