Chester Swee Pea

Chester Swee' Pea
Role	Racing aircraft
National origin	United States of America
Designer	Art Chester
First flight	20 July 1947
Number built	3

The Swee' Pea was a series of three midget aircraft racers designed by Art Chester.

The Swee' Pea was a racing aircraft to compete in the new midget racing class championed by race pilot Art Chester. The aircraft was the third design from Chester with a Popeye comic name.

The midget racer was required to have an engine less than 190 cubic inches in displacement at the time. The Swee' Pea shared a similar short, mid-wing taildragger configuration with other midget racers. The aircraft was unique in that it used a V tail configuration and a single cooling air intake through a large hole in the center of the spinner. The Fuselage is welded tube steel with plywood covered wings.

The Swee' Pea was introduced at the 1947 National Air Races, but the V-Tail performed poorly at takeoff speed, and was replaced by a conventional tail for the 1948 Miami races. The top speed was reduced with a conventional tail, so the V-Tail was re-installed.

Data from Sport Aviation

General characteristics

Performance

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