Laird Swallow

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Laird Swallow
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Type: Light aircraft
Design country:

United StatesUnited States United States

Manufacturer:

EM Laird Company

First flight:

April 8, 1920

Production time:

1920-1923

Number of pieces:

45

The Laird Swallow is a biplane - light aircraft of the US manufacturer EM Laird Company . The Swallow is considered to be the first commercially available light aircraft in the USA that was not derived from a military design.

history

EM "Matty" Laird was one of the aviation pioneers in the USA. In his hometown of Chicago , Laird had designed and built the Baby Biplane (late 1912), the Boneshaker (1916) and the Laird Model S (1919). The latter was produced in a small series by the EM Laird Company - probably existing since 1919 - at Ashburn Field in Chicago. The Model S was slightly smaller than the later Swallow, but is considered to be its direct predecessor.

In May 1919, the first airfield was built in Wichita, Kansas, after the local Chamber of Commerce bought land. At the same time, the Wichita Airplane Company was founded, in which Jacob M. Moellendick appeared as the main shareholder. He hired Billy Burke as a manager, who in turn brought Matty Laird to Wichita with the promise to build and sell his aircraft there in the future. In December 1919, the Wichita Airplane Company ran into economic difficulties, whereupon Laird bought the bankrupt company for 19,000 US dollars. Laird also brought his designs, equipment and experience to the new company, while Moellendick and Burke each invested $ 15,000 as seed capital. In early 1920 the new EM Laird Company was founded on this basis .

The first aircraft of the new company was a two-mane biplane, which was designed as a three-seater, as was later customary in the USA until the end of the 1930s. The machine was named "Swallow" by the businessman Bill Lassen, who, as an eyewitness, remarked after the first flight on April 8, 1920: "It flies just like a swallow".

The tests showed such good flight characteristics that it was decided to start series production of an initial batch of ten machines immediately. In the summer of 1920, Laird therefore hired more employees to help. Among them was Lloyd Stearman , who was employed as a draftsman with his architectural training. Walter Strobel, Bill Snook (both later to Travel Air ) and Waverley Stearman, the brother of Lloyd Stearman, also joined the Laird company at the same time . When the company's headquarters were relocated from Chicago to Wichita, Charles Laird, EM Laird's brother, had already relocated with parts of the workforce.

The Swallow's flight characteristics differed very positively from the Curtiss Jenny and Standard J-1 , which were otherwise available for private pilots in 1919 and 1920 , so that it quickly achieved great popularity on the still small market. With the financing of the partner Moellendick, the production could be increased from initially one aircraft per month to four aircraft per month within a short period of time. In the fall of 1920, George E. "Buck" Weaver, who had previously worked in his own - not very successful - Weaver Aircraft Company in Lorain, Ohio, joined the company. Weaver took on tasks in the area of ​​demonstrating and flying in new machines and participating in competitions. In May 1921, Walter Beech was hired at Laird for similar tasks . Billy Burke left Laird during the business depression in the fall of 1921 and received a. a. three planes as severance pay. After Beech was hired, there was friction between Moellendick and Weaver, after which Weaver left the company at the end of 1921. In the second half of 1923 there was also an open break between Laird himself and Moellendick in a dispute about future company policy. Matty Laird then left the company and went back to Chicago. As a severance payment, he accepted two planes and $ 1,500 in cash. Up to this point, a total of 43 Swallow had been built, after Matty Laird left, only two more machines followed.

In Chicago, Laird then founded the new EM Laird Airplane Company , while Laird's Wichita company was reorganized and now traded as the Swallow Airplane Manufacturing Company . Beech became responsible for all field services, while Stearman rose to chief designer. Stearman's first assignment was to construct the New Swallow to replace the Swallow.

construction

The Swallow was a three-seater, two-post biplane and equipped with a 90 hp Curtiss OX-5 engine. The two passengers sat next to each other in the front cockpit while the pilot took the rear seat. The fuselage structure consisted of a timber frame, covered with fabric and internally braced with wire. The interchangeable wings also had a wooden structure consisting of a box spar, conventional ribs and wire bracing. The lower cowling had six rows of radiator slots; the cylinder heads of the Curtiss OX 5 V engine were exposed in the air flow. The conventional chassis still used a continuous axle that was technically outdated at the time.

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
crew 1
Passengers 2
length 7.12 m
span 10.98 m
wing depth: 1.47 m
height 2.64 m
Wing Area: 30.10 m²
Graduation: 25 cm
V-position : 1 °
Profile: RAF 15
Empty mass 488 kg
Max. Takeoff mass 795 kg
Landing speed 61 km / h
Top speed 138 km / h
Rise time one hour at 4575 m (only with pilot)
Service ceiling 5180 m
Range 408 km at full power
Engines 1 × Curtiss OX-5 with 90 PS (66 kW)

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Photo of the Laird Model S (accessed July 4, 2019)
  2. ^ John T. Nevill: The story of Wichita Part 1 . In: Aviation Week September 1930, p. 169
  3. ^ A b John T. Nevill: The story of Wichita Part 2 . In: Aviation Week November 1930, p. 292
  4. ^ According to other sources, not until April 1921
  5. ↑ Aviation Week September 15, 1920, p. 119 f.