The Globe Temco Swift Homepage

I'm sending some pictures that show my latest project. I'm afraid the argument could be made that it's more a testament to how long and cold the winters are here in Anchorage than it is to my ingenuity.

The first photo shows my Swift, ready for flight. Notice that there are no Dzus Buttons, screws or Camlocks holding the cowling in place. It doesn't show, but also there is no service door through which to pour oil all over the engine.

The second photo shows the " Hood Release " pulled. When in the stowed or locked position, it is retracted into the cowl opening and is not visible.

The third photo shows the cowling open for preflight. Developing the hinge positions and lengths was quite a challenge. Without the hinges, it was necessary to remove the cowl and place it on the tarmac, and then put it back on.

The fourth photo shows the cowl slightly open but with the latch in the locked position, so the hooks that secure the cowl are exposed. There are three hooks, ganged together on each side rail that all work in unison. Additionally, there is one in the center at the aft edge of the cowl that engages the firewall. All work from a cable system that passes through a conduit pulls them all locked or unlocked together with the movement of the release lever shown in photo two.

The last photo is a shot of my hydraulic unit with a sight gauge .
This way I don't have to overfill it to know that it is full.

I hope these photo's are interesting. It was sure a challenge to get it to all come together, and I'll admit that there were times when I wondered it I could.
--George Pappas

Editor's note...

George Pappas' Swift was featured in the September 1991 issue of "Private Pilot" magazine. It was also on the cover, which is a neat deal. Anyway... Rebuilt from bits and pieces of a seriously damaged Swift, this Temco built Globe Swift N78198 is now known as an experimental "Pappas No. 201".
This excerpt from the article tells us why...

"He took...32.5 inches off each wing, beefed up the wing structure, designed and built leading-edge wing cuffs, enlarged the tail feathers, added a ventral fin, flush-riveted the entire machine and added a larger engine (210hp Continental) and controllable prop."

The FAA felt that the airplane was so modified that is was no longer a "Globe" or "Temco" Swift. Thus it is classified as an experimental. That works just fine for George who enjoys the freedom it gives him to make other changes, like the cowling.