Swift Aircraft Swift

The Swift Aircraft Swift is a single engine, conventional light aircraft, seating two in side-by-side configuration. It is being developed in the UK but has yet to fly.

Design and development
The Swift is mostly built from composite materials; flying surfaces and the fuselage are formed from composite sandwiches and the wing and tailplane have carbon fibre spars. It has a low wing of trapezoidal plan with slightly upturned tips, fitted with Frise ailerons and slotted flaps. The rear surfaces are also trapezoidal. There is a trim tab in the elevator and a ground adjustable tab on the rudder.

The cockpit has a fixed windscreen and rearward-sliding canopy and is equipped with dual controls. There is a baggage space behind the side-by-side seats. The Swift has a fixed, tricycle undercarriage with the mainwheels on fuselage mounted, spring steel, cantilever legs. The mainwheels have disc brakes and the nosewheel is steerable. The Swift is designed to accept a range of Textron Lycoming horizontally opposed engines in the power range 119 - 194 kW, driving a three-bladed propeller.

The Swift program was announced in May 2009. In 2015 Swift Technology Group announced a "multi million pound investment" supporting development of the aircraft and other products, and exhibited a static display at AeroExpo UK.

In 2021, the Royal Air Force announced its intention to become carbon neutral, called Project MONET. To further this project, the UK MOD awarded a contract in 2023 to develop the Swift as a zero-emission aircraft with a possible implementation date of 2027. Swift Technology Group have begun experimenting with hemp and flax fibres in the composite panels, as well as alternate fuels, and even electric propulsion.

Variants

 * Swift II: Intended to be type certified to EASA CS-23
 * Swift M260: Military version of above, which may replace the Grob Tutor T1 in No. 6 Flying Training School RAF
 * Swift LSA: Intended to be certified to EASA CS-LSA
 * Swift VLA: Intended to be certified to EASA CS-VLA in kit and factory-complete flyaway versions