The Spartan 8W Zeus was a prototype military aircraft trainer built by

Spartan Aircraft Company The Spartan Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturing company, headquartered on Sheridan Avenue near the Tulsa Municipal Airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Previously known as Mid-Continent Aircraft Company, the company had been reorgani ...

in the United States in 1937. It was based on the airframe of the

Spartan Executive The Spartan 7W Executive is a cabin monoplane aircraft that was produced by the Spartan Aircraft Company during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The 7W features an all-metal fuselage, as well as a retractable undercarriage. The 7W Executive was ...

civil aircraft. The sole airframe produced was designated serial number 8W-1 and was registered as NX17612

Design and development

The

Spartan 8W Zeus The Spartan 8W Zeus was a prototype military aircraft trainer built by Spartan Aircraft Company in the United States in 1937. It was based on the airframe of the Spartan Executive civil aircraft. The sole airframe produced was designated serial ...

was a conventional low-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

of metal construction, with a

semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among ot ...

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

and a cantilever wing."Aircraft Production."
''Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology''. Retrieved: August 27, 2017. Designed as a two-place trainer, the 8W drew heavily from the design of the Spartan Executive . The wing, undercarriage, and lower half of the fuselage are essentially a modified 7W structure. The upper half of the fuselage was redesigned from a 4-5 place enclosed cabin into a tandem-seat, glazed cockpit with sliding canopies. The tail was also identical to that of the 7W. The main units of the

tailwheel undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynami ...

were retractable.Savage, Jim. ''Vintage Spartan Aircraft'', 2022, pp 91-97. The Spartan 8W Zeus was powered by a

Pratt & Whitney Wasp The Pratt & Whitney Wasp was the civilian name of a family of air-cooled radial piston engines developed in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.Gunston 1989, p.114. The Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company (P&W) was founded in 1925 by Frederick B. Rentsch ...

engine.Donald 1989, p. 853.

Operational history

The intended purpose of the Zeus was to offer an advanced trainer for military use. After production of the prototype, the airplane was marketed, without success, to the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

. As a follow-up to those marketing efforts, the prototype was flown to Glendale, California in 1939 for further evaluation by the military. Again, there were no orders generated by that evaluation and the Zeus returned to the factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1940. The final role of the prototype Zeus was as training tool for students at the Spartan School of Aeronautics.Savage, Jim. ''Vintage Spartan Aircraft'', 2022, p.96.

Variants

;Spartan FBW-1 ; A concept model was introduced in an information brochure that portrayed a combat version of the 8W Zeus, with armament. The FB in the ; designation indicated Fighter-Bomber. No FBW-1's were ever produced.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Donald, David. ''Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada: Prospero Books;, 1997. . * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft''. London: Aerospace Publishing (Orbis), 1981. OCLC 774502891. * Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions, 1989. . * Savage, Jim. ''Vintage Spartan Aircraft''. Butler, Pennsylvania: 2022. ISBN 979-8-21-017985-2.

External links

8W Zeus at Aerofiles
{{Spartan Aircraft Company 1930s United States military trainer aircraft Spartan Aircraft Company aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937