Supermarine Swift

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Swift

The Supermarine Swift is a British single-seat jet-propelled fighter aircraft
that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was developed and
manufactured by Supermarine during the 1940s and 1950s. The Swift featured many
of the new jet age innovations, such as a swept wing. On 26 September 1953, a
Swift F.4 piloted by Commander Mike Lithgow broke the world absolute speed
record, reaching a speed of 737.7 mph (1,187 km/h); thus, the Swift was the
world's fastest aircraft.

After a protracted development period, the Swift entered service as an
interceptor aircraft with the RAF in 1954. However, due to a spate of accidents
incurred by the type, the Swift was grounded for a time, and experienced a
relatively brief service life. These issues with the Swift led to a public
scandal surrounding the aircraft, harming the reputations of the British
government, the RAF, and the aircraft industry.

Ultimately, the less problematic Hawker Hunter assumed much of the intended role
for the type and only half as many Swifts were manufactured as had once been
intended. A later-produced photo reconnaissance variant of the Swift had
resolved some of the teething problems that the type had suffered from, but this
proved to be too late for it to regain favour. An advanced derivative of the
Swift that was to be capable of transonic speeds, the Supermarine 545, was also
under development during the early 1950s; however, in 1955, it was cancelled
principally due to the poor performance of the Swift.

--- During 1945, the Second World War came to a close and a new postwar Labour
government, headed by Clement Attlee, came to power in Britain. The incoming
Attlee government's initial stance on defence was that no major conflict would
occur for at least a decade, and thus there would be no need to develop or to
procure any new aircraft until 1957. In accordance with this policy, aside from
a small number of exceptions such as what would become the Hawker Sea Hawk for
the Royal Navy, the majority of Specifications issued by the Air Ministry for
fighter-sized aircraft during the late 1940s were restricted to research
purposes. Aviation author Derek Wood refers to this policy as being: "a fatal
error of judgement which was to cost Britain a complete generation of fighters
and heavy bomber aircraft".

In part, the Swift has its origins amongst these experimental fighter prototypes
that were developed. Specifically, a number of Supermarine-built prototypes had
been ordered under Specification E.41/46, which had sought the production of an
experimental fighter aircraft furnished with a swept wing. The first of these
prototypes was designated as the Type 510, which was heavily based on the
straight-wing Supermarine Attacker, an early jet aircraft which was procured by
the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy; the principal difference from the
Attacker was that it had been modified with the addition of a swept wing
configuration. During 1948, the Type 510 had conducted its maiden flight, a year
after the first navalised prototype Attacker had flown. This flight made it the
first British aircraft to fly with both swept wings and a swept tailplane. The
Type 510 also held the distinction of being the first swept-wing aircraft to
take off from and land upon an aircraft carrier during trials held for the Fleet
Air Arm.


Role
Fighter

National origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd.

First flight
29 December 1948 (Type 510)

Introduction
1954

Retired
1967

Status
Retired

Primary user
Royal Air Force

Number built
197

Developed from
Supermarine Attacker

Developed into
Supermarine 545

In February 1954, the Swift F 1 entered service with the RAF, No. 56 Squadron
became the first RAF squadron to operate the type; upon its introduction, the
Swift became the RAF's first swept-wing aircraft. The Swift F 2 entered service
that same month; Wood refers to the type's introduction as having been
"panicked", and that this adoption soon proved to be an "abysmal failure".
Tragedy struck very early in the career of the Swift: there were a number of
accidents that involved the F 1 and F 2, one of these being fatal. In August
1954, it was decided that the Swift F 1 would be grounded; the Swift F 2, which
had effectively replaced the F 1 in that same month, was also soon grounded
alongside it due to similar reasons.

The Swift F 3 and F 4 fighters were noted to have improved performance over
their predecessors; the F 4 would be the last variant that the RAF would accept
in the interceptor role. All fighter variants of the Swift were withdrawn from
service by the RAF, after a short time in service, to be replaced by the more
capable Hawker Hunter. While subject to its own problems, the Hunter had quickly
proved to be a successful fighter aircraft. By autumn 1954, the issues with the
Swift had become public knowledge and reports of the pending cancellation of the
Swift were being printed by the national press; Under-Secretary of State for Air
Sir George Ward stated of the aircraft in Parliament that: "Aerodynamic
difficulties have been encountered, and it is not possible to say with certainty
if they can be overcome in version under development".

In early February 1955, the Swift was rumoured to have failed its final
evaluation by the RAF Central Fighter Establishment, and that the type would
likely be restricted in RAF service to aerial reconnaissance or to ground attack
roles as a result. On 2 March 1955, Minister of Supply Selwyn Lloyd acknowledged
that development of the Swift had cost £20 million prior to the scrapping of the
fighter variants. According to Wood, the Swift had become a national scandal by
early 1955, which not only tarnished the aircraft but also the RAF and the
British aircraft industry, the public and ministers alike generally adopting a
more averse nature to aviation and other aircraft projects.

The FR.5 was the last Swift variant to enter service with the RAF and was
eventually replaced by the Hunter FR.10, leaving RAF service entirely in 1961.
The Swift FR 5 was deemed to be suitable for its role and was based with two
squadrons that were assigned to RAF Germany. The Swift never saw combat action
with the RAF. It did break a number of speed records in its time; in Libya, on
26 September 1953, an F.4 (WK198) piloted by Commander Mike Lithgow broke the
world absolute speed record, reaching a speed of 737.7 mph (1,187 km/h), though
it was broken in turn just eight days later by the Douglas Skyray, a United
States Navy (USN) fighter. The Swift has the distinction of being the last
British production aircraft to hold this record (the Fairey Delta 2 was
experimental). Under two hundred Swifts were built from an order of 497. A
number of Swift airframes went to Australia for Operation Buffalo in 1956, being
placed at various distances from a detonating atomic bomb.

By its last variant many of the problems that had plagued earlier Swifts were
resolved but the programme was not continued. The Hunter, performing
satisfactorily in the same roles, removed any requirement to persist with the
Swift.

Specifications (Supermarine Swift FR Mk.5)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 42 ft 3 in (12.88 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)
Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Wing area: 327.7 sq ft (30.44 m2)
Empty weight: 13,435 lb (6,094 kg)
Gross weight: 21,673 lb (9,831 kg)
Fuel capacity: 778 imp gal (934 US gal; 3,540 l) internals with 220 imp gal (260
US gal; 1,000 l) belly drop tank
Powerplant: × Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R (Avon 114) turbojet engine, 7,175 lbf
(31.92 kN) thrust dry, 9,450 lbf (42.0 kN) with afterburner

Performance
Maximum speed: 620 kn (713 mph; 1,148 km/h) at sea level
Range: 547.5 nmi (630 mi; 1,014 km)
Service ceiling: 45,800 ft (14,000 m)
Rate of climb: 14,660 ft/min (74.5 m/s)
Time to altitude: 40,000 ft (12,000 m) in 4 minutes 41 seconds

Armament

Guns: 2 × 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon
Rockets: provisions for rockets
Bombs: provisions for bombs




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