Early in 1948, Temco's president, Robert McCulloch, received an inquiry from the Philippine Government expressing an interest in a tandem trainer version of the Swift.

The first TE-1A was a modification of the Swift GC-1B, hand-built to rough layout drawings, the major difference in appearance being the tandem seating arrangement which resulted in a narrow windshield and an elongated two-piece canopy with a fixed bubble at the rear.

Early in 1949, Temco's management received word that the United States Air Force (USAF) planned to hold a competition for a new primary/basic trainer.

On 24 February 1949, the Air Force trainer evaluation board chose the Beech Model 45 by a four-to-one vote with Temco's TE-1A a distant third.

Late in 1949 with the engineering and tooling about 75% complete, three of the TE-1As redesigned YT-35 were entered in the revived USAF trainer competition commencing in 1950.

Following receipt of the USAF order, Temco decided that in addition to the extensive changes that had been made to the TE-1A, a 165 hp (123 kW) Franklin engine would be installed.

[1] In July 1950, the three YT-35 Buckaroos were delivered to Randolph AFB to compete with the YT-34 Mentor, the Fairchild T-31, Boulton Paul Balliol, and the de Havilland DHC-1B Chipmunk trainers.