The first single-seat Viggen prototype was rolled out on 24 November 1966 and performed its initial flight on 8 February 1967, with Erik Dahlstrom, SAAB's chief test pilot, at the controls. Dahlstrom stated that the Viggen handled as pleasantly as a sportsplane. Pilots would always like the Viggen's handling, particularly in comparison to that of the more challenging Draken, but the steep landings were tricky to master, and even Dahlstrom scraped the tail at least once.
