{"id":2462,"date":"2011-04-15T23:19:13","date_gmt":"2011-04-16T03:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=2462"},"modified":"2011-06-18T13:37:13","modified_gmt":"2011-06-18T17:37:13","slug":"uncle-d%e2%80%99s-swift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=2462","title":{"rendered":"Uncle D\u2019s Swift"},"content":{"rendered":"

D was a different kind of pilot. For one, he owned a Globe Temco Swift, powered by a 125-horse Continental. The Swift was a gorgeous airplane; she had tapered wings, a round tail, and pronounced dihedral. I will always remember D telling the story of how he had acquired The Swift.<\/p>\n

It seems that D and his wife were on vacation traveling by car near an airport serving as a satellite to a larger airport in the southeast. Apparently, an airline pilot purchased The Swift about four years before the first time D spied it. Now when D saw this airplane for the first time, he was northbound on his vacation with his wife. He got excited when he saw the airplane.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Globe Swift \/ Wikipedia<\/p><\/div>\n

D is a tinkerer and a man of action. He became even more excited on his trip southbound when he saw the airplane sitting exactly where he saw it on his northbound trip.<\/p>\n

Oh, did I mention the airplane was crashed in a ditch next to the runway at the airport where he found it?<\/p>\n

The airline pilot who bought the airplane four years previously had no tailwheel experience at all. But, as he told the onlookers, he was an ATP and could fly anything. The old codgers with tailwheel experience said, \u201cYa\u2019ll ought not do that.\u201d They advised him to take at least a few laps around the airport with an experienced tailwheel CFI. Oh, how pride goeth before the fall<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Of course, the new Swift owner groundlooped The Swift on the very first attempted take off. He was not hurt other than his pride.\u00a0He got out of the airplane, walked away, and abandoned her where she rested.<\/p>\n

There the airplane sat for four years until D came along and rescued her.<\/p>\n

I will never forget D telling the story of negotiating the deal, taking the wings off the plane, and putting her on a trailer to bring her home. For laughs and giggles, D pulled the bent prop off the engine replacing it with one that was straight. He pulled the engine through a few times, rigged a makeshift gas can, and put a fresh battery in the fuselage. Then he climbed into the airplane as it sat on the trailer.<\/p>\n

\u201cCLEAR!\u201d<\/p>\n

A few had gathered around to watch the shenanigans. There was much laughter and shaking of heads. Most did not expect what happened next.<\/p>\n

D pulled on the starter cable engaging the starter motor. The propeller spun one blade, a second blade, and then burst to life and settled on a nice even 600 rpm.<\/p>\n

Everyone, including D, was surprised. What followed was years of reconstruction that turned The Swift back into one of the prettiest airplanes ever built.<\/p>\n

-30-<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2011 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

D was a different kind of pilot. For one, he owned a Globe Temco Swift, powered by a 125-horse Continental. The Swift was a gorgeous airplane; she had tapered wings, a round tail, and pronounced dihedral. I will always remember … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,8,9],"tags":[42,138,174,223,329,378,1082,1447,1456,1468,1584,1668,1736,1797,1800,1950,2055,2155,2571,2655,2795,2897,3439,3556,3807,3855,4087,4141,4361,588],"class_list":["post-2462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation","category-flying-2","category-life-in-general","category-personal","tag-125-horse-continental","tag-a-different-kind-of-pilot","tag-a-man-of-action","tag-a-tinkerer","tag-airplanes","tag-an-airline-pilot","tag-d","tag-flight-training","tag-florida","tag-flying","tag-friends","tag-globe-temco-swift","tag-groundlooped","tag-he-could-fly-anything","tag-he-was-an-atp","tag-inexperienced-pilots","tag-judgment","tag-learning-to-fly","tag-no-tailwheel-experience","tag-one-of-the-prettiest-airplanes-ever-built","tag-pilots","tag-professional-pilots","tag-taildraggers","tag-the-airplane-was-crashed","tag-the-old-codgers","tag-the-shenanigans","tag-uncle-ds-swift","tag-vacation-traveling-by-car","tag-years-of-reconstruction","tag-yall-ought-not-do-that"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t