The first planes
Six years later, Swedes could witness a plane in the air for the first time. In July 1909, Georges Legagneux of France demonstrated his plane in flight above Ladugårdsgärde field in Stockholm. At almost the same time, Carl Cederström , a Swedish baron, automobile distributor, and more, found himself in Cologne, observing flights by Louis Blériot of France. Cederström became so interested that he travelled to France to learn how to fly, and bought a plane. In 1910, he returned to Sweden as the first Swede with aviator’s credentials.
Malmen – Cradle of Swedish Aviation
In June 1911, when Cederström visited Malmen, the training field of the Östgöta Regiment, to demonstrate his plane, the whole population of Linköping turned out to witness this event. As the Army and Navy needed to train pilots for their new flying units, Cederström began a school of aviation at Malmen, in 1912.
Prelude to a air force museum
The Swedish Air Force was formed in 1926, and air squadrons were established all over Sweden. The Royal Östgöta Air Squadron at Malmen received the designation F 3. Aviation technology has developed rapidly throughout the 20th century. The forward-looking squadron leaders at F 3 - Gösta von Porat and Hugo Beckhammar, through persistence and unyielding effort, created the basis of a museum collection that would be able to depict the development of the Air Force.
The local business community, including Saab and CVM (Centrala Verkstaden Malmslätt), also contributed information, material, time and money to build up the aviation history collections. The Municipality of Linköping also provided its support by constructing a storage facility in the Ryd area of Linköping. In 1967, the collections were opened to the public. The showings were organised by the Östergötland Society for Aviation History (ÖFS), which had promoted the creation of an air force museum at Malmen.
The Swedish Air Force Museum – a state museum
In 1977 the Swedish Air Force Museum was established as part of the government agency known as the National Swedish Museums of Military History (SFHM). The first exhibition hall of the present museum building at Malmen in Linköping was dedicated by His Majesty, King Carl XVI Gustaf in March 1984. In 1989, Prince Bertil dedicated the second hall.
In June 2010, the Air Force Museum was rededicated after its largest and most sweeping expansion. From that time on, we have been a museum of cultural history open to everyone, with exhibitions such as Sweden during the Cold War, focusing on the salvaged DC-3.