The Swift was designed shortly after Nicholas Comper’s departure from the Royal Air Force to focus on the project.
It proved to be a relatively successful long distance touring aircraft, conducting multi-day flights to Australia and across the United States amongst other destinations.
The Swift would most closely resemble the C.L.A.3, but represented a considerable advance on this aircraft in terms of its performance, controllability, comfort, and appearance.
[1] A key design goal set by Comper for the Swift was to minimise the presence of blind spots, a factor that had undermined the prospects of countless aircraft that were otherwise ideal.
[2] This principal of prioritising optimal external visibility for the pilot dictated many attributes and characteristics of the aircraft, such as the placement of the cockpit aft of the high-mounted wing.
This in turn necessitated the use of a relatively lightweight engine in order to maintain appropriate weight distribution across the aircraft as there was a considerable amount of vertical surface area placed forward of the center of gravity.
The Swift had a relatively slim appearance with various clean and aesthetically pleasing lines, the fuselage being heavily streamlined, except for the cockpit and a fairly restrictive width adhered to.
[citation needed] A new-build aircraft, registered G-ECTF, and built according to the original plans, powered by a Pobjoy Cataract engine, flew for the first time on 2 October 2015.
[18][19] Data from British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 2,[22] National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics[23]General characteristics Performance