JAS 39 Gripen in Detail
Front fuselage

n by Martin Waligorski

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This picture offers a good view of the nose detail with prominent colorful stencils. The <FARA mark means Danger as is commonly seen on all jet types of the Swedish Air Force. Note that it is a... decal: you can see the edges of the carrier film!

Close-up of the jet intake on the port side with FOD (Foreign Object Damage) cover in place.

A better view of the intake's aerodynamic design. Note the <FARA mark in the newer low-visibility form (this one appears to be painted).

The canard wing on parked aircraft can most often be seen just in the position shown - slightly dropped. Check other photos on this page!

Port side of the front fuselage looks quite busy with the canard wing and several smaller details below, most prominent being formation flying lights in form of white rectangles, and a position light (red on port side, green on starboard). 

The twin air outlets behind the cockpit lead out the used air from the cockpit air conditioning and cooling system for electronics.

Note also the bare metal plate at the wing root. 

A grainy photograph... nevertheless an important one, as it shows the installation of Mauser BK27 27 mm calibre cannon in a fairing under the port side of the fuselage. The opening in the middle is a spent cartridge chute.

Of other things, the round opening behind the blade antenna is a landing light integrated into the undercarriage cover - more about it later.

Another, more recent photo shows the same BK27 cannon fairing and everything else  on the fuselage underside. An interesting detail is the armament pylon under the starboard jet intake, not present on the previous photograph. Most recent photographs of operational machines show this pylon.

This photo again shows much of the detail mentioned before: <FARA mark as a decal, formation flying lights, green position light, and an armament pylon under the jet intake.

The ground crew member is attaching (or detaching) a fuel hose. The open hatch above the fuel port contains fuel control panel. Should you plan to make a re-fuelling diorama, don't forget the yellow cable in the front... it is a electrical ground cable which prevents an unpleasant surprise of static discharge during the process.

As can be seen, all interior surfaces are covered with the same yellow-green primer.

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