Swallow TP

Design and construction

The TP was a simple and rugged biplane design with room for an instructor and student in tandem open cockpits. The fuselage was made from welded steel tubing, faired to shape and then fabric covered. The wings were typical of the day with Spruce spars, spruce & plywood ribs with fabric covering. Built to be easy to fly, and for ease of maintenance, the Swallow TP was quite popular with nearly 200 being built. Initially the TP was offered with the ubiquitous Curtiss OX-5. Later, it was offered with a choice of a Siemens-Halske, Kinner, or Warner engines. Most customers opted for the OX-5 which was the cheapest.

Variants

TP

Main production variant with a Curtiss OX-5 engine, about 200 built.

TP-K

Production variant with a five-cylinder Kinner K-5 engine, 20 to 25 built.

TP-W

Production variant with a seven-cylinder Warner Scarab engine, three built

TP-Sh

Production variant with seven-cylinder Siemens-Halske Sh 14 engine.

Specifications (Swallow TP)

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Capacity: 1 passenger

Length: 23 ft 7 in (7.19 m)

Wingspan: 30 ft 11 in (9.4 m)

Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)

Wing area: 296 ft² (27.5 m²)

Empty weight: 1,283 lb (583.2 kg)

Gross weight: 1,825 lb (829.55 kg)

Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss OX-5, 90 hp (67 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 90 mph (144 km/h)

Cruise speed: 75 mph (120 km/h)

Stall speed: 33 mph (53 km/h)

Range: 300+ miles (483 km)

Service ceiling: 15,500 ft (4,724 m)

Rate of climb: 650 ft/min (3.3 m/s)