Swen Swanson

Swanson designed and constructed 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.{{cite book|title=AAHS Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L04pAQAAIAAJ&q=Swanson+fahlin|year=2006|publisher=American Aviation Historical Society|page=14}} At age 19 he designed and built his second airplane, a one-person biplane, which could have been retroactively called the SS2. In 1922, while a college student, he designed his third aircraft, the biplane SS3, standing for "Swanson Sport", featuring a fuselage made of wood and monocoque design and using a two-cylinder Lawrance engine. He also designed the Kari-Keen 90 Sioux Coupe and the Arrow Sport.{{cite book|author=Joseph P. Juptner|title=U.S. Civil Aircraft Series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=54dTAAAAMAAJ&q=Swanson+fahlin|date=1 March 1993|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-8306-4366-0|page=85|quote=S. S. Swanson later designed such interesting airplane types as the lovable "Arrow Sport", the keen little "Kari-Keen", the stately "Swanson Coupe", the "Fahlin Coupe", and the "Plyma-Coupe".}} These airplanes featured the characteristic Swanson cantilever wing design.{{cite book|title=The AOPA Pilot: Voice of General Aviation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXs6AQAAIAAJ&q=Swanson+fahlin|year=1980|publisher=Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association|page=100|quote=The Kari-Keen Coupe, the Sioux Coupe and finally the Swanson Coupe were all basically the same cantilever-wing cabin ... Swanson teamed up with an old friend, propeller-maker Ole Fahlin, to upgrade the design, which Fahlin produced as ...}} The Swanson planes also shared a similar seating configuration; the two-passengers were seated beside each other.{{cite book|title=Sport Aviation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UxwqAQAAIAAJ&q=Swanson+Aircraft++keen|year=1990|publisher=Experimental Aircraft Association|volume=39|page=223|quote=A small airplane by standards of the day, it had an upper wing span of 25 ft. ... Swanson would go on to design the Kari-Keen/Sioux Coupe, his own Swan- son Coupe and, with Ole Fahlin, the Plymacoupe ... all 2-place, side-by- side, high wing ...}}

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. He worked there as chief engineer replacing their previous chief engineer, Timm. Swanson in his new role at Lincoln-Standard designed a completely new aircraft. In addition, in consultation with Harold K. Phillips, superintendent of maintenance at the company, he designed a new small airplane, the Lincoln Sport, which was a single seater and was based on his earlier design the Swanson Sport.{{cite book|title=The AOPA Pilot: Voice of General Aviation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXs6AQAAIAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association|page=105|quote=In 1923, Timm was replaced as chief engineer by Swen Swanson, who developed some entirely new commercial designs.}}{{cite book|title=U.S. Civil Aircraft|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0X5GAAAAYAAJ&q=Lincoln+sport+Swanson|year=1967|publisher=Aero Publishers|page=112|quote=Swanson came to Lincoln-Standard Airplane Co. (formerly Nebraska Aircraft Co.) in 1923, shortly after graduating from his aeronautical engineering training in Vermillion, So. Dakota, and became their chief engineer. At Lincoln-Standard in .. [...] At Lincoln-Standard in 1924, he teamed up with Harold K. Phillips, superintendent of maintenance at the L-S shop. They designed the single-place Lincoln "Sport" (largely based on designs for the earlier Swanson "Sport") — a diminutive ...}}

In 1925 Swanson left Lincoln-Standard and was hired at Arrow Aircraft Company in Havelock, Nebraska.{{cite book|title=The AOPA Pilot: Voice of General Aviation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXs6AQAAIAAJ&q=Swanson+left+in+1925+to+join+Arrow+Aircraft+in+Havelock,+Neb.,+where+he+developed+a+new+five-seater+that+drew+heavily+on+the%C2%A0...|year=1980|publisher=Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association|volume=23|page=105|quote=In 1923, Timm was replaced as chief engineer by Swen Swanson, who developed some entirely new commercial ... Swanson left in 1925 to join Arrow Aircraft in Havelock, Neb., where he developed a new five-seater that drew heavily on the .....}} At Arrow he designed a five-passenger plane, the Arrow 5.{{cite book|author=American Aviation Historical Society|title=American Aviation Historical Society Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AUJWAAAAMAAJ&q=Swen+Swanson+Arrow+5|year=1965|publisher=American Aviation Historical Society.|page=295|quote=In 1933, 01 af Fahlin and Swen Swanson, designer of the Arrow 5, Arrow Sport and Lincoln Sport, to name a few, put their heads together and dreamed up a very neat little cabin two-seater called the SF-1. It was designed around an 85 hp ...}} He also designed the Arrow Sport A2-60 which was built in 1926. In February 1929 the plane was certified as A2-60 and its price was set in the range of $2,900-3,485. The structural integrity of the airplane frame was very good and the fact that the pilot and passenger were seated beside each other, the view from the cockpit and the fact that it had controls for both passengers made the plane popular, as a trainer, among pilots. It also featured the trademark cantilever wings of Swanson's design. 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.{{cite web|title=Arrow Sport A2-60|url=http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19870076000|publisher=Smithsonian}}

Swanson's design of the Kari-Keen Coupe monoplane incorporated his trademark seating of two people alongside each other and was an unusual design at the time.{{cite book|title=The AOPA Pilot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqc9AQAAIAAJ&q=Swanson's+new+airplane+was+the+Kari-+Keen+Coupe,+a+little+side-by-side,+two-+seater+monoplane+turned+out+at+a+time+when+such+designs+were+rare.+Further,+it+was+a+fully+cantilevered+monoplane+with+a+tapered+wood-frame+wing+and+steel-tube%C2%A0...|year=1974|publisher=Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association|page=68|quote=Swanson's new airplane was the Kari- Keen Coupe, a little side-by-side, two- seater monoplane turned out at a time when such designs were rare. Further, it was a fully cantilevered monoplane with a tapered wood-frame wing and steel-tube ...}} Following the first version of the Kari-Keen Coupe, Swanson designed the Kari-Keen 90, an improved version. But the Kari-Keen factory fell victim to the Great Depression and by early 1930 it closed its doors. Swanson did not wait for long and left Kari-Keen to devote his time to the design of his Swanson Coupe W15, which has been described as "beautiful".

{{Main|Swanson Coupe}}

In 1931, after he left Kari-Keen, Swanson established the Swanson Aircraft Co. Inc. with headquarters at Hopewell, Virginia,{{cite book|title=Aero Digest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HzQfAQAAMAAJ&q=Swanson+Aircraft++keen|year=1931|publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corporation|volume=18-19|page=64|quote=THE Swanson Aircraft Company, Inc., of Hopewell, Virginia, is now producing its cantilever monoplane known as the Swanson Coupe, Model W-15, recently approved by the Department of Commerce, and powered by the Warner Scarab ...}} and built the Swanson Coupe W15 whose design incorporated new breakthroughs such as a new type of patented wing structure which enabled unobstructed views from the cockpit for both pilot and passenger even from above their heads. This was done by eliminating an extra wing span which was used to obstruct the ceiling of the cockpit and limit overhead vision.{{cite book|title=Western Aerospace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGoPAAAAIAAJ&q=Swanson+coupe|date=January 1931|publisher=Western Aviation Magazine.|page=84|quote=visibility that gives perfect forward and side vision, and for the first time, allows a full overhead vision — all for both pilot and passenger. This visibility comes from the patented wing truss, ...}}{{cite journal|title=Flying Magazine|journal = Flying|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jx9Yg9LSkAgC&pg=PA25|date=May 1931|page=25|issn=0015-4806}} Swanson did not have any commercial success with his Swanson Coupe.{{cite book|title=U.S. Civil Aircraft|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0X5GAAAAYAAJ&q=Kari+Keen+Swanson|year=1967|publisher=Aero Publishers|page=112|quote=ari-Keen" 90 was slight improvement over earlier Swanson design. Fig. 124. Neatly cowled in-line engines of "Osprey" were innovation. of his many accomplishments. Avidly interested in aeronautics, Swanson designed his first airplane in ...[...] Fretting over the inactivity, Swanson left Kari-Keen and began developing the beautiful Swanson "Coupe" model W-15. [...] Failing to achieve any success with his new "Coupe" model W-15, Swanson returned to the mid-west to design two more outstanding airplanes (the Swanson- Fahlin "Coupe" and the "Plymacoupe") before he succumbed to a very bad case of ...}} He subsequently decided to dissolve his aircraft company and go to the midwest to join the aircraft company of his friend Ole Fahlin. 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.{{cite web|title=W-15 Coupe 1931 (ATC 2-312)|url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_st.html|quote=Design carried into Swanson-Fahlin SF-1. ... 1917 = 1pOM; span: 21'0". Swanson's first construction, age 17 at the time. Possibly designated SS-1 retrospectively. 1919 = 1pOB; span: 31'0". Possibly designated SS-2 retrospectively.}}

{{main|Swanson-Fahlin SF-1}}

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 design and performance of the SF-1 was very successful. 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.{{cite news|title=Building the Vision: Paper prints history of N-B accomplishments|url=http://www.marshallnews.com/story/1181216.html|newspaper=The Marshall Democrat-News|date=December 13, 2006|author=Anita Wright}} A reviewer, writing for the Western Aviation magazine, praised the performance of the Swanson-Fahlin SF-1 writing in 1934: "Having ridden in the new ship built by Swanson & Fahlin, I wish to say that it is the nicest little ship I have ever flown".{{cite news|title=Western Aerospace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ImsPAAAAIAAJ&q=Kari+Keen+Swanson|year=1934|work=Western Aviation Magazine|pages=35–38|quote=Having ridden in the new ship built by Swanson & Fahlin, I wish to say that it is the nicest little ship I have ever flown, having ... }} The SF-1 was one of the earliest examples of an American airplane designed specifically to accommodate the Pobjoy engine.{{cite news|title=Aviation's aircraft handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQchAAAAMAAJ|year=1935|work=Aviation|page=70|quote=One of the first American planes to be designed around the Pobjoy engine has just been completed at the Nicholas-Beazley plant by Mr. Ole Fahlin, propeller manufacturer, and Mr. Swen Swanson, airplane designer. }}

{{main|Fahlin SF-2 Plymocoupe}}

In 1935,{{cite book|title=AAHS Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L04pAQAAIAAJ&q=Olaf+ole+Fahlin|year=2006|publisher=American Aviation Historical Society|volume=51|page=14}} following a competition called by the Bureau of Air Commerce, seeking design and construction proposals for an airplane affordable by the masses, Swanson designed the aircraft,{{cite book|title=Aero Digest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o23mAAAAMAAJ&q=Swanson+fahlin|year=1934|publisher=Aeronautical Digest Publishing Corporation|volume=24-25|page=30}} and Fahlin designed the propeller and produced the Fahlin SF-2 Plymocoupe which utilised the engine of a 1935 Plymouth which also featured design accents, both interior and exterior, borrowed from the same car. After flight testing by the Bureau, the Swanson-Fahlin plane design did not win the competition.{{cite book|title=AAHS Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEwpAQAAIAAJ|year=1999|publisher=American Aviation Historical Society|pages=120–122|quote=The Fahlin SF-2 Plymocoupe was also built and tested by the Bureau in the program but was apparently rejected as unsuitable.[...] Fahlin SF-2 Plymocoupe (1935)}}{{cite book|author=George W. Green|title=Flying Cars, Amphibious Vehicles and Other Dual Mode Transports: An Illustrated Worldwide History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3Y7AQAAIAAJ&q=Plymocoupe|date=30 June 2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-4556-1|page=128|quote=Now, turning to that strange phenomenon, an airplane that thinks it's a car, we run into the Plymocoupe Airplane which sported the portholes and side trim of the 1935 Plymouth. It was labeled a flying automobile because it was powered by an engine manufactured for use in a 1935 Plymouth.}}{{cite book|title=Sport Aviation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9x4qAQAAIAAJ|year=1993|volume=42|pages=172–173|quote=Damage to Owen's plane of many names - variously known as the SF- 2, Plymocoupe (also Plymacoupe and ... Ole Fahlin, known for his propeller designs, and airplane designer Swen Swanson teamed up in planning the airplane for Fahlin ...}}{{cite book|first1=Beverly Rae |last1=Kimes|author-link1=Beverly Rae Kimes |first2=Henry Austin Jr. |last2=Clark|title=Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eA4ahvS96soC&q=Fahlin+SF-2+Plymocoupe|date=2 September 1996|publisher=Krause Publications|isbn=978-0-87341-428-9|page=1206|quote=Ole Fahlin and Swen Swanson built an experimental airplane powered by a 1935 Plymouth engine converted for aviation use to ... When the Fahlm- Swanson design (called the Plymocoupe or SF-2) failed to win the government contest and ...}} The Plymocoupe was classified as a "flying automobile" because it utilised the engine of the 1935 Plymouth car. The Plymocoupe design also used many components borrowed from the car including the dashboard and the indicators.{{cite journal|title=Flying Magazine|journal = Flying|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0fUZKbk4iwC&pg=PA96|date=August 1935|page=96|quote=Here is a Plymouth Sedan and its offspring, the flying Plymo-Coupe. Many Plymouth auto parts are used in the plane. Right side of the Plymo-Coupe power plant showing that all.|issn=0015-4806}}{{cite journal|title=Flying Magazine|journal = Flying|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oo5KQUG3hpMC&pg=PA237|date=October 1935|page=237|issn=0015-4806}}

Swanson died in February 1935 of pneumonia while still building the Swanson-Fahlin SF-2 Plymocoupe. After his death, the airplane was named the Fahlin SF-2 Plymocoupe.{{cite web|title=Swanson-Fahlin SF-2 Finis [365]|url=http://www.aerofiles.com/_st.html|quote=Became known as Fahlin after Swanson's death from pneumonia in Feb 1935 during construction.}}

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.{{cite book|author=Jerry Sloniger|title=Flying Capone's Booze|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WnkcESUmcDEC&pg=PA1|date=10 June 2005|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-79266-5|pages=1–13}}

• Swanson 1917 Monoplane (possibly retroactively SS-1){{cite web |url=http://aerofiles.com/_st.html |title=American airplanes: st - sz |publisher=Aerofiles.com |date=2009-11-02 |access-date=2011-04-08}}
• Swanson 1919 Biplane (possibly retroactively SS-2)
• Swanson SS-3
• Swanson SS-4
• Swanson W-15 Coupe
• Swanson-Fahlin SF-1
• Swanson-Fahlin SF-2 Plymocoupe (aka Fahlin Plymocoupe after Swanson's death)
• Swanson-Freeman SF-4

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swanson, Swen}}

Category:Swedish designers

Category:Aircraft designers

Category:1890s births

Category:1935 deaths

Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Sweden

Category:Year of birth uncertain

Category:Date of death missing

Category:Swedish aviators