When oh when is someone going to take pity on Jonathon Whaley’s part-restored Swift F.7? It has been for sale for ages now, and after so much work was done on it at Hurn, it seems a crying shame that we continue to be denied the chance to see this rare beast in the air.
By: BSG-75 - 6th September 2010 at 19:09
Whoopee. A record held by a one-off variant for a whole week until it was demolished by an aircraft that was actually fit for purpose, the American Skyray, and then by the far more effective F-100. The Swift was the shame of Supermarine, a piece of aeronautical rubbish, an embarassment to the RAF and a pointless waste of taxpayers’ money.
I think thats a bit harsh on Supermarine. The Swift was designed at a time when much was unknown about high speed flight. Designed to take an engine that was never produced it was too wide and sluggish but later showed development potential. Supermarine were (and I don’t quite know why) still working with wartime dispersal of design groups and that caused problems of it’s own. Not an outstanding design by any means, but it had its uses, could have/would have/should have, but taking into mind the “learning curve” of the time, there were other designs that were worse.
By: forester - 6th September 2010 at 18:43
The Swift was the shame of Supermarine, a piece of aeronautical rubbish, an embarassment to the RAF and a pointless waste of taxpayers’ money.
You fail to understand that the Swift was not a one-off type but part of a line of development of types that stretched from the Attacker to the Scimitar. Many innovations were tried out in the many different types in the line. Some were successful, some less so.
One of the attractions of visiting the Farnborough Airshow in the 1950’s, I remember, was to see what Supermarine had been up to during the year. We were rarely disappointed and a new weird and wonderful Type 5xx would duly perform for us, only to be replaced by a 5xy the following year.
The 535 was considered good enough at the time for a back-up order to be placed in case the Hunter failed. We all know now that the Hunter was a huge success. Had it failed we would have had the Swift to cover the gap and a Super-Swift could have appeared very quickly. In the event it wasn’t necessary – but the research and the knowledge that sprang from it was invaluable. I won’t go on to talk about the Scimitar, at the other end of the line, as you’ll probably rubbish that as well.
Please remember that Hawkers were similarly engaged in a long line of type development at the time. Some of those were less successful. The Hunter hit just the right spot.
That’s what development is all about.
By: Troy_Tempest - 18th August 2002 at 20:44
RE: Supermarine Swift
‘Splutter’ 😮 – surely you are not suggesting the Javelin would come out in front of the Swift that we all know and love???!!! :^
By: SADSACK - 17th August 2002 at 10:01
RE: Supermarine Swift
Absolutley, but if it was a choice of swift or Javelin, um sorry. 😉
By: Troy_Tempest - 16th August 2002 at 22:05
RE: Supermarine Swift
It would be a real shame if the Swift was unable to fly again. Whilst it wasn’t a successful aircraft (and I’ve been taken to task more than once for saying that!);-) it is a classic design and a great looking aircraft. Several pilots I’ve spoken too agreed that it was best at low level and the PR role in Germany suited it down to the ground (literally!). Having been involved in the ongoing restoration of WK198 I have a soft spot for the aircraft and would love to see one flying again. It’s just a pity that there are so few of this classic fighter left.
By: alexis_lambert - 14th August 2002 at 19:15
RE: Supermarine Swift
If you go to Jonathon’s website there is a link to it. www.heritageaviation.com
There are a few photo’s of it in service and in storage. When i went to Jet Heritage, i was told that fuselage was ready for final fitting and they were waiting for the wings to be returned from being x-rayed as there was no point carrying on if they were to fail.
By: ageorge - 13th August 2002 at 19:58
RE: Supermarine Swift
Good question !! Jet Heritage had done plenty work to her at Bournemouth , doe’s anybody have any photos of her taken recently ????
By: alexis_lambert - 13th August 2002 at 19:58
RE: Supermarine Swift
As far as i have been able to find out the Swift is such a complex aeroplane that the CAA would never allow it to fly. I had always read that it was a troublesome aeroplane and quite difficult to fly. Then in a conversation with Ray Hanna and he said he found it a much nicer aeroplane to fly than the Hunter, especially low down.
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August 13, 2002 at 2:02 pm