The Aériane Swift is a lightweight foot-launched taillesssailplane whose rigid wings have a span of 40 feet. Although designed in California, Swift aircraft are now manufactured by Aériane, a European firm based in Gembloux, Belgium. Aériane first manufactured the Swift under licence, but the firm is now the sole manufacturer. The original company sales video show interesting early footage.
Design & development
The Swift was originally conceived as a rigid hang glider with sailplane-like performance. Bright Star Gliders had developed the 1989 U.S. National Hang Gliding Championship winning Odyssey prototype. meanwhile Professor Ilan Kroo and a group of graduate students at Stanford University had developed the Stanford SWIFT design project. When Brian Porter of Bright Star met Stamford student Steve Morris, the projects merged. Bright Star constructed the revised SWIFT and its first flight took place in December 1989. The swept wing has control surfaces along the entire trailing edge: flaps occupy the inner 42%, and elevons take up 58% of the outer span. Large winglets act as vertical stabilizers and the models with an enclosed cockpit also have conventional fuselage stabilising surfaces that contribute to yaw stability. The winglets on the 1989 prototype were fixed surfaces, so the pilot effected turns using the elevons. The original Swift is now out of production, having been replaced by a refined version called the Swift'Lite. This new model has winglets that, like those on the Rutan Long-EZ, are rudders when used singly, and air-brakes when used together. In addition, compared to its predecessor, the Swift'Lite is claimed to be: 20% lighter, with lighter and more responsive controls, a lower stall speed, an improved glide ratio of 27:1, better pilot visibility and comfort, and simplified assembly procedure.
Model range
A variety of different "fuselage pods" have been fitted beneath the wings to create a range of aircraft, as follows:
an electric-powered variant has 20 minutes of powered flight per charge. Power comes from an Eck-Geiger HPD-10, 10-kilowatt motor, controller and battery system, part of a setup designed and sold by Austrian hang-gliding champion Manfred Ruhmer.
a two-seat glider used for training
The various fuselage frames are interchangeable and any can be added to the same basic wing. Swift gliders with engines have Arplast EcoProp folding propellers, which feather for soaring when then engine is turned off. Powered Swift gliders are not foot-launched, having instead two main wheels in tandem layout, and small wing-tip castors.
