Supermarine Swift FR.5 by Airfix
1/72 scale
Kit No. A04003
Retail: $30.00
Decals: Two versions
Comments: Engraved panel lines, detailed cockpit, optional position two-piece canopy, detailed landing gear, intake trunking
History
The Vickers Supermarine Swift (developed from the Type 541prototype) was a single-seat jet fighter flown by the RAF in the 1950’s, the first in RAF service to have swept wings. While its lineage dates back to the straight-winged Supermarine Type 510, the aircraft that would come to be known as the Swift flew for the first time on August 1, 1951. During this time the Air Ministry were growing increasingly concerned about the Korean War, to which the U.K. was committed via the United Nations, in part because the RAF’s newest fighter, the Hawker Hunter, was having teething difficulties, and the Ministry wanted a jet fighter that could be put into production as soon as possible. Projections at the time were that the Hunter would not enter service until 1953. From the outset, the Swift was not much more than a fail-safe, in case the Hunter turned out to be below par.
The Swift had as its powerplant the Rolls Royce AJ. 65 Avon engine, instead of the less powerful Nenes used on the de Havilland Vampire and the American F-86 Sabre. That said, the Avon was itself somewhat underpowered and its engineers knew the Swift would be a poor performer at high altitude, but that could be alleviated to a degree by a wing redesign. The RAF were not told of this, and they increased their initial order from 100 to 150 before the prototype took its maiden flight. The program would be significantly delayed by two forced landings of the second prototype and an air disaster at the 1952 Farnborough Air Show involving the crash of a DH.110 Sea Vixen, killing its crew and 29 air show attendees. This tragedy triggered a series of modifications to the Swift prototypes (with attendant delays), in part to strengthen their wings.
Entering service with the RAF in 1954 as an interceptor, the Swift never lived up to its hoped-for potential. Ideally there would have been time to develop a proper powerplant for the type, but the Air Ministry were in a rush (and ironically, the Swift entered service a year after the Hunter’s projected service entry date). The Swift F.1 was also undergunned, having only two 30mm cannon and a Rolls-Royce Avon RA-7/109 turbojet engine that lacked an afterburner. The Swift F.2 had its armament increased to four 30mm cannon, and the F.3 was fitted with an afterburning Rolls-Royce Avon RA-7A/114 turbojet, a leap forward that nonetheless did not sufficiently increase its performance, because the afterburner could not be used at high altitude — a critical failing for a plane whose reason for existence was to fulfill the role of interceptor.
The F.4 was equipped with a variable-incidence tailplane to improve its performance at transonic speeds, but even with this modification the type was considered a disappointment. However, it was an F.4 that on September 26, 1953 broke the world absolute speed record over Libya with Mike Lithgow at the controls – 735 miles per hour (Mach 0.96), beating Neville Duke’s record of 727 mph set using a Hawker Hunter F.3 three weeks earlier. This achievement proved the Swift’s impressive performance at low altitude, but Russian bombers did not fly down low.
The subject of this kit, the Swift FR.5, is to a degree responsible for saving the aircraft’s reputation. The FR.5 was a a low-level reconnaissance variant that took advantage of the Swift’s strength: blistering speed at low altitude. With the RAF having decided that the Swift was a dead-end as a fighter, and with the Hunter now entering widespread service in this role, the Swift’s fortunes lay in what had been seen as a secondary role – reconnaissance. The FR.5 was fitted with a lengthened nose housing cameras and finally became a useful aircraft. Since it operated at medium to low level, its deficiencies at high altitude no longer mattered. Starting in March 1956 II(AC) Squadron (and later 79 Squadron) operated the FR.5 in Germany.
The Swift FR.5 excelled in the reconnaissance role; in 1957 and 1959 Swifts won the NATO ‘Royal Flush’ reconnaissance competition, conclusively beating off the best types other nations could offer, including the American RF-84 Thunderflash. The punishing low-level reconnaissance role proved to be no problem for the strong Swift airframe, and no fatigue problems were encountered. It even became a popular aircraft with crews, something that would have amazed the crews of earlier variants. FR.5s were eventually replaced by the Hunter FR.10.
While not a success as an interceptor, the Swift is often maligned but was initially intended only as a backup to the Hawker Hunter when that program ran into difficulty. With the eventual success of the Hunter and the end of the Korean War, the urgent need for production of large numbers of fighters faded, and the money needed to cure the Swift’s design flaws could not be justified once the Hunter’s bugs were worked out and it proved a success. It was however, a superb low-level reconnaissance platform in its final iteration as the FR.5, until its retirement in 1960.
The Kit
Airfix’ Supermarine Swift is injection molded in grey plastic and consists of 63 parts, including 7 clear parts for the canopy, camera apertures, and navigation lights. It is crisply detailed throughout, starting with the cockpit which features a detailed ejection seat, control yoke, separate parts for sidewalls which are marked by detailed raised relief, and a gunsight atop a smooth instrument panel atop which a decal is to be applied. The nose wheel well, one area where manufacturers often skimp on detail, offers abundant raised relief.
Parts are provided for internal intake detail and the jet exhaust pipe, which extends fairly deeply into the rear fuselage and features and exhaust fan face at its end. Likewise there is a three-part assembly for the intake trunking. If modelers plan to depict the kit in flight, the instructions provide options for where holes may be drilled in the ventral surface of the airframe for placement upon a stand.
The wings consist of three parts, with a single part for the lower surface which also forms the belly and part of the rear ventral surface of the fuselage. There are a separately mounted rudder, ailerons and flaps, along unusual internal wing detail adjacent the flaps, and a diagram to assist in achieving the proper angle for placement of the elevators. The landing gear are painstakingly detailed. The two-part canopy may be positioned opened or closed.
Markings
Decals are provided for two versions, both featuring a camouflage scheme of dark sea grey and dark green on the upper surfaces. The first version is for an FR. 5 of No. 79 Squadron, RAF, serial WK 281, based at Gutersloh, Germany in April 1956 and flown by Flight Lieutenant Nigel Walpole. Its under surfaces are to be painted PRU Blue. The second version is for an aircraft of No. 11 Squadron, RAF, serial XD 972, based at Jever, Germany, also circa 1956, and is unusual in having aluminum under surfaces. The decal sheet includes stencil details. As is standard with Airfix kits, there is a paint guide calling out Humbrol colors only.
Conclusion
This is a crisply detailed version of one of the later marks of the Supermarine Swift, the photo-reconnaissance version which to a large degree redeemed an entire program plagued by difficulties from the beginning. It is impressive in having morphed from a failed interceptor into a front-line photo-recce aircraft that the RAF saw fit to base at the very doorstep of the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War, to be followed in later years by the likes of the Hawker Hunter, the English Electric Lightning, and the Phantom FGR.2. Highly recommended.
References
- https://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk
- https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk
- wikipedia.org