Can anyone identify the model of this Swallow biplane? On August 14, 1929, my great grandfather, Humphrey Woods, was fatally injured in the crash of a plane piloted by Thomas Tobiason. The plane was intentionally put into a tailspin at 3000 feet to get Woods accustomed to the sensation of spinning. (Woods was seeking to get his commercial pilot license and needed to be able to recover from a tailspin.) The plane recovered at 300 feet but went into another spin. The pilot righted it just before it crashed. It looks like the front part of the plane hit the ground with considerable forward force, suggesting that the pilot was trying to generate lift over the wings. The front landing gear is destroyed but the tail skid remains.
The August 15, 1929 Kansas City Star reported that it was a Swallow biplane. I do not think that this is a Swallow made while E. M. Laird was with the company. I would expect to see four struts leaning in the same basic direction, unless the two inner struts were built into the fuselage. The tail does not look like the New Swallow photos in which the rudder portion of the vertical stabilizer goes all the way to the top. The tail of this plane does not have the usual contour of other Swallows, perhaps because of damage from the crash. The shape of the fuselage is not as streamlined as the Swallow TP or the Swallow J5. It seems more consistent with the Swallow OX-5 and Swallow N4028, which is my best guess at present.
Thank you for your help. My Dad asked if it was a Laird Swallow on www.earlyaviators.com/elaird03.htm but never received an answer.