Copyright 2010 by Brandon Cope

Home Page

Back to Vehicles

Comper C.L.A.7 Swift light sportsplane

The Swift light civilian sporting plane was a 1930 British design. The Swift carried one person and had a high wing (level with the top of the fuselage) supported by a single strut on each side of the body. It was originally fitted with a 30-kW engine but when the 56-kW version appeared, earlier models were refitted with it. The plane was used as a racer during the 1930's. Despite the small size, one was flown from England to Australia in just over nine days in 1930 and another from Madrid to Manila in 1933. A drawback of the plane, other than it's limited payload, was a rather restricted forward view, especially on takeoffs. Sources differ as to how many were built. Forty-one were designed or refitted with the 56-kw power plant. Three or four were fitted with more powerful engines (up to 97-kW) but it's not clear if these were modifications to existing craft or entirely new airframes. Eight Swifts still exist, three of them airworthy.

The Swift uses 2.8 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage.

Subassemblies: Recon Plane chassis +2, Recon Plane Wings +2, three fixed wheels +0.
P&P: 56-kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 56-kW old prop and 19-gallon standard fuel tank [Body].
Occ: 1 XCS Cargo: 1 Body

Armor

All: 2/2 C

Statistics

HT: 8
HP:  15 [body], 25 [each wing], 2 [each wheel]
 

Design Notes
Design aSpeed was 105 mph. The historical speed has been used, as well as the actual wing area (90 square feet). Loaded weight was increased 15%. The design has 7 VSP of space left but this should be ignored.