MFI-11

Last time I landed in Landskrona, the gliders were out welcoming the new flying season:

I always go to the hangar first, to look at the aeroplanes. I like all of them, and one of my favourites is the red one. It is an MFI-11, and it has an interesting history:

MFI – Malmö Flygindustri – was founded in 1959 as a subsidiary of Trelleborg Gummifabrik, with Björn Andreasson as a chief designer. It was a small aviation and car company in South Sweden which specialised in small single-engine aircraft and various plastic objects; it was later acquired by SAAB.

Björn Andreasson is also well-known in Denmark, where he contributed to the design of KZ VII and KZ VIII during his work at Skandinavisk Aero Industri A/S in the years after the WWII.

Malmo Forsknings & Innovations AB – also called MFI – was founded by Björn Andreasson after the original MFI. The factory produced 70 of MFI-9 aircraft up to 1970 when production was stopped, because MFI wanted to use its aircraft in Nigerian civil war. The aircraft was then classified as military equipment, and military and civilian governmental agencies put an end to the MFI production in Sweden.

Björn Andreasson later moved on to working for SAAB. He was awarded the Thulin Medal in gold in 1987 for his extraordinary achievements in aviation industry. He became an honourable member of the Svensk Flyghistorisk Förening in 1991.

There were two MFI-9 aircraft left over from the production at MFI, and they were bought in 1980 by two individuals who assembled and built them. These aircraft had call signs SE-XDK and SE-XDM.

The SE-XDK later made a landing on a country road in a tail wind, and got off the road into a ditch where the whole front part of the right side of the fuselage was completely damaged. The owner removed all the vital parts from the aircraft and returned them to MFI. The wreckage laid in storage for years. Håkan Langebro started working for MFI in 1988, and became its chief designer, succeeding Björn Andreasson. He noticed the wreck and began thinking of doing something with it.

In 1991, together with his father Göran Langebro, Håkan started on the project. It took them one year of every(!) day work to finish the project. Håkan re-designed the aeroplane, and the flight test began in August 1992 with Öyvind Pedersen as a test pilot. Only small things had to be fixed, the rest including modification of the engine cooling worked perfect. Håkan finished the test programme on his own, and the aircraft was given the airworthiness certificate. Håkan Langebro flew the SE-XDK till 1994 when he moved to Canada, and sold it in 1996.

On the 4th January 2016 someone intentionally set fire to the Landskrona’s flygklubb and hangar. The club building and five aircraft were destroyed, and the IMF-11 got substantial damages. Today, the SE-XDS is restored and can be seen in Landskrona.

A new club building was raised up. I was invited for a coffee, and had a chance to walk around and see it in detail. It is like a luxury home, well designed and taken care off. Please remember to take your shoes off, when you come in. There are food and drink for purchase for pilots guests, and a relaxation room with the view to the airfield:

Dining area:

Accessories:

Landskrona is a very active airfield: there are gliders, motorised model aircraft, powered aircraft. On the photo below a female pilot is taxiing for a touch-and-go practice:

I took off and did a couple of rounds over Landskrona, unintentionally confusing an air traffic controller who probably thought that I was a bit lost on my way to Denmark, and wanted to help me.