Editor Comments
The countdown to Swift National at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport (MGY) continues as we are now at 58 days and counting. Now is the time to get registered since it is only 27 days to the cutoff date for getting the reduced registration fee of $40 per head ….PLUS… with that you will receive a free desktop model of the Wright “B” Flyer signed by the last remaining member of the original Wright family. Early registration will help the committee’s with planning and contribute to a more enjoyable Swift National. If for- reason you cannot register early we and your friends would love to see you at National at any time … so come on out and join the fun.
Steps to take to get registered:
1. Send in the registration form (download here) to Bud and Sylvia Brown at 718 Hartwell Street, Royston, GA 30662 or email asabrown@aol.com If you register by email then you must send the check to Bud or Sylvia or to Pam at HQ. Please make the check out to Swift Museum Foundation, Inc. You may also use a credit card if you call Pam at Hq. Our Cutoff date for early registration is May 4 AND to make your guaranteed reservation at the Hilton Garden Inn.
2. Please indicate on your registration if you will be renting a car.
3. Please remember to indicate your shirt size and the Names of attendees.
4. Contact the Hilton Garden Inn, 12000 Innovation Way, Miamisburg, Ohio at 937-247-5850 …and be sure to tell them you are with the Swift Group to get our special rate. If you are driving or have rented a car at Cincinnati or Dayton International you would get off of 1-75 at Exit 41. This hotel is only 1 mile from MGY airport. You may also contact an alternate ….the Hampton Inn … at 937-743-2121. This hotel is 3 miles from MGY and you would get off 1-75 at Exit 38. We are advised that they can accommodate pets if you are traveling with one for $25 per stay. We will provide Van service from both hotels to MGY.
N3271K: Please take a look at the For Sale Flyer for N3271K. This has turned out to be a really good Swift….looks good….flies good… and is an example of cooperation, diligence, teamwork and helping out our Swift organization. The flier pretty much tells the story….180HP LOW time since new engine +engine overhaul, certified Prop, Sliding canopy, new tires, new battery, many repairs and adjustments, new interior, new 150 seats, etc etc etc. AND the price is right!!! Currently it is the sole money raising project and we need to get it sold. What we are asking you to do is to circulate the flyer to friends, your FBO and other places where those interested in buying a Swift might hang out. For those of you at Sun n Fun you will have seen the bird and we hope you agree this is a really good Swift for a new member or one who wants another Swift. If it doesn’t sell at Sun n Fun we plan to take it to Swift National, and if necessary, to Oshkosh. Please help us with this project… several of your fellow members have put a lot of sweat and skinned knuckles into this Swift project . A special thanks goes to Bud and Sylvia Brown for getting this started and finished. Lots of small but important finishing touches too numerous to mention. Their hospitality in both their home and the full use of their hangar, tools, provisions etc is extraordinary. In their words: ” It was a fun project with lots of friends and it benefits Swift. But now is the time to move it out of the hangar and get it sold.”
USAF Museum Tour at Swift National.
Good news, we have been advised by the staff that in addition to the Museum visit a group will be allowed to tour the restoration facility and Presidential aircraft annex. Since this facility is smaller and other groups will also be taking this tour we will be rationed to one group of 50. Therefore we will be able to take the first 50 Swifters that sign up for the tour. We will have a bus that will take us to the far side of the Base to this facility. This will take an hour or so out of your day in the Museum but will be very interesting for those doing restoration work. Accordingly, we will need to get some information from you 4 days prior to the visit and will let you know next newsletter of those requirements. Foreign National Swifters are invited and we will need data from your passport 2 weeks in advance. For all the rest… you will be enjoying one of the great Air Museums in the world and though you can’t possibly see it all in one day … we hope you will come early or stay later to see this incredible display of aviation history. More details in the May newsletter.
One more item … the USAF Museum has not set the schedule for- the 3 – D movie theater… but you will want to see one of their outstanding films while there. We will have the titles available for you when you check in at MGY. The staffer did mention that they are reviewing some films concerning D-Day at Normandy. The day we will be there will be the 70″ anniversary of that historic event on June 6, 1944.
A complete agenda for Swift National will be forthcoming in the May issue. Don’t forget….. please get registered!!!
Executive Director Comments
I want to express my thanks to all of you kind people who have been so supportive during my recovery since my surgery. Your thoughts and remembrances are greatly appreciated. A special thanks to Ken Coughlin who came and stayed for several weeks and really kept things going for Swift. My assistant, Sandy Weekes has also been a great help. I have my “walking cast” on now and though it is pretty restrictive I can get around much better. Also thanks to Scott Anderson who has been very helpful during my recovery.
We have included a proxy form to fill out in the event you cannot make it to Dayton and Swift National. This proxy signs over your voting privilege to another Swift member of your choice for voting at the Saturday morning business meeting.
We had a special group of McMinn County officials led by Mayor Gentry come and see the improvements to the airport and to see our facility. Paul Mercandetti was here working in the new Parts Department and showed them through Phase I of our Swift facility. We were expecting about 5 people but a large group of about 20 showed up. We hope they gained an appreciation for all that is going on at the airport and feel it can only help the overall operations when more of them know and understand our organization as well.
The next big item is to get the parts moved. We do need some more shelving and Paul Mercandetti is handling this task. We will put out a call for help when Paul is ready to go and we will need your volunteer help to get it done. It has been a long time coming but Swift can only be the better for it. We will begin moving the office by the time you get this newsletter. Please be patient with us during this time. Some phone calls may have to be returned. So please leave a message if you miss us during the moving process.
Roger Weber is working on some more approaches to getting funding through Grant applications. We will let you know how that goes.
We have an invitation to participate in the Tennessee Annual Aviation Expo and Fly In at Sumner County Regional Airport near Nashville, TN on June 2I S`. If N3271 K is not sold by this time we may take it up to this fly in. Any Swifts who would like an outing, this would be a good gathering to attend. More details to follow.
Don’t forget, we have PMA approved Adel gear struts in stock as well as all seal kits and bolt & bushing kits for your Swift. If your bird is polished, don’t forget that we are your dealer for Nuvite polish, polishing cloth and all your polishing supplies. Contact Swift Parts 423-744-9696.
Board Chairman Report
by Bill Kientz
Board Meeting Results and Actions
The Swift Board of Governors held a teleconference March 19, 2014. Besides myself we had 5 Board Members available: Pick Freeman, Gerry Hampton, Ernie Hansen, Paul Mercandetti, and later.. Sam Swift plus Pam Nunley our Executive Director. Absent were Scott Naumann, Will Roberson and Jerry Kirby.
The Board voted to approve a contract extension with Sierra Web Solution, LLC to continue keeping our web site in shape. To date they have done an exceptional job and we get far more value out of this small contract than what we pay for it.
The Board approved a change in parts ordering in order to allow Pam more time to devote to her other Executive Director duties. You may now order parts Monday, Wednesday and Thursday by phone and you can send an email anytime to get the parts on order.
The Board also approved a sale price of $57,900. for N3271K. Dave Carpenter, parts chairman, will oversee the sale. Fliers and For Sale signs to sell this bird were made up by Sylvia Brown and I flew it to Sun n Fun to display it. At Sun n Fun we did generate a fair amount of interest and Dave Carpenter says he has received numerous inquiries already. We are optimistic we will sell this good Swift …and hopefully soon.
The Board in a July 2013 teleconference previously approved a value of $5000 for each brick from the original Globe factory. This item was thoroughly discussed and the motion was made to rescind that value at it was deemed too expensive for most Swift owners. Bottom line: the Board voted 4-1 not to rescind that price but instead will introduce an all inclusive approach of the Globe Bricks, replica bricks and a program that will suit the needs of all Swift members. This proposal will be presented to the Swift Board and any interested attendees at the Board meeting in Dayton….Thursday June 5 at 0800 in the meeting room in the hangar at MGY.
As you might know my son Buddy and I flew N3271K to Sun-n-Fun. It turned out to be a bit of an adventure as we encountered an electrical gremlin coming out of Cross City. We took the bird to Williston for better support and figured out that a faulty wiring harness was causing the rough engine. A new harness and new spark plugs were installed at Lakeland and N3271K flew very well for the trip home. We had outstanding support from Fisher Aviation at Williston from Dave and son Randy Fisher. They worked diligently with us trying to solve the problem. We also had the support of great friend Mike Day from Cedar Key. We stayed with him and also used his Cherokee 140 to commute to Williston for a day or so. Is aviation full of great people or what!!!! Although this was a bit frustrating… in the end we ended up with an even better Swift. The trip home was fun and a lot more relaxing and it was a pleasure to fly this Swift along side my son Buddy in our 210 Swift. Believe me, N3271K is a really good solid bird and with its Lycoming 180 it did very well cruising with the 210. This is a good Swift for some future owner. Tell your friends….let’s get it sold.
Annual Business Meeting of the SWIFT MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC., June 7, 2014
Per Article II, paragraph “C” of the By-Laws of the SWIFT MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC. as amended 5-26-01 Please accept this notice of the Annual Meeting of the Membership, Saturday June 7, 2014 at 9:00 AM EDST during the 2014 National Fly-In and Convention held at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, Dayton, Ohio.
If you expect to be unable to attend and vote during this annual Business Meeting, you have the option of voting by proxy. To do so, complete and sign the proxy listed below and furnish via US Mail to Swift Museum Foundation, Inc., P. O. Box 644, Athens, TN 37371 to arrive not later than 12 PM June 2nd or hand delivered to the person in attendance you choose to vote your proxy.
To be exercised, “any proxy” must be received and validated by the Audit Committee not later than Friday, June 6, 2014.
FAX 423-745-9869 is acceptable by June 2nd. E-mail without signature is not acceptable. Please complete and return promptly.
SWIFT MUSEUM FOUNDATION, INC.
Spring and Summer Flying
The good flying season is upon us and we are all planning to have fun flying our Swifts to many places across this great country of ours. We certainly hope the Swift National at Dayton fits into your plans as it ought to be a really great fly in. Having said that we all know that some careful planning will be required as we fly our routes in the spring and summer months.
Lots of us have iPads or at least access to the numerous weather outlets on the internet and via Government sponsored facilities. Of course it is always important to bring Sigmets into our planning and it is just foolhardy not to do so. Flight service stations, Flight Watch at 122.0 can be helpful but the Aviation Digital Data Service or ADDS (at www.aviationweather.gov ) is one of my favorites for pre-flight planning. Inflight … it is hard to ignore ForeFlight … supplemented by Stratus ADS-B. Never have we had such a wealth of information at our fingertips and of course there is the old XM data you can get on your Garmin 396, 496, 430 etc.
A quick look at Sigmets or Airmets can easily tell you if your trip is feasible that day. Sigmets are issued when: I.TSTMS are occurring 2. When they are expected to form 3. Or at 55 minutes after the hour. Sigmets are sometimes a bit hard to extrapolate into your small area of flying since they can cover up to 3000 square miles with storms covering at least 40% of that area. The trick is to avoid that 40% of forecast thunderstorms in the area. And we also know that TSTMS associated with a fast moving front can really cover some ground and can develop the conditions to create tornados, hail, surface gusts.
We as pilots are used to watching the weather and we all love satellite or radar depictions as they are graphic, timely and give you a good feel for the weather situation. Bottom line….use everything available … on the ground before you go … inflight as you go….and as we all have learned …it is a lot better to be sitting on the ground wondering if you could have flown further than to be up in Big Blue wondering how in the heck am I going to get out of this mess.
Crosswinds: Since we are talking about weather, getting the rust off our flying skills, tuning up the Swift and getting ready for a busy flying season…..we would be remiss if we didn’t discuss just a bit the another hazard of Spring/Summer flying: Crosswinds. We have discussed this before but if you are a bit like this author sometimes I store that information in my brain and occasionally forget where I put it. But I did remember where I put a really good article written by Sam Swift. Time for a review! The biggest challenge usually is the landing … but a strong crosswind takeoff can sure raise the hackles on your neck if you don’t do it right. Years ago I grossly underestimated the takeoff crosswind requirements on my Swift and it got right interesting. After I survived the tiptoe through the infield the tower operator came on and said: “Uh Swift…..are you going to come around and try that again?” I answered: “Nope …once is enough.” He replied: “Whew….glad to hear that … have a good day … come see us again when the wind isn’t blowing!” Lesson learned.
Sam Swift’s Comments:
On a tail wheel aircraft …a crosswind from the LEFT is the most undesirable. The bigger the engine the worse it gets. Narrow runway… “Don’t screw up.” My Swift is a good example of poor (left) crosswind performance. Continental 10 360 (210 Hp) and a full castering tail wheel. With a direct 12 knot crosswind from the left, if I slam the power to it on takeoff (not recommended) it will head to the weeds and try to depart the runway (on a narrow runway it probably will depart the runway). At that point the only way to correct it is to drag a little right brake until the rudder is effective… or reduce power. Obviously that is poor pilot technique in that example… but you get the drift (pun intended).
A better solution would have been the slow application of power until the rudder becomes effective, bring the tail up slowly, increase airspeed and fly off. If your Swift has a steerable tail wheel….you can keep the plane straight with rudder pedal steering until the rudder has sufficient airflow to keep the plan straight, then smoothly bring the tail up. Remember gyroscopic precession? If not, you soon will if you suddenly push the nose over for takeoff and the plane yaws to the left.
All of the four major turning tendencies (torque, P factor, spiraling slipstream and gyroscopic precession) are the ones everyone knows, but don’t forget to add the left crosswind to the list. On a takeoff all of the “four” tendencies require right rudder to compensate, but if you add a stiff left crosswind or gust … you could find yourself in a position where you don’t have enough right rudder to stay aligned. The unpopular solution if there is a stiff left crosswind is to simply takeoff in the opposite direction. Put that left crosswind on the right side and you’ll probably find that a stout RIGHT crosswind will nearly eliminate the need to compensate for the other four left turning tendencies. The result is a nice, straight takeoff. Even in a stock Swift with lower horsepower the slight additional takeoff distance shouldn’t be a problem. If at a towered airport you can always invoke “operational necessity” and they will comply.
Landings. While not as much of a “left vs. right” issue since the power is low, a crosswind landing can be a bit nerve wracking. We’ve all learned that flying slow isn’t really the best solution to arm-wrestle a crosswind. Most of us wheel land our Swifts regardless of the wind and this is certainly the desirable way to land in a crosswind. Remember, 3 pointing a Swift in a crosswind is terribly unforgiving. Flying a slow 3 point attitude in a Swift simply won’t provide you the crosswind ability that a wheel landing will.
Fly a slightly faster approach (add ‘A the wind speed to your normal approach speed) … align the plane with the runway with aileron into the wind..use downwind rudder to keep the nose pointed down the runway. Touch down on the upwind tire and ease off the power. A sudden chopping of the power can cause airflow loss and loss of directional control. Be Smooth. Get your technique down before you go into short strips. If you have the ability to stop your flaps somewhere between UP and FULL DOWN … you can use a reduced flap setting for landing.
So there you have it….they don’t make Swifts anymore … so let’s be good stewards of our beautiful birds. Please stay safe, strive for and maintain your proficiency.
Sun-n-Fun 2014
Sun n Fun went well this year as the weather cooperated and it was mostly beautiful 80 degree weather with light winds. The crowds were up this year and there were also more aircraft parked in the various areas. John Drago did a great job getting us set up in the Type Tent and we had our banner and merchandise in a prominent spot. This location also became a nice meeting spot for Swifters coming and going throughout the area. John had us set up in Row I I …very convenient….and our Swifts just kept coming and going. Jim Jones was the first occupant of the row followed closely by Dave and Debbie Carpenter, Steve Roth and Lynn Dawson and then others followed. Paul and Sandy Marcandetti, Jim Roberts, Perry Sisson, and of course N3271 K with Bill and Buddy Kientz. We had a good spot to display our For Sale bird and we had a lot of lookers. We filled out the “dance card” for duty at the type tent with Swifters pitching in to help out. Actually this was good duty because you were in a shady tent with good ventilation and had a ring side seat for the airshow. Bud and Sylvia Brown and Robert and Roye Ann Dickson came in Bud’s Navion, plus Jerry Kirby and Jerry and Holly Bauerle were helping out. Later Robert Dickson Jr- arrived in the Dickson’s P-S I Swamp Fox. Porter Houston flew down from Maryland and we will have a story on his family’s Swift next month. Their Swift N 78171 is believed to be the longest continuous ownership in one family of any Swift…. 1947 to present. John Johnson was there from Diamond Point and says he will once again go racing at Reno this year. Stay tuned.
Many, many thanks to John Drago for getting Swift back into the flow at Sun n Fun. Our own parking row, type tent etc were helpful for Swifters and served to get us together throughout the week. Plus he set up the display spot for N3271 K which..no doubt … will help us in that “For Sale” project.
A special thanks goes to Jim Jones for all his hard work at Sun n Fun. Jim is our fund raising chairman for Swift National and worked hard to get various contractors and suppliers to donate many nice items for our Silent Auction, Auction and Raffle. He has been successful in this venture and you will find many of your suppliers have responded to Jim’s approach. Gill, Lycoming, Hartzell, Bose, Concord, Hooker, JPI, Sam Lyon etc are supporting our fund raising. You will have an opportunity to participate at National. More on that next month.
Fred Moseley
A very nice and somewhat poignant reunion took place at Sun n Fun. Jim Jones brought his 91 year old Uncle Fred Moseley and 86 year old cousin Charlie Jones to the airport for a day. Neither had ever been before. Both of these extraordinary men are military veterans: Fred Moseley enlisted in the USAAC in 1941 and retired in 1962. Along the way he served in both theaters in WW II and Korea. He was a mechanic and engineer on some of our most prominent aircraft: P-40, P-61, P-51, B-25, C-54 to name a few. Fred also flew as a flight engineer on the C-54 and in fact flew 104 missions in Germany in the 1948-1949 Berlin airlift. This led to a rendezvous with the C-54 parked on the ramp. This C-54 was also a veteran of the Berlin airlift and Fred’s eyes lighted up and maybe glistened a bit as he boarded this bird and once again sat in the engineer’s seat before the panel. He instantly recognized the dials, switches, levers and began explaining what each function was. Amazing considering it had been over 65 years since he had sat in front of that panel. Charlie Jones, Jim’s cousin, was a retired US Army Colonel and his specialty was artillery. He served in Korea and Vietnam and had many stories to tell of his career and as I walked and talked with him a Huey flew over. He immediately focused on this bird and related his instant recognition of the Huey’s specific sound. His Battalion of artillery was the first in during the campaign in Cambodia. 
[Download N3271K For Sale flyer Here]
