Swift N80796
Caretaker: Mick Supina, Lake Elmo, MN
Some photos of the restoration...

I would assume that's Mick under there somewhere...

Mick's story...

N80796's last landing, circa 1977, would be classified as 'good' since the pilot walked away. However, it was not classifiable as 'great' since she (the plane) has never flown since. This picture from the Swift "First 50 Years" album (below) shows how close to the grave she was. 

I acquired the project from Bob Bailey about 4 or 5 years ago. I have never done a project and would not have considered this one except for the fact that one of the largest congregations of Swifters anywhere is located right here at the Lake Elmo, MN Airport. To a person, they have all been supportive, helpful, and generous of their time, experience, tools and spare parts. Of course, the biggest influence on my decision to proceed was the local presence of Jim Montague. His knowledge, expertise, guidance and hard work have propelled the project to its current state. 

Jim has been able to get several field approvals, 337 sign-offs, etc. that have benefited the project. A few of the approved alterations include the smooth skin wings; improved hydraulic motor; Sensenich prop approval; Buckaroo wing tips, and more. At last count, Jim and I had identified over 10 other Swifts that have contributed parts to this resurrection - wings, rudder, stabilizer, gear doors - you name it! These pictures were taken during the trial fit of the Corben fiberglass cowling. A close look reveals the clecos holding it all together! It was the first time in 24 years she has looked like a proud Swift, so I could not resist sending the pictures to share, even though the cowling is not completely repainted.

The smooth skin wing shows up well in this angle...

A few specifics of interest: she has a Continental 145 HP engine; Goodyear brakes; electric booster pump; stock gear doors; basic instrumentation, but no radios yet. The battery will be aft mounted. The interior seats started out as original Swift units, but were 're-engineered' and re-built utilizing Thinsulate and light foam to remove several pounds from the original version. My wife Sue performed all the upholstery work and it can all be snapped in or removed in less than 5 minutes! The interior was not in place for these shots. There are many square feet of new skin throughout and loads of polishing work ahead. We still have lots of work to do, but I have the long Minnesota winter coming on and I have Jim's great expertise to keep me moving along the right path. Plus, all the other Swifters here continue to help in numerous ways! I am very hopeful that 80796 and I will be at some of the great Swift fly-in get-togethers in 2002! --  Mick Supina

Photo of the engine swap from Dennis Gehring's Swift.

Monty's story...

I first heard of N80796 in about 1968. I wanted to put a 180 Lyc in my Swift and I went to the Minneapolis GADO office to discuss it. The inspector was not very encouraging and went to another room and returned with a thick folder. Someone had put a 125 Lycoming engine in N80796 and all the STC information for the one-time approval was in that folder. I chickened out and used the Corben-Fette STC and installed a 150 Lycoming. I saw N80796 several times in the area over the next few years. I think it was even at Holliday's private strip near Hastings, MN for a while. About 1978 the then owner of N80796, a Mr Weddel, called me from IL and bought a big Scott tailwheel assembly from me. Not long after that, I heard Mr Weddel had wrecked the airplane in Missouri. John Halling bought it and trailered it back to MN. After he looked it over, he decided it was too big a job to repair and tried to sell it to me. There wasn't a straight piece of skin on the entire airplane. I declined, and John sold it to a guy in northern MN. That owner had it for over 10 years and never did get around to fixing it. Jerry Sarroco, of Lake Elmo, bought it about 1990 and started repairs. He soon realized how big a job he had undertaken, and sold it to Bob Bailey. Bob and Joel Sampson got the skin replacement going, but then Joel got a flying job in AZ and Bob went to Puerto Rico to fly DC-3's. Mick Supina bought the project at that point. 

N80896 has had a hard life. One of the first 337's in the logs from 2-25-50 tells of replacing the wing center section. It was previously damaged in 1949 and the belly repaired and the right flap replaced. The fuselage has been replaced, the wings have been replaced, and most of the empennage. About the only part of the original airplane is the vertical fin, and it has been repaired! 

The wings are reskinned using smooth skin with a field approval based on Jess Myers STC. Half the stall strip is removed. The center section has all new skin. The engine is an O-300A that came from Dennis Gehring when he installed a 210. The prop is a Sensenich 74DR-1-58. Sometime next year, we may be done!  --  Jim Montague

the globe temco swift homepage
back to the past featured internet swifts index...
home / calendar / scrapbook / for sale / words and pictures / flight instructors
serial numbers / factory photos / history / answer man archive / shops and mechanics
type certificate / stc / 337 / regional swift wings / swift museum foundation
swift owner homepages / links / chats