The Supermarine Swift was a single-seat fighter-jet of the Royal Air Force (RAF), built by Supermarine. An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ... The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that become famous for producing a range of sea planes and the legendary Supermarine Spitfire fighter. ...

History

The Swift evolved from a number of prototypes, the first being the Type 510, a prototype fighter-jet. It was based upon the Supermarine Attacker, a straight-wing Fleet Air Arm jet, but with swept-wings, and first flew in 1948; a year after the first navalised prototype Attacker had flew. The Type 510 became the first British aircraft to have both swept-wings and a swept-tailplane. The Type 510 also had the distinction of becoming the first swept-wing aircraft to take-off and land from an aircraft carrier, during trials for the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN). However, RN interest soon waned and so Supermarine made a number of modifications to the aircraft to improve aspects of the aircraft's performance. The Supermarine Attacker was a single-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), built by the Supermarine company, and was the first jet fighter of the FAA. The Attacker developed from a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jet project, the E10//44. ... The Fleet Air Arm is the operational group of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Tailplane and rudder of an Me 262 A tailplane is a small lifting surface located behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes. ... The Fleet Air Arm is the operational group of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ...

The second aircraft in the ancestral lineage that led to the Swift was the Type 528, which first flew in March 1950. However, many modifications were subsequently made to its structure soon after its first flight and it was then designated the Type 535. The aircraft made its first flight as the Type 535 in August 1950. The final variant was the Type 541, a pre-production model of the Supermarine Swift, over one hundred of which had been ordered by the Air Ministry who were keen on an aircraft to fall-back on just in case the Hawker Hunter programme turned out to be a failure, as well as an aircraft to replace the Gloster Meteor in the air-defence role. The Type 541 replaced the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine of the predecessors with the Rolls-Royce AJ.65 turbojet engine, which would be produced as the Avon series of engines. The fuselage, which was quite large to accommodate the Nene engine, was not redesigned for the smaller AJ.65 engine, and subsequent Avon engines. Two Type 541s were produced, with the first prototype taking to the sky for the first time in 1951 while the second prototype made its first flight the following year. 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Air Ministry was formerly a department of the United Kingdom Government, established in 1918 with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the (then newly formed) Royal Air Force. ... Sixteen Hunters of the RAF Black Arrows perform aerobatics at the Farnborough Air Show, England. ... The British Gloster Meteor was the first operational Allied jet fighter aircraft of the Second World War. ... The Nene or RB.41, was Rolls-Royces third jet engine to enter production, designed and built in an astonishingly short five month period in 1944, first running on October 27th, 1944. ... Rolls-Royce Limited was a British car and aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls in 1906 and was the result of a partnership formed in 1904. ... Avon Mk. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...

The Swift had been ordered into "super-priority" production, a policy created by Sir Winston Churchill who had become Prime Minister in 1951 during very tense times between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries during the Cold War; the Korean War had begun in 1950. The first Swift production variant was a fighter-jet designated the F.1, with eighteen eventually being built. The first flight occurred in 1953 and it entered service with No. 56 Squadron RAF in February 1954, becoming the first swept-wing RAF aircraft in the process. It had an armament of two ADEN 30 mm cannon and was powered by a 7,500 lbf (33.4 kN) thrust RR Avon 109 turbojet engine. The second Swift variant was the F.2 (sixteen built) and was simply an F.1 with two extra ADEN 30 mm cannons. However, this caused problems; the structure was redesigned to give extra room for the increased ammunition load. The structural modifications caused dangerous handling problems with the aircraft, which would not be resolved until numerous modifications had taken place. The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS (November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965) was a British statesman, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II. At various times an author, soldier, journalist, and politician, Churchill is generally regarded... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... Unofficial Seal of the Warsaw Pact Distinguish from the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement among airlines about financial liability and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the Peoples Republic of Poland. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea  Australia  Belgium Canada  Colombia Ethiopia  France Greece  Netherlands  New Zealand  Philippines South Africa  Thailand  Turkey  United Kingdom United States Medical staff:  Denmark  India  Italy  Norway  Sweden Communist states: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China  Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Number 56 (R) Squadron is one of the oldest and most successful squadrons in the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of the significant air campaigns of both world wars. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Royal Small Arms Factory ADEN is a 30mm cannon used on many military aircraft, particularly those of the British RAF and FAA. Development The ADEN (named for the Armament Development Establishment, where it was designed, and Enfield, where it is produced) was developed in the late 1940s as a... The pound-force is a non-SI unit of force or weight (properly abbreviated lbf or lbf). The pound-force is equal to a mass of one pound multiplied by the standard acceleration due to gravity on Earth (which is defined as exactly 9. ... The kilonewton, symbol kN, is an SI unit of force. ...

Tragedy began to strike early on in the career of the Swift, with a number of accidents occurring with the F.1 and F.2, some ending fatally. Due to these accidents, the F.1 was grounded in August, in the same year it had entered service, while the F.2, which had replaced the F.1 in August as-well, was also soon grounded. The third Swift variant was the F.3, with twenty-five being built and powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon 114 engine with reheat (afterburner). However, it was never taken into service with the Royal Air Force and was used just as an instructional airframe. The next Swift variant was the F.4, which included a variable incidence tailplane intended to correct the handling problems that the Swift suffered from. It did indeed fix the problem, however, it was found that reheat could not actually be ignited at high altitude which added to the problems that the Swift variants suffered from.

All fighter variants of the Swift were eventually withdrawn from service by the RAF, after only a brief time in service, and were replaced by the far more capable Hawker Hunter. Despite this, another Swift was produced, the FR.5 (Fighter-Reconnaissance 5). It had a longer nose to accommodate a number of cameras and had other modifications to its structure. The FR.5 also reverted to the F.1s armament of two ADEN 30 mm cannons. It first flew in 1955 and entered service the following year. It performed its reconnaissance mainly at low-level, thus making the reheat problem at high altitude irrelevant. Unlike its predecessors, the FR.5 wasn't useless and it performed its role very well, being based at RAF Germany during the tense times of the Cold War. The FR.5 was the last Swift variant to enter service with the RAF, and was eventually replaced by the Hawker Hunter FR.10, and left the RAF in 1961. Two further variants were designed; the PR.6 was an unarmed photo-reconnaissance variant. However, it was a short-lived program due to ever-present reheat problems. The last variant was the F.7, and was the first Swift variant to be fitted with guided-missiles, being armed with the Fairey Fireflash air-to-air missile and was powered by a new Rolls-Royce Avon engine. Though about a dozen were built, none ever entered service with the RAF and were used for guided-missile trials. 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Royal Air Force Germany was a command of the Royal Air Force, consisting of those units based in Germany initially as part of the occupation following World War II and later as part of the RAFs commitment to the defense of Europe during the Cold War. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... The Fairey Fireflash was the first British air-to-air missile. ...

The Swift never saw action during her brief time with the RAF, though the FR.5 performed its duty on the doorstep of Eastern Europe, controlled by the Soviet Union during some of the most tense times of the Cold War. It did break a number of speed records in its time, indeed in Libya, in 1953, an F.4, piloted by Commander Mike Lithgow, broke the world absolute speed record, reaching a speed of 737.7 mph (1187 km/h), though it was broken only hours later by the Douglas Skyray, a United States Navy (USN) fighter, which itself proved to be a bit of a disappointment in service with the USN. Under two hundred Swifts were built from an order of just under five hundred. By its last variant, the Swift had sorted out the many problems that had blighted its career, yet the RAF did not persist in keeping the Swift programme running, for it had been superseded beyond reach by the Hunter, and thus ended any possibility for the Swift to prove its worth in roles other than just reconnaissance. Regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked salmon):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium... The Douglas F4D Skyray was a carrier-based fighter built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. ... USN redirects here. ...

Trivia

An early example of the Swift (named the Prometheus in the film) appeared in the 1952 film The Sound Barrier. 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Sound Barrier is a 1952 film directed by David Lean. ...

Operators

• United Kingdom
  • Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

Units using the Swift

• No. 2 Squadron RAF FR.5
• No. 4 Squadron RAF FR.5
• No. 56 Squadron RAF F.1 and F.2
• No. 79 Squadron RAF FR.5

No. ... No. ... Number 56 (R) Squadron is one of the oldest and most successful squadrons in the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of the significant air campaigns of both world wars. ...

Specifications (Supermarine Swift FR.5)

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 42 ft 3 in (12.8 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft 4 in (9.9 m)
• Height: 13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
• Wing area: 328 ft² (30.5 m²)
• Empty weight: 13,435 lb (6,094 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 21,673 lb (9,380 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Rolls-Royce Avon 114 turbojet
  • Dry thrust: 7,175 lbf (31.9 kN)
  • Thrust with afterburner: 9,450 lbf (42.0 kN)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 713 mph (1147 km/h)
• Range: 630 mi (1,015 km)
• Service ceiling: 45,800 ft (13,960 m)

Armament

• 2x ADEN 30 mm cannons and provisions for bombs and rockets

The distance AB is the wing span of this Aer Lingus Airbus A320. ... In aviation, the Maximum Take-Off Weight (or MTOW) is the maximum weight with which an aircraft is allowed to try to achieve flight. ... The Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet was developed by Cyril Lovesey who had previously been in charge of Merlin development at Rolls-Royce. ... Turbojets are the simplest and oldest kind of general purpose jet engine. ... For other uses of afterburner, see Afterburner (disambiguation). ... VNO of an aircraft is the V speed which refers to the velocity of normal operation. ... The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing as limited by its fuel capacity. ... In aeronautics, the service ceiling is the maximum density altitude where the best rate of climb airspeed will produce a 100 feet per minute climb(twin engine) and 50 feet(single engine) at maximum weight while in a clean configuration with maximum continuous power. ...

External links

• British Aircraft Directory entry
• Swift at Thunder and Lightnings
• Picture of a Swift F.Mk.1
• Picture of an early Swift

Related content

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Designation sequence

Supermarine Spitfire - Spiteful - Attacker - Swift - Scimitar The Supermarine Spitfire was an iconic British single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in the Second World War. ... The Supermarine Spiteful was a British Rolls-Royce Griffon-engined fighter aircraft designed by Supermarine to Air Ministry specification F.1/43 during World War II as a successor to the Spitfire. ... The Supermarine Attacker was a single-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), built by the Supermarine company, and was the first jet fighter of the FAA. The Attacker developed from a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter jet project, the E10//44. ... This refers to the aircraft, for other uses see Scimitar (disambiguation) The Supermarine Scimitar was a fighter aircraft in the British Fleet Air Arm. ...