The Simmonds Spartan is a 1920s British two-seat biplane trainer/tourer aircraft built by Simmonds Aircraft Limited.

History

Not happy with the high cost of manufacturing light aircraft, O.E. Simmonds designed and built a wooden two-seat biplane in 1928. To reduce maintenance costs all four wings and ailerons were the same; this allowed one spare wing to be used in any position. Powered by a

Cirrus III The ADC Cirrus is a series of British aero engines manufactured using surplus Renault parts by the Aircraft Disposal Company (ADC) in the 1920s. The engines were air-cooled, four-cylinder inline types. They were widely used for private and l ...

, the prototype G-EBYU first flew in time to enter the King's Cup Air Race of 1928. The aircraft was flown to the Berlin Aero Show on 24 October 1928, a non-stop flight of 7 hours and 10 minutes. Production began at Woolston, Hampshire, with the final assembly and test flying at Hamble Aerodrome. Forty-nine aircraft were built, many for export, with New Zealand customers buying the most. At home 12 were delivered to the National Flying Services for use as trainers. Three aircraft were operated on floats in Fiji. Although not as famous as other aircraft of the period, one aircraft was ski-equipped and was notable for covering more than 45,000 miles over Norwegian mountain ranges. Three aircraft were built as three-seaters, with two passengers in tandem in front of the pilot; these were mainly used for pleasure flying. Due to the success of the Spartan, the company renamed itself Spartan Aircraft Limited and developed the design into the two-seater

Spartan Arrow The Spartan Arrow is a British two-seat biplane aircraft of the early 1930s, built by Spartan Aircraft Limited. History Built as a successor to the company's first design the Simmonds Spartan, the Arrow was a two-seat biplane with a spruce ...

and the three-seater Spartan Three Seater.

Survivors

New Zealand Simmons Spartan ZK-ABZ is situated at the Geraldine Tractor and Automobile Museum. It was flown by Geraldine based New Zealand Airways Limited, amongst others. The Shed NZ, issue 100, January-February 2022, p. 131

Operators

The aircraft was operated by flying clubs and private individuals: ; ; * Fiji Airways ; ; * New Zealand Airways ; ; *

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; ; *

National Flying Services National Flying Services Ltd was a company aiming to create and manage a large number of airfields and flying clubs around Britain. It relied on government subsidy, and it collapsed when the subsidy was withdrawn in 1934, because the aims had not ...

Specifications

References

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External links