Spartan Aircraft
The last surviving Spartan aircraft, an Arrow, still airworthy as of 2016 | |
| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aircraft manufacturing |
| Predecessor | Simmonds Aircraft |
| Founded | Woolston, Hampshire, UK 1930 |
| Founder | Oliver Simmonds |
| Fate | Merged with Saunders Roe, 1935 |
| Products | Civil aircraft |
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]- Simmonds Spartan
- Spartan Arrow – first flight 1930, 15 built
- Spartan Three Seater – first flight 1931, 25 built
- Spartan Cruiser – passenger, first flight 1932 17 built
- Spartan Clipper – 1 built 1932
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "Simmonds-Spartan Production". Archived from the original on 9 April 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
- ^ Flight 1929
- ^ A Pearson Group company
- ^ Jackson, 1974, p. 180
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.