Swift return for jet powered Spitfire

Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

As you may have already seen if you have viewed our latest B-24 Liberator update, over the next two weeks of Workbench postings, we have something unique for our ever-loyal readers to look forward to – a blog double double! With so many new models all forming up for release over the next few weeks and because we like to give each model its own blog introduction, we will be having a double blog posting this weekend, followed by another next Friday, meaning that we had all better start thinking about clearing a little space on our workstations over the coming Easter holiday, because some stunning new models are now on finals.

For this update, we will be preparing to welcome the long overdue re-issue of a beautiful early British jet fighter in 1/72nd scale, an aircraft which rarely receives the attention it deserves, but one which can trace its lineage back to the famous Spitfire, the sleek and handsome Supermarine Swift FR.5. We will be taking a look at the history behind this first swept wing jet fighter to see Royal Air Force service from the early days of Britain’s entry into the jet age, before moving on to discover the details behind the two scheme options included with this incredibly appealing kit.

In the second, separately posted update for this week, we take our final pre-launch look at the new tooling announcement which we featured before any other this year, a mighty WWII US warplane which is as historic as it was distinctive, the Consolidated B-24H Liberator. We will be taking this final opportunity to re-visit the two fascinating scheme options included with the debut release from this new tooling, however this time, we will be illustrating the feature with a beautiful selection of built model images, with models finished in both schemes available with this new kit. As we prepare to welcome the Liberator to the current Airfix range, the sight of these beautiful build images will surely have even the most resistant of readers looking to add this classic WWII aircraft to their current build schedules.

Could we please take this opportunity to remind everyone that as always, or main Workbench blog hub is the place to go when accessing all new and previously released editions of our Airfix blog, a collection which will be celebrating its 9th Anniversary later this year. 

Onwards and upwards we go, into the world of early British jet powered fighters.

Supermarine produce jet fighter for the RAF

A Supermarine fighter for the jet age. The Swift could trace its lineage back to the famous Spitfire, but was very different in terms of both design and the aviation technology it used.

As arguably the most successful fighter aircraft in the history of warfare, the Supermarine Spitfire also went on to become one of the most famous aircraft in the history of flight, with its beautiful elliptical wing still being instantly recognisable to millions of people to this day. As the Spitfire was also one of the few fighter aircraft to remain in production throughout the Second World War, undergoing almost constant development and modification, surely the Supermarine company would also be influential as the Royal Air Force strove to become established in the jet age which followed the end of WWII.

As the final incarnations of Spitfire used the pinnacle of piston powered engine technology to pull the aircraft to speeds over 450 mph in level flight, engineers at Supermarine were only too aware that the design of the Spitfire’s wing had now become a limiting factor in allowing greater speeds to be attained and if future aircraft were to break the sound barrier, a complete redesign would be required. The Spitfire’s intended replacement, the Supermarine Spiteful, incorporated new laminar flow wing technology and a redesigned fuselage, however, the increase in performance designers had hoped for was nowhere near as significant as anticipated and it was back to the drawing board for them.

With the advent of the jet age and significant advances in both engine and airframe technologies, the Supermarine designers quickly turned away from piston power and looked firmly towards jet propulsion for their new fighter. As it turned out, Supermarine’s first successful jet type wasn’t one destined for service with the Royal Air Force at all, but rather a capable new fleet defender of the Royal Navy. Going by the rather impressive name of ‘Attacker’, the aircraft was originally referred to as the ‘Jet Spiteful’ and as this name suggests, was essentially a jet powered version of the Supermarine Spiteful fighter, featuring the aircraft’s advanced laminar wing technology, but powered by a Rolls Royce Nene turbojet.

Now with a successful jet design behind them, the team at Supermarine turned their attention to producing a new fighter for the Royal Air Force, with the search for ever greater speed being at the forefront of their thinking. Development of their Type 510 jet fighter essentially started out as an Attacker with swept back wings and horizontal stabilizers, following the discovery that designing wings in such a manner allowed aircraft to attain greater speeds than ever before, by reducing the effects of compressibility and control at high speeds.

A beautifully sleek aeroplane, the Swift shares many design characteristics with other early jet fighters of the era.

Another built model of this fighting Photo-Reconnaissance variant of the Supermarine Swift. 

Supermarine’s new jet fighter destined for the Royal Air Force was not without some significant development problems however, with development aircraft suffering a series of unexplained flying accidents and pilots reporting engine performance issues. Despite the new fighter initially attracting a ‘super priority’ project designation, the protracted development of the aircraft soon resulted in the Swift being relegated to the position of back-up project for the now favoured Hawker Hunter. Nevertheless, the Swift represents an important aircraft type for Britain’s aviation industry as it found its way in the jet age, even though it couldn’t match the Spitfire in terms of the aviation legacy it forged.

Once in service, the Supermarine Swift proved to be an exceptionally robust, if slightly heavy aircraft, which was thought to be a result of the traditional aviation design and construction techniques it utilised, combined with the very latest, if still rather immature jet propulsion technology which powered it. It would also prove to be an incredibly fast aeroplane, with Supermarine Swift F.4 WK198 establishing a new world absolute speed record of 737 mph for Britain on 26th September 1953. As this was a time of great change and almost constant technological advancement, the Swift would only hold its prestigious record for a short eight day period, as US Navy Douglas Skyray soon wrestled the record back for America. Historically though, the Supermarine Swift holds the distinction of being the last British production aircraft to hold the world absolute airspeed record.

Airfix honour the Supermarine Swift in scale

This image shows a pair of Swifts operating in something of an unusual environment for them. Flying some of the most demanding missions in aviation, RAF Swift FR.5s were usually required to fly high speed, low altitude reconnaissance missions over some of the world’s most volatile territory during the Cold War era.

With its lineage stretching back to the famous Spitfire which served so successfully during the Second World War and beyond, it seems somehow fitting that the Supermarine Swift has now been allowed to take its place amongst the ranks of successful Airfix kit designs, which it did for the first time in 2015. One of the first new tooling releases we covered following the establishment of our Workbench blogs, the release of this kit hopefully went some way to bringing a little much needed recognition to this early British jet, also marking a period in aviation history when everything seemed possible and high-speed flight was no longer the barrier it once was.

The original run of this kit sold in significant quantities, so we’re therefore delighted that our 1/72nd scale Supermarine Swift FR.5 will be available once again in the very near future, only the second time this model has been available. A real treat for fans of early British jet aviation and anyone with an interest in Supermarine’s fascinating aviation heritage, the kit will feature two scheme options marking different RAF Germany Squadrons which flew the Swift operationally.

Let’s take a closer look at those schemes now. 

Scheme A – Supermarine Swift FR.5. WK281, aircraft flown by Flight Lieutenant Nigel Walpole, No.79 Squadron, Royal Air Force Germany, Gütersloh, Germany, April 1956.

Although the Swift would only enjoy limited success as an interceptor fighter for the Royal Air Force, it did go on to excel as a low-level, single-seat, high speed reconnaissance platform and was used effectively in this role until the type was withdrawn from service. By the second half of the 1950s, it was clear that the Hawker Hunter was going to be the RAF’s main jet fighter for some years to come, so there was little sense in spending money unnecessarily on the further development of the Swift as an interceptor platform. Indeed, despite the fact that the Swift proved to be an excellent reconnaissance aircraft, the Hunter would eventually wrestle even this role from the Swift and with it, effectively consigning Supermarine’s only RAF jet fighter to the aviation history books.  

By virtue of the fact that this early jet fighter bore the historic Supermarine name and entered RAF service in the same year that the famous Spitfire was making its final operational flights in service, the Swift has to be considered an important aircraft within the wider history of British aviation. Although ultimately proving to be far less successful than either its famous predecessor or the superb Hawker Hunter, things could have been very different had this project not been beset by a series of frustrating development setbacks, allowing the Swift to actually have a claim to being the RAF’s jet powered Spitfire.

This particular Swift (WK281) was built by Vickers Armstrong in the mid 1950s and assigned to RAF No.79 Squadron at Gütersloh in West Germany, where it was to fly low altitude tactical reconnaissance missions during one of the most volatile periods in world history. The nose of the FR.5 housed 3 F.95 oblique cameras, which were capable of capturing incredibly detailed images of any target crews were required to photograph, however, the pilots flying these missions were of the opinion that the verbal report they relayed back in real time was arguably of greater tactical importance than the pictures they were sent to gather. Only when the later inspection of images revealed concealed weapons in dense woodland would they concede the value of such imagery.

The cameras were capable of capturing even the finest detail during these high-speed missions, with pilots becoming incredibly proficient in developing the most efficient method of addressing the target in order to obtain the images they were sent to secure. This could be either a fast flat approach, a slightly wing down attitude towards the target, or even a roll over the top of it, but these missions were always a one pass and gone affair, because returning to a target your enemy had seen you photographing was tantamount to suicide.

Full scheme details featuring the layout for Flt. Lt. Nigel Walpole’s hard-working RAF Gütersloh Swift FR.5 

Full box presentation marking the return of the Swift.

Pilot Flt. Lt. Nigel Walpole joined the RAF in 1951 as a short service officer training to become a navigator, however, before he could complete his course, he was selected to attend the RAF College where he expected to continue in a navigation role, but instead joined the officers training to become pilots. After receiving his wings, he was assigned to RAF No.26(F) Squadron, where he flew the Hunter F.4 in the interceptor role at Oldenburg in Germany. Europe was on a state of high alert at that time and Walpole would spend two years flying the Hunter, in a constant state of readiness to repel any potential act of Warsaw Pact aggression.

After serving on the Hunter, Flt. Lt. Walpole was posted to No.79 Squadron at RAF Gütersloh, to fly the Supermarine Swift in a low-level armed reconnaissance role, with these missions requiring every ounce of skill and experience the pilot had to give, particularly as these demanding missions were usually flown close to hostile borders and with the very real threat of coming under fire from enemy anti-aircraft defences as a consequence. Although flying at high speed and at low altitude, the Swift was regarded as an extremely effective and impressively stable platform from which to gather this vital information and even though they ultimately relinquished this role to PR variants of the Hunter, those pilots who flew both types regarded the Swift as the more effective aircraft in this role.

In 1959, Flt. Lt. Walpole was fortunate enough to be offered an exchange posting with the USAF, where he went off to continue flying tactical reconnaissance missions, but this time in the McDonnell RF-100 Voodoo, operating out of Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.

Supermarine Swift WK281 was recovered to Church Fenton following the withdrawal of the Swift from RAF service, then later on to an ATC Squadron at Uxbridge, where she was assigned an instructional airframe number. Noted on display at several different RAF stations around the country during the next few years, the Swift eventually arrived into the care of the RAF Museum in the 1980s. She was loaned to the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum in 1994, where she can still be found on display to this day, a fine and extremely rare example of this handsome early British jet.

Scheme B – Supermarine Swift FR.5. XD972, No.II (AC) Squadron, Royal Air Force Germany, Jever, Germany, 1956.

RAF Germany operated two squadrons of Swifts in the armed photo-reconnaissance role during the 1950s, No.79 Squadron at Gütersloh, a base which was centrally located in Germany, close to the border, and No.II Squadron at Jever in the far north of the country. Although these demanding missions were always flown at low altitude over their assigned targets, it could be argued that because of their location, the Swifts operated by No.II Squadron could have transited to their assigned targets at high and medium altitudes prior to dropping lower, however, any former RAF FR Swift pilot will tell you that they would never do this from choice. 

Pilots would never make the transition from high to low altitude in advance of an operational mission less than 100 miles from their intended target and at those speeds, with both the weather and topography in Germany being so challenging, even this was an exercise fraught with many dangers. Any delay in getting down to operational attitude could reveal the aircraft to enemy radar operators, therefore putting both the mission and the pilot at unacceptably high risk. Because they were potentially providing Army commanders with real time strategic information, Swift pilots trained exhaustively in this specialist role and as they were required to fly through the notoriously unpredictable weather conditions which regularly effected Germany, they became some of the most accomplished reconnaissance gathering airmen to be found anywhere in the world.

Full scheme details featuring one of the RAF Swift FR.9s based in the north of Germany during the second half of the 1950s. 

One of the original computer rendered images produced from the Supermarine Swift FR.5 design files we first published back in 2015, including a little rendering anomaly which crept into many of the images produced.

To illustrate this effectiveness, the two RAF Germany Swift Squadrons which were engaged in Photo Reconnaissance duties, they were entered in the annual NATO reconnaissance competition known as ‘Exercise Royal Flush’, a competition which was contested by the most proficient reconnaissance pilots from across the NATO nations, often flying the very latest aircraft developed specifically to perform this demanding task. Despite the fact that they only had a relatively short period in service, the RAF’s Swift Squadrons took this prestigious title in 1957 and again in 1959 – quite the achievement!  

Although the Swift was equipped with an engine afterburner, these were very rarely used when engaged in reconnaissance gathering sorties, as its extended use seriously reduced the range of the aircraft, with fuel capacity always being an issue with the Swift. The afterburner many be engaged to enable the aircraft to get up to operational speed, but that was as much, because the average training sortie would last around 1 hour 10 minutes, with little room for error. In the event of conflict erupting in Europe, some fuel consideration had to be built in for situations where the aircraft’s home base may have been destroyed by an enemy strike, however in such situations, the real time in-flight reports filed by pilots would unquestionably be more important than the pictures it might take hours to become available.

Training sorties would regularly be flown close to the border with Warsaw Pact nations, with targets being major bridges, areas close to the border which offered natural concealment for strike forces, general troop concentrations and signs of any unusual activity close to the border with the west. Highlighting the rugged effectiveness of the Supermarine Swift, they proved highly efficient in performing this difficult role and even when eventually replaced by the Hunter, many former Swift pilots lamented the passing of their capable former mount.

Ultimately though, only two Squadrons would operate the Swift FR.5 operationally in Germany and even though over 400 aircraft were originally be ordered by the MoD, only 193 aircraft would subsequently be produced.

Supermarine Swift FR.5 XD972 was delivered to the Royal Air Force during the mid 1950s and even though she would engage in flying some of the most demanding missions performed by any aircraft in RAF service, would only enjoy a short service life. Although keeping clear of accidents and incidents throughout most of her short service life, she was written off having suffered a serious ground accident at Jever in August 1960. The damage was deemed so severe, that the aircraft was effectively reduced for spares, used to keep the rest of the Swift fleet flying.

The sight of this box artwork with Airfix branding image highlights the fact that this beautiful and deliciously unusual kit will be with us faster than a low-level reconnaissance pass by one of RAF Germany’s real Swift FR.5s. 

A really attractive looking early British jet, the Supermarine Swift FR.5 rarely receives any attention from the modelling world and is probably relatively anonymous to all but the most ardent of aviation enthusiasts. Hopefully, the re-issue of this beautiful model will allow the interesting history of the Swift to come to the attention of many more people in the future and certainly from a model display perspective, placing a Swift next to a Spitfire will undoubtedly be an aviation conversation starter. 

This attractive kit will be available within the next couple of weeks, so if you’ve been waiting to get your hands on one of these beauties, it might be worthwhile acting quickly, as it could be a while before we see it in the range again.

Before we end, could we please just remind everyone that there’s a second blog update available this weekend, where we’re exclusively showing a selection of new Consolidated B-24H Liberator built model images, pictures which really do emphasise what we all have to look forward to with the impending release of this fabulous new kit.

We are afraid that's all we have for you in this latest edition, but we will be back next Friday with more project development updates and the very latest Airfix kit exclusives. In the meantime, we are always keen to hear your views on all things Airfix and in particular, any thoughts and opinions you may have regarding our Workbench blog. If you would like to drop us a quick line, could we please ask that you use our workbench@airfix.com email for all correspondence. 

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