[3] Swanson designed and constructed[4] his first home-built airplane in 1915 when he was 17 years old which was a one-person monoplane which could have been retroactively named the SS1.
[9] In 1923, Swanson had already graduated from the Aeronautical Engineering School at Vermillion, South Dakota and joined the Lincoln-Standard Airplane Co. previously known as the Nebraska Aircraft Company.
[10][11] In 1925 Swanson left Lincoln-Standard and was hired at Arrow Aircraft Company in Havelock, Nebraska.
By 1931, approximately 100 planes had been built, but due to the Great Depression the market for recreational airplanes collapsed and the manufacturer went into receivership in 1940.
This was done by eliminating an extra wing span which was used to obstruct the ceiling of the cockpit and limit overhead vision.
[6] The Swanson Coupe became the basis of the first airplane produced jointly by them, the Fahlin SF-1, which in turn was the precursor of the Swanson-Fahlin SF-2 Plymocoupe.
[4] Swen Swanson designed and built along with Fahlin the first airplane of their partnership, the SF-1, which stood for Swanson-Fahlin Model 1.
The plane was built in the facilities of the Nicholas-Beazley Airplane Company, which had provided working space for Fahlin at their Marshall, Missouri plant.
[29][26] Swanson is mentioned in Jerry Sloniger's 2005 book 1924: Flying Capone's Booze, where he appears as the chief engineer of the Lincoln-Standard Airplane Company.