SUPERMARINE SWIFT^51
Supermarine Swift FR5
Max Speed: 713mph (1,148km/h)
Engine: 1 x Rolls-Royce
Avon turbojet
Power: 7,175lb thrust ‘dry’,
9,450lb with afterburner
Length: 42ft 3in (12.88m)
Wingspan: 32ft 4in (9.85m)
Height: 13ft 2in (4.02m)
Armament: 2 x 30mmAden cannon
and provisions for
bombs and rockets
Max T/O weight: 21,673lb (9,381kg)
Range: 630miles (1,014km)lengthened to accommodate cameras giving
birth to the Swift FR5 tactical reconnaissance
aircraft. This version exonerated the design as it
proved extremely capable and equipped three
squadrons in RAF Germany. The FR5 lled a vital
function on the central European front during
a critical period of the Cold War, but it was only
ever intended to be a stop-gap pending the
introduction of the Hunter FR10. When the
latter became available, the Swift gave way
and in 1961 departed Germany and front line
service. In total, over all marks, there were 193
Swifts produced.The need for speed
At a time when speed records were bouncing across the Atlantic with some regularity, the
Swift F4, which had rst own in May 1953, soon made its name by breaking the world
absolute speed record. On 22 September 1953, Mike Lithgow, Supermarine’s chief test pilot,
took o in Swift F4 WK198 from Chilbolton bound for Tripoli, Libya. Three days later, four
successful low-level runs were achieved over the North African desert resulting in an average
speed of 735.7mph and a new World Airspeed Record – thereby wresting from Neville Duke
the record established in Hunter WB188 just 18 days earlier. These were heady times – it was
little more than a week later that Lt Cdr James Verdin USN took the record back for the US with
a speed of 753mph while ying a Douglas Skyray.