Supermarine Swift

what is it?

The Supermarine Swift is a British single-seat jet fighter aircraft that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was developed and manufactured by Supermarine during the 1940s and 1950s. The Swift featured many of the new jet age innovations, such as a swept wing.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 9.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,148 km/htop speed
• range 1,014 kmwithout refuelling
• size 9,831 kgmax take-off weight
• built 197made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 78 years ago, in 1948.
• 🏎️Top speed is 8.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.9 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,014 km: 6× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.6× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1948-12-29

introduced

1954

retired

1967

status

retired

number built

197

role

fighter, interceptor

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Supermarine

engines

1× Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R (Avon 114) / Avon

crew

1

length

12.9 m

wingspan

9.9 m

height

4 m

max take-off weight

9,831 kg

top speed

1,148 km/h

range

1,014 km

ceiling

13,960 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.