Swallow LT65
Prototype American trainer aircraft of 1940
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Swallow LT65 or LT-65 was a trainer aircraft marketed by the Swallow Airplane Company in 1940.[1] Swallow purchased the prototype from its builder, Dale Aircraft,[2] but was unable to start manufacturing it before the demands of wartime production changed priorities for the company.[2][3] This was Swallow's final attempt to produce an aircraft.[4]
| LT65 | |
|---|---|
| |
| General information | |
| Type | Civil trainer |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Swallow Airplane Company |
| Designer | Harold Dale |
| Number built | 2 |
| History | |
| First flight | 1938 |
Design
The LT65 was a conventional, low-wing-monoplane with seating for the pilot and instructor in tandem, fully enclosed under an extensively glazed canopy.[5] The wings were braced to the fuselage by struts and wires, and by wires to the main units of the fixed, tailwheel undercarriage.[5] Those units were fully enclosed by large spats.[5] Power was supplied by a piston engine in the nose driving a tractor propeller.[5] It had a conventional tail.[5]
The fuselage, empennage, and center sections of the wings were constructed from welded steel tube, and the wing outer panels had spruce spars and ribs.[5][6] The whole aircraft was covered in fabric.[5]
Development
Although Swallow's marketing of 1940 described the LT65 as "new" and "no re-hash of an old model",[7] they had purchased the manufacturing rights and the prototype from the Dale Aircraft Company of Pomona, California,[2] The Dale Aircraft Company logo is partially visible on Swallow's promotional picture of the type.[7]
The first iteration of the design, the Dale A, registration NX18972 (later, NC18972) was powered by a 40-horsepower (30 kW) Continental A-40 engine.[a][2]
When the 50-horsepower (37 kW) Menasco M-50 engine became available, designer Harold Dale built a second prototype to take advantage of it.[2] This was called the Dale Air-Dale M-50,[2][9] registration NC21736,[2] and Dale entered a business partnership with George M. Frohlich and Roland J. Brownsberger to market it.[2][9] It was offered in open-cockpit and canopied versions.[6]
Swallow bought this second prototype and the manufacturing rights to the design, hoping to market it to flying schools with a more powerful 65-horsepower (48 kW) Continental engine,[2] dual controls, and provision for dual flight and engine instruments.[5] It was marketed as being easy to fly, maintain, and overhaul.[5] In 1941, Swallow was preparing for production of the type in a new factory with 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of floorspace.[10] However, the outbreak of World War II disrupted the civil aviation market, and diverted resources and manufacturing capacity.[2][3][4] Swallow never sold any LT65s,[2] and spent the war years training aircraft mechanics[3] and manufacturing components for Boeing bombers.[4]
Variants
- Dale A
- First prototype, with Continental A-40 engine
- Dale Air-Dale M-50
- Second prototype, with Menasco M-50 engine
- Swallow LT65
- Second prototype offered for sale by Swallow with a 65-hp engine
Specifications (LT65)
Data from Swallow Low-Wing Trainer 1940, p.113
General characteristics
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Capacity: one instructor
- Length: 21 ft 9 in (6.63 m)
- Wingspan: 27 ft (8.2 m)
- Height: 6 ft (1.8 m)
- Wing area: 126.6 sq ft (11.76 m2)
- Empty weight: 650 lb (295 kg)
- Gross weight: 1,200 lb (544 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Continental four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, air-cooled piston engine, 65 hp (48 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 115 mph (185 km/h, 100 kn)
- Cruise speed: 100 mph (160 km/h, 87 kn)
- Range: 350 mi (560 km, 300 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,700 m)
- Rate of climb: 600 ft/min (3.0 m/s)