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The Globe GC-1 Swift, also known as the Globe/Temco Swift, is a light, two-seat sport
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
from the post-
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
period.


Design and development

The Swift was designed by R.S. "Pop" Johnson in 1940, despite the fanciful story which has now entered into popular mythology surrounding the Swift's origin (that a
Culver Cadet The Culver Cadet is an American two-seat light monoplane aircraft, also as a radio-controlled drone, produced by the Culver Aircraft Company. Design and development The aircraft designer Al Mooney developed an improved version of the Culver Dart ...
was obtained as a "template" aircraft). The design was financially secured by John Kennedy, president of the Globe Medicine Company, to be built by his new Globe Aircraft Company.
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
interrupted their plans, however, and the GC-1A Swift advertised as the "All Metal Swift" re-designed by K.H."Bud" Knox, received its
type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
on 7 May 1946. Two prototypes were built but essentially, the design remained the same as the type entered production. Globe built about 408 GC-1As. Later that year, the Swift received a more powerful engine of , making it the GC-1B. Globe, together with
TEMCO The Texas Engineering & Manufacturing Company (TEMCO), also known as Temco Aircraft Corporation, was a U.S.-based manufacturing company located in Dallas, Texas, USA. It is best known for eventually forming part of the conglomerate Ling-Temco-V ...
, built 833 GC-1Bs in six months. Globe's production outpaced sales of the Swift; as a result Globe was forced into insolvency. TEMCO, the largest creditor, paid $328,000 to obtain the type certificate, tooling, aircraft, and parts allowing them to continue production in late 1947 hoping to recoup their losses. TEMCO built 260 more aircraft before ending Swift production in 1951. The type certificate for the Swift was obtained by Universal Aircraft Industries (later Univair) along with all production tooling. Spare parts continued to be built until 1979 when the Swift Museum Foundation under the leadership of President Charlie Nelson purchased the Type Certificate, parts and tooling.


Operational history

The most unusual variant of the series became a separate design, the
TEMCO TE-1 Buckaroo The Temco T-35 Buckaroo (company designation TE-1) was designed in the late 1940s as an extremely low-cost trainer for commercial and military markets. Temco's failure to secure a United States Air Force order for the Buckaroo forced it to turn ...
which was built in a short-run first as a contender for a
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...
contract, and was later transferred to foreign service as a military trainer.Davisson 1983, p. 70. Several of these trainers have since returned to the civil market.


Specifications (GC-1B)


See also


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * Davisson, Budd. "Swiftly, Swiftly: An Appreciation of one of General Aviation's Classic Aircraft." ''Air Progress'', Vol. 45, No. 8, August 1983. * Lert, Peter. "In The Air: Used Singles Guide." ''Air Progress'', Vol. 48, No. 7, July 1986.


External links


The Swift Museum Foundation - holder of the aircraft Type CertificateSpecs & Photo at flugzeuginfo.netGlobe Swift photos at biplanes.de
{{Authority control 1940s United States civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...
Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...
Aircraft first flown in 1942