Swallow New Swallow

[3][note 1] The Swallow Airplane Manufacturing Co was formed in 1923 to take over the business of the E.M. Laird Aviation Co. of Wichita, Kansas and set up its factory there.

In 1924, the New Swallow three-seat biplane was introduced, which differed from the earlier Laird-Swallow in having a cowled engine, split axle undercarriage and single-bay wings.

When the Air Mail Act of 1925 came into force, Walter Varney tendered for route CAM 5,[5][6] which connected Pasco, Washington with Elko, Nevada via Boise, Idaho,[6][7] crossing the Cascade Mountains.

[5][6][7] These aircraft, sometimes known as the Swallow Mailplane[5][7] differed from the current production version by being equipped with a 160-hp (119-kW) Curtiss C-6 water-cooled, inline engine.

[6][7][8] Pilot Leon Cuddeback[7] transported 9,285 pieces of mail, weighing 207 pounds (93.9 kg), plus bottles of grape juice intended for President Calvin Coolidge.

1976 postage stamp commemorating 50 years of commercial aviation in the United States. The lower aircraft is a Swallow Mailplane with its original Curtiss inline engine, in the livery of Varney Air Lines