 | |
| Formerly | E.M. Laird Aviation Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Predecessor | Wichita Airplane Company |
| Founded | 1920 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 1956 |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Parent | General Aero Corporation of America (1928-1933) |
The Swallow Airplane Company was an early manufacturer of airplanes.
In January 1920, the E.M. Laird Aviation Company Ltd. was started with the purchase of the six-month-old Wichita Aircraft Company, its aircraft and the factory of the Watkins Manufacturing Company. [1] Oilman Jacob Mollendick and Buick-Franklin salesman William A. Burke each contributed $15,000. [2] The first Swallow designed by Buck Weaver and was test flown in April 1920. Later, in 1921, the company moved into a new factory building on North Hillside Street. [3] Laird hired several aviators that became prominent in the business later, Buck Weaver who would co-found Waco Aircraft, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman who would develop the Swallow New Swallow. Following the departure of Emil Matthew Laird in 1923 and his formation of the E. M. Laird Airplane Company, on 22 January 1924 the company was renamed as the Swallow Airplane Manufacturing Company. [4]
Swallow was notable for producing the Swallow TP in quite large numbers, for its day. A large proportion of pilots trained in the late 1920s and early '30s did so on the TP. In late 1927, owner Mollendick bet most of the company fortune on a record setting aircraft flown by noted aviator William Portwood Erwin, the Dallas Spirit, which was lost on a record attempt to Asia concurrent with the Dole Air Race. [5] In December of the following year the company was purchased by the General Aero Corporation of America – a holding company that also counted the Cessna Aircraft Company among its assets. [6] [7] Swallow was sold again in 1933 to E. B. Christopher – who would be killed in the crash of one of the company's airplanes in 1937. [8] [9] Sam Bloomfield, the company's chief engineer, eventually took over as company president. [10] [11] No longer manufacturing complete aircraft, it existed as an aircraft mechanic school and subcontractor for the B-29 and B-47 until 1956. [12]
| Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swallow HA | 1 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow Racer | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | ||
| Swallow New Swallow | ~50 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow J4 Swallow | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | ||
| Swallow Mailplane | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | ||
| Swallow Super Swallow | ~50 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow OX-5 Swallow | ~250 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow Monoplane | 1 | Single engine cabin monoplane [12] | |
| Swallow Hisso Swallow | ~6 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow J5 Swallow | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | ||
| Swallow G-29 | 2 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow T-29 | 1 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow H | 1 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow HC Sport | 1 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow TP | ~200 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow C-165 | 1 | Single engine cabin monoplane [12] | |
| Swallow F-28-AX | 5 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow HW Sport | 1 | Single engine open cockpit biplane [12] | |
| Swallow C Coupe | 3 | Single engine cabin monoplane [12] | |
| Swallow LT65 | 1 | Single engine cabin monoplane [12] | |
Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviation, commercial, and military aircraft, ranging from light single-engined aircraft to twin-engined turboprop transports, business jets, and military trainers. Beech later became a division of Raytheon and then Hawker Beechcraft before a bankruptcy sale turned its assets over to Textron. It remains a brand of Textron Aviation.
The Travel Air Manufacturing Company was an aircraft manufacturer established in Wichita, Kansas, United States in January 1925 by Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, and Lloyd Stearman.
Clyde Vernon Cessna was an American aircraft designer, aviator, and early aviation entrepreneur. He is best known as the principal founder of the Cessna Aircraft Corporation, which he started in 1927 in Wichita, Kansas.
Lloyd Carlton Stearman was an American aviator, aircraft designer, and early aviation entrepreneur.
The Barkley-Grow Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer established by Archiebald St Clair Barkley and Captain Harold Barkley Grow in Detroit in 1936 to produce a small civil transport which incorporated Barkley's patented wing design, the Barkley-Grow T8P-1.
Monocoupe Aircraft was a manufacturer of light airplanes originally produced in the late 1920s and 30s. They introduced relatively inexpensive, compact, and sporty aircraft in an era of large, maintenance intensive, open-cockpit biplanes, and the Monocoupe series was one of the first economical, closed-cabin, two-seat, light aircraft in the United States. As a result, the Monocoupe soon became a successful brand.
The Travel Air 2000 is an open-cockpit biplane aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s by the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. During the period from 1924–1929, Travel Air produced more aircraft than any other American manufacturer, including over 1,000 biplanes. While an exact number is almost impossible to ascertain due to the number of conversions and rebuilds, some estimates for Travel Air as a whole range from 1,200 to nearly 2,000 aircraft.
International Aircraft Corporation was an American 1920s aircraft manufacturer located in Ancor near Newtown, Ohio.
The International F-18 Air Coach was a 1920s American biplane transport that was designed and manufactured by the International Aircraft Corporation in Long Beach, California. The company stopped manufacturing F-18's by 1928 and sold its rights to the aircraft in 1931.
The American Eagle Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft design and manufacturing company which existed briefly in Kansas, but which was a victim of the Great Depression, after building some 500 light airplanes, many of which were the Model A-129, a design attributed to noted aviation pioneer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca.
The New Standard D-29 was a trainer aircraft produced in the US from 1929 to 1930. It was a conventional biplane design with a fuselage constructed from duralumin members riveted and bolted together, and the wings were made with spruce spars and bass-wood and plywood built-up ribs. Deliberately built to be rugged and simple the D-29 was moderately successful, but had to compete with the Swallow TP.
EDO Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturing company known primarily for manufacturing pontoons for floatplanes.
The Columbia Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, which was active between 1927 and 1947.
The Swallow New Swallow, also known as the Swallow Commercial Three-Seater is an American-built general purpose biplane of the mid- to late 1920s. The New Swallow name was to distinguish it from the aircraft from which it was derived, the Laird Swallow.
Metal Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer of transport aircraft. The company was a pioneer in all-metal construction at a time when the technology was in its infancy.
Emil Matthew Laird was a pioneering American aircraft designer, builder, pilot, and businessman. He put the first commercial aircraft into production at his E. M. Laird Aviation Company.
E. M. Laird Airplane Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of commercial aircraft and custom race planes.
Knoll Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Wichita, Kansas.
The history of Wichita details the history of Wichita, Kansas from its initial settlement in the 1860s to the present day.
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