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{"id":3008,"date":"2017-11-28T10:05:10","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T15:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/volareproducts.com\/blog\/?page_id=3008"},"modified":"2017-11-28T10:05:10","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T15:05:10","slug":"comper-swift-documentation-racing-in-america","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/volareproducts.com\/new2024\/gallery\/model-documentation\/comper-swift-documentation-racing-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Comper Swift – DOCUMENTATION – Racing in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Flying Aces Club competition in the Thompson Trophy Race (radial engines) or the Greve Race (non-radial engines), a plane must have participated in “an American race” between 1929 and 1939, inclusive.\u00a0 This means that foreign-built race planes are excluded, with the notable exception of the Caudron C.460.\u00a0 This was built by Caudron in France and was powered by a Renault engine.\u00a0 It was brought to the USA in 1936 and won both the Greve Race (under 500 cubic inches) and the Thompson (unlimited cubic inches) at the 1936 National Air Races in Los Angeles, California.<\/p>\n

To date, that was the only non-US plane to qualify for the FAC Greve or Thompson (it only qualifies for the FAC Greve race, as it had a non-radial engine).\u00a0 However, two modelers – independently – have discovered information regarding another foreign-built airplane that now qualifies for the FAC Races – the Comper Swift, built in England.\u00a0 In this article, I will provide more than enough evidence to qualify the model for the FAC Greve Race.<\/p>\n

Back in the late 1990’s, I started building a 24″ Comper Swift.\u00a0 I had intended to color it in the G-ABWW King’s Cup Prince of Wales colors.\u00a0 But, I set the partially completed model aside and took a break from modeling.\u00a0 Twenty years later, I still had the fuselage and wing and decided to complete the model.\u00a0 I could fly it in Golden Age, but really, a high-wing monoplane would not be competitive at the national level in Scale, so I wasn’t really enthused to build it, but I started to do research on the Swift.<\/p>\n

Only a few Swifts were built and only a couple were built with the Gipsy engine (which I had modeled), so Google image searches were sparse.\u00a0 But I found out that one exists in Australia that has been restored to flying condition (VH-AGC, was G-ABWH).\u00a0 In fact, it had been transported to the EAA in 2009 – a fine example.\u00a0 As I researched this, I came across some intriguing notes:<\/p>\n

In a PDF document on the Air Britain Researchers page, Malcolm Filmore reports “…Bought 12.9.33 by Roger Wolfe Kahn (a bandleader) for \u00a3250; shipped to USA on SS American Merchant. Regd NC27K [CofR A-39855] 13.2.34 to Roger Wolfe Kahn, New York City; for Roosevelt Field Air Races…\u201d\u00a0 (ref: http:\/\/www.ab-ix.co.uk\/firstfiles.html<\/a>).\u00a0 PLEASE NOTE:\u00a0 I believe there to be some date conflicts in the above and below.\u00a0 I will address them after the photos.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On an Australian website, Geoff Goodall reports about G-ABWH:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
.33<\/td>\nShipped to USA on SS American Merchant to participate in the 1934 Cleveland air races<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12.33<\/td>\nRegistered NC27K Roger Wolfe Kahne, New York NY
\nKahne was a big band leader who was an official of the Cleveland Air Races<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.34<\/td>\ncompeted in Roosevelt Field Air Races, New York<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.34<\/td>\ncompeted at National Air Races at Cleveland Municiple Airport, did not win a place<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8.4.35<\/td>\nCancelled from US Civil Register<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7.35<\/td>\nshipped back to Britain<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

(ref:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.goodall.com.au\/australian-aviation\/comperswift\/comperswift.html<\/a>)<\/p>\n

This was pretty conclusive proof that the Comper Swift, G-ABWH, had participated in racing in the US – enough to qualify for FAC Racing.\u00a0 This breathed new life into my Swift – to show up at the races with a new plane that no one has ever had at the Greve race!\u00a0 But what did the plane look like – what color, what markings?\u00a0 The search was on.<\/p>\n

Here are images that I found for G-ABWH, with annotations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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G-ABWH at the Roosevelt Air Pageant. The following photo solidifies the location.\u00a0 IMPORTANT NOTE:\u00a0 This airplane is still marked as G-ABWH and is NOT yet registered as NC27K – AND – there are no wheel pants on the plane yet.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n