Spartan Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1930 to 1935. It was formed by reinvestment in Simmonds Aircraft which had suffered financially.
History [edit]
In 1928 Oliver Simmonds designed and built a prototype aircraft, the Simmonds Spartan, in a factory at Woolston, Hampshire.[1] The design was a success with over 50 aircraft built.[2] Following financial difficulties and investment from Whitehall Securities Corporation Ltd[3] Simmonds Aircraft Limited changed name in 1930 to Spartan Aircraft Limited.
The first aircraft from the renamed company was the Spartan Arrow a two-seat biplane of which 15 were built.[4] The next design was a three-seat open-cockpit biplane the Spartan Three Seater. The company ceased to build aircraft in 1935.
In January 1931 Flight magazine revealed that Whitehall Securities had acquired a substantial holding in Saunders Roe Ltd. and arising out of this investment Spartan was effectively merged into Saunders Roe. Spartan Aircraft's final product was the Spartan Cruiser a three-engined light airliner developed from the Saro-Percival Mailplane.
Aircraft [edit]
Spartan Arrow 1 built by Spartan Aircraft in 1932 at
Coventry Airport, England, in June 1954. This last survivor of Spartan's production is still airworthy in 2009.
References [edit]
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing.
- Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-10014-X.
External links [edit]
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Simmonds Aircraft and Spartan Aircraft Limited aircraft
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