Globe GC-1 Swift: Difference between revisions
Added field to infobox |
into T35, not from |
||
| Line 18: | Line 18: | ||
|developed from = [[Culver Cadet]] |
|developed from = [[Culver Cadet]] |
||
|variants with their own articles = |
|variants with their own articles = |
||
|developed |
|developed into = [[T-35 Buckaroo]] |
||
}} |
}} |
||
|} |
|} |
||
Revision as of 16:35, 27 April 2011
| Swift | |
|---|---|
| |
| Globe Swift | |
| Role | Civil aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Globe Aircraft/TEMCO |
| Designer | R.S. Johnson |
| First flight | GC-1A Swift: 1942 |
| Introduction | 1946 |
| Number built | 1,521 (including prototypes)[1] |
| Developed from | Culver Cadet |
| Developed into | T-35 Buckaroo |
The Globe Swift (also known as the Globe/Temco Swift), first advertised as the "All Metal Swift", was a light, two-seat sport monoplane of the post-World War II period.
Design and development
Designed by R.S. "Pop" Johnson in 1940, the fanciful story of a Culver Cadet obtained as a "template" aircraft has now entered into popular mythology surrounding the aircraft's origins.[2] The design was secured by John Kennedy, president of the Globe Medicine Company, to be built by his new Globe Aircraft Company. World War II interrupted their plans, however, and the 85 hp GC-1A Swift advertised as the "All Metal Swift" re-designed by K.H."Bud" Knox, received its type certificate on 7 May 1946. Two prototypes were built but essentially, the design remained the same as the type entered production.[3] Globe built about 408 GC-1As.
Later that year, the Swift received a more powerful engine of 125 hp, making it the GC-1B. Globe, together with TEMCO, built 833 GC-1Bs in six months. Globe was outpacing sales of the Swift, however, and did not have enough orders to sell all of the aircraft being built. As a result Globe was forced into insolvency. TEMCO being the largest debtor paid $328,000 to obtain the type certificate, tooling, aircraft, and parts to enable them to continue production in late 1947, in the hope that reviving production would enable TEMCO to recover their loss[4]. TEMCO went on to build 260 more aircraft before shutting Swift production down permanently in 1951.
The type certificate for the Swift was obtained by Universal Aircraft Industries (later Univair) along with all production tooling. Spare parts continued to be built until 1979 when the Swift Association under the leadership of President Charlie Nelson was approached to take over the operation.[1]
Operational history
The Globe/TEMCO Swift has seen many modifications. It began life with an C-85 (85 hp) engine driving an Aeromatic wooden propeller. Within a year the engine was upgraded to a C-125, again turning an Aeromatic propeller. Performance had been marginal with 85 hp, and only moderate with 125 hp, so many owners have installed more powerful engines, such as 145 hp, 150 hp, 160 hp, 180 hp and even 210 hp. Combined with upgraded cowlings, canopies and variable pitch propellers, an upgraded Swift can look startlingly modern, and give many of today's best sport planes a run for their money.
The most unusual variant of the series became a separate design, the TEMCO TE-1 Buckaroo which was built in a short-run first as a contender for a USAF trainer aircraft contract, and later ended up in foreign service as a military trainer.[5] Several of these trainers have since returned to the civil market.
The data below came from the Swift type certificate. Later modifications would result in alterations to these specifications.
Specifications (GC-1B)
Data from Flugzeuginfo.net[6] Type Certificate Data Sheet No. A-766 [7] & The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage[8]
General characteristics
- Crew: one
- Capacity: one passenger
- Length: 20 ft 10 in (6.35 m)
- Wingspan: 29 ft 4 in (8.94 m)
- Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
- Wing area: 132 sq ft (12.3 m2)
- Airfoil: Root NACA 23015, Tip NACA 23009
- Empty weight: 1,370 lb (621 kg)
- Gross weight: 1,710 lb (776 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Continental C-125 six cylinder, four-stroke aircraft engine, 125 hp (93 kW)
Performance
- Cruise speed: 122 kn (140 mph, 226 km/h)
- Never exceed speed: 161 kn (185 mph, 298 km/h)
- Range: 1,000 nmi (1,200 mi, 1,900 km)
- Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
- Rate of climb: 700 ft/min (3.6 m/s)
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
References
- Notes
- ^ a b Davisson 1983, p. 71.
- ^ Davisson 1983, p. 67.
- ^ Davisson 1983, p. 69.
- ^ Aviation News volume 7. 1947.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Davisson 1983, p. 70.
- ^ "GC-1 Swift." flugzeuginfo.net. Retrieved: April 17, 2010.
- ^ "Type Certificate Data Sheet No. A-766." airweb.faa.gov. Retrieved: April 17, 2010.
- ^ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage." ae.uiuc.edu, October 2007. Retrieved: April 17, 2010.
- Bibliography
- Davisson, Budd. "Swiftly, Swiftly: An Appreciation of one of General Aviation's Classic Aircraft." Air Progress, Vol. 45, No. 8, August 1983.
- Lert, Peter. "In The Air: Used Singles Guide." Air Progress, Vol. 48, No. 7, July 1986.
External links
