The Comper C.L.A.7 Swift is a British single-seat sporting aircraft designed and produced by the

Comper Aircraft Company The Comper Aircraft Company Ltd was a 1930s British light aircraft manufacturer. It was based at Hooton Aerodrome, Cheshire (1929–1933), and Heston Aerodrome, Middlesex (1933–1934). History In April 1929, after leaving the Royal Air Force ...

. It was the company’s first aircraft. The Swift was designed shortly after

Nicholas Comper Nicholas Comper (29 April 1897 – 17 June 1939) was an England, English aviator and aircraft designer, whose most notable success was the 1930s Comper Swift monoplane racer. Early life Nicholas Comper was born in Lambeth, London, England, the ...

’s departure from the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

to focus on the project. It was designed to be an affordable and compact aircraft that was capable of equivalent performance to that of typical twin-seat light aircraft of the era. The prototype aircraft performed its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...

during January 1930; quantity production proceeded shortly thereafter. The majority of aircraft produced were powered by the Pobjoy P

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

. It proved to be a relatively successful long distance touring aircraft, conducting multi-day flights to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

amongst other destinations. The Swift gained particular notoriety for its participation in various

air race Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a pre ...

s, regularly proving itself to be competitive. One aircraft, owned by the then-

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

and future

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

, won second place in the 1932

King's Cup Race The King's Cup air race is a British handicapped cross-country event, which has taken place annually since 1922. It is run by the Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association. The King's Cup is one of the most prestigious prizes of the ...

. It continued to be appear in air races, particularly those held in Britain, through to the mid-1950s.

Development

In March 1929, Flight Lieutenant

left the

and formed the

with the purpose of building an aircraft that he had designed, which he named the ''Comper Swift''. Prior to this, Comper had designed and flown three aircraft for the Cranwell Light Aeroplane Club, these being the C.L.A.2, C.L.A.3 and C.L.A.4. The Swift would most closely resemble the C.L.A.3, but represented a considerable advance on this aircraft in terms of its performance, controllability, comfort, and appearance.NACA 1930, p. 1. A key design goal set by Comper for the Swift was to minimise the presence of blind spots, a factor that had undermined the prospects of countless aircraft that were otherwise ideal.NACA 1930, p. 2. This principal of prioritising optimal external visibility for the pilot dictated many attributes and characteristics of the aircraft, such as the placement of the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

aft of the high-mounted wing. This in turn necessitated the use of a relatively lightweight engine in order to maintain appropriate weight distribution across the aircraft as there was a considerable amount of vertical surface area placed forward of the

center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For ...

. Consequentially, to draw the aircraft's center of vertical area aft of the center of gravity, a relatively large tail unit, particularly in terms of the

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

, were present to draw the center of vertical area aft of the aircraft's center of gravity. During January 1930, the prototype Swift (registered ''G-AARX'') performed its

at Hooton Park.Meaden 2003, p. 151 This initial aircraft was powered by a 40 hp (30 kW)

ABC Scorpion The ABC Scorpion is a 30 hp (22 kW) two-cylinder aero engine designed by British engineer Granville Bradshaw for use in light aircraft. The engine was built by ABC Motors Limited and first ran in 1921.Gunston 1989, p.9. Variants ;S ...

piston engine. After successful tests, seven more aircraft were built in 1930, powered by a 50 hp Salmson A.D.9

. Trials with Pobjoy P radial engine for use in air racing resulted in all the subsequent aircraft being powered by the

Pobjoy R The Pobjoy R is a British seven-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine designed and built by Pobjoy Airmotors. Introduced in 1926, it was a popular engine for ultralight and small aircraft in the 1930s. A notable feature of the Pobjoy R was ...

. The last three factory-built aircraft (sometimes referred to as the ''Gipsy Swift'') were fitted with

de Havilland Gipsy The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre ( ...

engines – two with 120 hp (89 kW) Gipsy Major III, and one with a 130 hp (97 kW) Gipsy Major.

Design

The Comper Swift was a compact single-seat

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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

aircraft with a high-mounted wing. It was designed as an affordable and low-powered aircraft, albeit one that could deliver performance equal to that of contemporary twin-seat light aircraft. The Swift had a relatively slim appearance with various clean and aesthetically pleasing lines, the fuselage being heavily

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

, except for the cockpit and a fairly restrictive width adhered to.NACA 1930, pp. 1-3. Despite this, a relatively comfortable cockpit was provisioned along with clear and well-positioned instrumentation, much of it being installed on a dedicated dash. Of particular note was the engine mounting, which incorporated a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

vibration Vibration () is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. Vibration may be deterministic if the oscillations can be characterised precisely (e.g. the periodic motion of a pendulum), or random if the os ...

-absorbing design that proved to be quite effective in practice.NACA 1930, p. 5. In terms of overall construction, the Swift was primarily composed of

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

and covered by

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

.Riding 2003, . It shared considerable structural similarity to Comper's previous aircraft designs; the fuselage comprising a lightweight

girder A girder () is a Beam (structure), beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a sta ...

composed of

longeron In engineering, a longeron or stringer is a load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural fram ...

s and diagonal struts which attached to the longerons via three-ply wood

gusset In sewing, a gusset is a triangular or rhomboidal piece of textiles, fabric inserted into a seam to add breadth or reduce stress from tight-fitting clothing. Gussets were used at the shoulders, underarms, and hems of traditional shirts and chemi ...

s. This structure was relatively strong for its low weight and did not require any realignment even with prolonged use. The fuselage was constructed out of three separate units, the front section carried the engine mounting, the middle portion contained the cockpit, while the rear section carried the tail unit.NACA 1930, p. 3. The aircraft had a monoplane wing that rested on a relatively narrow portion of fuselage while the inefficient portion of wing area within the center was kept proportionally small. An almost pure

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

stabiliser was used that was braced by a single pair of v-shaped

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. A stay is sometimes used as a synonym for ...

s on each side of the fuselage. It featured relatively straightforward construction, consisting of a pair of spruce spars and light girder

rib In vertebrate anatomy, ribs () are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the thoracic cavity, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ...

s. It was built in three sections, the relatively narrow center section of which was built as an integral part of the fuselage and resting on two separate bulkheads. The wing was designed to be

fold Fold, folding or foldable may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure *Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot *Above ...

ed so that the aircraft only required a minimal storage footprint.NACA 1930, pp. 3-4. All of the wing's fittings were composed of standard

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

plate while the covering was composed of fabric.NACA 1930, p. 4. A somewhat unorthodox

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

arrangement was used; elements such as the

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulics, hydraulic device designed to absorb and Damping ratio, damp shock (mechanics), shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typic ...

s were entirely housed inside of the fuselage, reducing

drag Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street a ...

. The legs directly connected with various internal members. The

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotation, rotating wheel and axle, wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In ...

s were bent while rearward-sloping radius rods were used to orientate the wheels. A deck fairing aft of the engine accommodated the aircraft's fuel tank; fuel was supplied via gravity to the engine. This tank, which had a total capacity of nine gallons, had a partition that separated one gallon from the rest and could function as a reserve tank.NACA 1930, pp. 4-5.

Operational history

During 1931, Arthur Butler flew G-ABRE to Australia in nine days.Follett 2021, . After touring the Eastern States, the Swift had covered 23,000 miles. One of the Gipsy Swifts, owned by the then-

and future

, won second place in the 1932

while being flown by his personal pilot. Postwar, surviving Swifts continued to compete successfully in British air racing scene into the mid-1950s.

Survivors

* EC-HAM Airworthy, displayed at

Cuatro Vientos Cuatro Vientos is an administrative neighborhood () of Madrid belonging to the district of Latina. Geography Cuatro Vientos is situated in the south-western area of central Madrid, close to the motorways A5 and M40 and to the homonymous airpor ...

, Madrid, Spain. Owned by ''Fundación Infante de Orleans.'' Formerly G-ABUU, now painted to represent "EC-AAT" "Ciudad de Manila" as flown by

Fernando R. Loring Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

for his March 1933 flight Madrid-Manila. * G-ABTC Stored, in Cornwall.Meaden Autumn 2004, . * G-ABUS Stored, believed in France. * G-ACGL On display, RAF Museum, Cosford. * G-ACTF Airworthy, displayed at the

Shuttleworth Collection The Shuttleworth Collection is a working aviation, automotive and agricultural collection located at Old Warden Aerodrome in Bedfordshire, England. History The collection was founded in 1928 by aviator Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth. While ...

Old Warden Old Warden is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about south-east of the county town of Bedford. The 2011 census shows its population as 328. The ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

* G-LCGL Airworthy (replica) * LV-FBA Stored, in Argentina. Also, a second Comper Swift flew in Argentina. Parts saved and stored in Buenos Aires after accident in San Justo 1950– Owner Vicente Bonvisutto (Reg.G-AAZE R-232 LV-YEA LV-FCE) * VH-ACG (Gipsy engine) AirworthyMeaden Winter 2004, pp. 148–150 This aircraft was shipped to Oshkosh, USA for the

EAA Airventure EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wisco ...

fly-in, and will be shipped back to Australia after the show. * VH-UVC Stored, in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

. - According to Classic Wings Magazine, VH-UVC took to the skies for the first time in 55 years on 20 November 2017 at Omaka Airfield, Blenheim, New Zealand. A new-build aircraft, registered G-ECTF, and built according to the original plans, powered by a

Pobjoy Cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or double vision, halos around light, ...

engine, flew for the first time on 2 October 2015. ComperSwift

Operators

; *

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...

; *

Swanborough 1994, p. 369.

Specifications (C.L.A.7 Swift)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Boughton, Terence. 1963. ''The Story of The British Light Aeroplane''. John Murray * Follet, Neil (ed.) 2021. Aviation Heritage Vol52, No.2. The Arrivals - C.A. Butler. Journal of Aviation Historical Society of Australia Inc. ISSN 0815-4392 * * * * * * Riding, Richard T. 1987. ''Ultralights: The Early British Classics''. Patrick Stephens * Riding, Richard T. March 2003. Database: Comper Swift. Aeroplane Monthly. IPC Media * Smith, Ron. 2005. ''British Built Aircraft Vol.5: Northern England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland'' * Swanborough, Gordon. "British Aircraft at War, 1939–1945". ''

Air Pictorial ''Air Pictorial'' was a British aviation magazine covering contemporary and historical military and civil aviation topics. By 2002, when the magazine was renamed '' Aviation News'' (a title that had been incorporated into it six years previous ...

'', August 1994, Vol. 56, no. 8. pp. 369–371. *
"The Comper C(LA)7 "Swift" airplane (English) : a high-wing single-seat monoplane"
''

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...

'', 1 February 1930. NACA-AC-108, 93R19677.

External links

Australian civil aircraft register search

Comper Swift
– British Aircraft Directory * https://www.flickr.com/photos/airventure2009/3758521992/
Nick Comper official website - suspended before 3 November 2020
{{Comper 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 * SWIF ...

1930s British sport aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1930 Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft