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German Swifter Christian Uter loves flying his Swift throughout Europe.
In this case, however, it looks like the Czech border guards have some issues with our hero.
(Click here to visit Christian's web site. Better brush up on your German, however.)

Radium Dial Check At Border

A Canadian Cessna 170 owner says he was delayed almost three hours on the flight to AirVenture while U.S. authorities checked his aircraft and his flying partner's Globe Swift, for radioactive material in the instruments. Joe Scoles says his vintage 170 most likely has radium dials but he was shocked when the TSA official sweeping his and his partner's Swift with a detector at Port Huron, Mich., told him his aircraft was just below the limit of detectable radiation allowed in the U.S. He also said that it could have been impounded if it was above that limit. "That was a real surprise to me," he said.

The Department of Homeland Security announced last year that it would be screening aircraft coming into the country for radioactive material, but the announcement suggested they would be looking for nuclear material; Scoles said that's not the impression he got. "They knew exactly what they were looking for," he said. "They went straight to the panel.

Van Nuys Airport (VNY) in Southern California. October 1987.
It's tough to make out the "N" number in the original photo but it appears to be s/n 3684 N2384B 
which our serial number data base shows Casey Auiler in California as the current caretaker.
The Connie, for those of you who have seen the movie "One Six Right", belonged to Ascher Ward 
(a long time VNY airplane "wheeler-dealer" who is interviewed in the movie).  
To the best of my knowledge the Connie ended up in a museum.

Alaskan Swifter George Pappas writes...

"The attached pictures show some fairings that I recently made and installed. We all know about the difficulty in retracting the gear if our airspeed gets too high. I feel that this is due to the wheel closing off the wheel well at the back before the front gets closed, due to the contour of the wing. This makes an airscoop at the front ramming air in and not being able to get out the back, so the wheel well gets pressurized and holds the gear off. The purpose of the fairings is to deflect this incoming air and reduce this pressurization. With them installed, my gear will now come up at 110 kts. The first set that I made were about an inch shorter, and while I thought that they looked a little nicer, they just were not up to the task and the gear would still hang up at about 90 kts. The first photo with the gear up is to show the size of them. I use 6.00 X 6 tires. -- George Pappas"

Additional pics. Click on pics for larger version.

With a definite "Back In The Day..." flavor, the military visits the Globe plant. This pic from So-Cal Swifter Allan Erickson's collection shows, (Left to right) Globe Chief Engineer Bud Knox, Roy Browning from the Globe Sales department, Col. Shuck, Maj. Mc Keegan, Globe Chief Pilot Ted Yarbrough, and Maj. Billingsly. 
Judging by the cowl and prop, they appear to be posing with the Swift prototype GC-1 s/n 2 NX17690.
(Click here to read more about the prototype Swifts)