LT65 | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Role | Civil trainer |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Swallow Airplane Company |
Designer | Harold Dale |
First flight | 1938 |
Number built | 2 |
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]
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]
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]
Data from Swallow Low-Wing Trainer 1940, p.113
General characteristics
Performance
LT65 | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Role | Civil trainer |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | Swallow Airplane Company |
Designer | Harold Dale |
First flight | 1938 |
Number built | 2 |
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]
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]
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]
Data from Swallow Low-Wing Trainer 1940, p.113
General characteristics
Performance