Plum Island grew into a happening place while I was there. When I first got the Swift I was able to get hangar space for that winter, cheap too. At some point that winter I was told no more hangar, all three had been rented to an airplane restoration company owned by Girt Frank. I decided to remove the wings and trailer the plane to my body shop for a new paint job. Girt Frank set up shop and specialized in restoring Tiger Moths imported from England. While working on the Swift I added gull wing doors, rear side windows, rear seat, new radio, and overhead console with eyeball vents. We got the first batch of Imron paint from Dupont, expensive with no labels. During the next few years Dick Hordan's Air Plum Island added a Stearman biplane and Switchzer glider to its air plane rides stable in addition to their Cessnas 206 and 172. Wayne Mansfield relocated his banner towing and skywriting business to Plum Island. The FBI guys began parking their confiscated airplanes there as well. One was a '58 Cessna 310 that did a few Sky King buzz jobs. Actor, Cliff Robertson's ME 108 got fully restored there along with several Tiger Moths for the movie Battle of Britian.

We brought the Swift back to the airport in late spring. A few months later a new Swift showed up, it was Don Ackerman's. We started flying together and ran into Pete Molinari one day at the Lawrence airport resturant. He had just bought it and was flying out of Duttin's airport in Haverhill. Soon the three of us started flying together. Don and I used to leave Plum Island together and meet Pete in the air over Lawrence and form up and go places in a group, which soon developed into a close formation. We would fly together to many places around greater New England. We often would encounter other Swift owners and recruit them into our gaggle for the afternoon. We organized the New England Swift Association with our new friends from Lawrence, North Central RI, Fitchburg, Orange, Gardener, Athol, Worcester, Plymouth, Minuteman, etc. One guy from the Fitchburg area was Paul Lavin who flew Corsairs off the carrier Ticondaroga. His Swift was painted dark blue and bore Ticondaroga markings. His friends told us his plane had an aresting hook when the plane was first painted. Pete Molinari, one of the 3 musketeers, chummed up with paul for a couple of months one summer. Instead flying with Don and I he went flying with Paul. When he returned we noticed a change in his landing approach and the way he parked his plane. His landing approach became carrier type, a low sweeping arc from downwind, in other words not the safer, square, downwind, base to final type that the rest of us flew. The way he parked was like an old pro that flew several sorties per day. For a kick the old pros would kill the engine just as they throttled up to swivel the tail around, the trick was to have the prop stop when the plane stopped turning. Needles to say this became the new standard for Don and I.

We all remained connected and had several fly-ins at Plum Island. On one occassion eight or nine of us met at Fitchburg MA. Such a large airport, we did a formation take off, memorable. I was in the middle and had someone's prop and/or tip wash. Having horsed it off early I nearly lost it. It took full aileron against the stops and it was still leaning the other way, but eventually straightened out, obviously.

During one of the Plum Island Fly-in's we chased Dick Hordan flying the ME 108 over the ocean off Plum Island. It must have been quite a site for ocean goer's at the time. He was tough to catch, but we kept closing in, eventually forcing him to split S away from us.

During another Plum Island Swift meet the three of us did a buzz job for our guests. My wife filmed the event. It was one of our 200 mph 10 footers. It was breezy that day with the wind from the west, turbulent, and I hit a bush with my left wing. Never felt a thing but the dent was a great conversation piece afterwards, never mentioned it to the wife. We still have that film and if it's any good I will post it here. They let me lead that day, probably the only time I ever led.

Don and I flew together several times a week since we both lived or worked within a few miles of the airport. On one occasion we got a taste of what it was like for a rookie to fly combat. There were two DC-3s that sprayed the marsh from Hampton to Gloucester and back to Hampton just before dusk, about 6 or 8 miles each way, every two or three weeks. When they flew over the airport they looked low and slow, like easy prey. We decided to go up and chase them. It took two tries. The first attempt was a pitiful miscalculation of speed and timing, they were faster than they looked. We did get to them eventually and flew off their wing tips back to Hampton.

I recorded all of my flying time that first year of flying with Don and Pete in my log book like any good airman should. The next year would see less acurate log book entries. We were getting known around the air waves, channel 122.9 for our antics, and was concerned someone, FAA, might want to see my log. One time we were on our way back from somewhere and someone from Plum Island called and suggested we land elsewhere, not Plum Island, for a while. When we got home we were told the FAA was inspecting all planes for some new sticker indicating a new tax had been paid. Another time we were invited to the air museum at Skyhaven Airport, Rochester, NH and were told it was a fly-in. We were the only ones invited. Guess they wanted to meet us and show us their collection of highly restored antique airplanes. Paul Lavin showed up for that one. He arrive about 1/2 hour after us. He flew the entire pattern doing rolls. When he taxied up to where we were he motioned Pete to come over to his plane. He needed Pete to help him get out of his plane since his right leg was in a cast up to his hip. You'd never know it from watching his rolls.

Specs: Three Piece Wing
Wingspan: 88"
Length: 64"
Weight: 13 - 14.5 lbs. estimated
Airfoil: Symmetrical
Engine: 1.82 Saito TD (4-stroke twin cylinder)

.

Click Image to Make an Inquiry

Swift Kit Developement Progress:

UPDATED: Friday, 11-Apr-2008 17:39:41 CDT

• Wing and tail parts are a done deal, 1 set shipable in stock.
• Wing and fuselage build plans done, 1 set in stock.
• Uploaded build plan pdf file showing modern bubble canopy and original Swift instruments.
• First set fuselage bulkheads laser cutting out for quotes.
• First laser cutting of sandwich bulkheads and spines successful 03/07.
• We plan to build another fuselage w/laser cut parts, check for alignment and build ease, tweak the cad files where necessary, and photograph the build process.
• First set fuse cradle formers developed, laser cut, assembled and tested, to be included in kit. 04/07.
• Illustrated assembly manual- Do fuselage section. 04/07.
• First set preformed fuselage skins developed, formed, and fitted successfully 05/07.

First Laser Cut Fuse Parts

Dash pieces - instrument facia moldings are molded fiberglass. We were also successful in replicating the off-white, ivory color of the originals right into the fiberglass parts. Labeling & placard decals were also produced.
Center gage console is 4 pieces combined with all mounting holes already drilled in all pieces to guarentee perfect alignment for all. Lenses and gage faces will sandwich between last 2 layers, very similar to full scale construction. Bottom part in dash pic below is new old stock original Globe Swift lower facia purchased in 1974 used to reproduce 1/4 scale molded fiberglass parts. We had all 3 original Swift facia moldings to use for this purpose. While we were at it we had the windshield molding laser cut also.

Balsa core Fuse bulkhead laminate close-up. Note "F2B" part id etching, not uncommon, but we have exploited this etching capility to assist the builder to achieve perfect alignment at a glance throughout the entire process. Note the etch aid above the large spine cut-out.

Balsa core Fuse laminate Part number F2B
All bulkheads from firewall adjacent to rear of cabin are laminated. Firewall is 1/4" aircraft grade plywood. Testing showed laminate to be much stronger than lite ply when compared with similar weighing parts.

Laser Cut Fuse Parts Dry Fit, No Glue, 4 Pins, 1 Clamp, 30 Parts
Meticulously checked all components for alignment.

New Laser Cut Fuse Parts Close Up

New Laser Cut Fuse Parts Close Up
Alignment Excellent.

Aligning Preformed Fuse Skins
Alignment Excellent.

Dash - All parts, gage faces & decals included with the kit Gage Cluster Close-Up Gage Cluster Close-Up. Gage Cluster Close-Up. Windshield Installed, Dash Painted - Simulated Rear Window Gasket (window opening radiused and painted) Currently Working on Reproducing the Scott Tail Wheel (10/07) With a Working Thrust Bearing (pic is authentic Scott assy.) Top: Original Stock Swift Tail Wheel A-frame made by Texas Engineering for Globe Aircraft Co.