75 Years Ago Today- A Spartan Story Begins!

[tulsaboy]

On March 7, 1936, famed test pilot Eddie Allen arrived in Tulsa and made the first test flights in the Spartan Aircraft Company's "Standard Seven." This new aircraft would ultimately develop into what became known as the 7W, or the Spartan "Executive." 34 production models were ultimately built. About 20 or so survive today. At the start of WWII, many privately owned Executives were impressed into military service. They served with the USAAF, RAF and RCAF. One specially built example, the 7P, was a photo-recon version that was delivered to China and served during the early stages of WWII in the Pacific with the Chinese Nationalist Army. Some of the earliest 7Ws were exported to Mexico, and ultimately found their way into the Spanish Civil War. Not a bad military record for a civilian passenger transport built by a little company in Tulsa, OK. Amazingly enough, none are displayed at the present time in a military paint scheme. (hint hint!) Below are some photos of the Prototype, along with a couple that show the 7W in its service colors. Happy birthday to the Spartan Executive, and congratulations to all of the great Spartan owners. Jim, Steve and others- thanks for keeping your beautiful examples of this great type flying and available for all of us to appreciate!

kevin







and the fate of the 7P, in its Chinese Nationalist colors...

[The Inspector]

WOW! the first thing that came to mind looking @ the prototypes photo was 'Zarkov!-unleash the death ray cannon against Ming' What a fine example of Art-Deco design!! It almost looks like amovie prop, now where is Richard Arlen?

[tulsaboy]

Inspector-

Eddie Allen flew it in that configuration, and when he finished two days of flights said that he wouldn't fly it again until major changes were made. He said the handling characteristics in the air were horrible, mostly due to the tiny tail. You will notice that the tail was essentially removed entirely, along with the fin, and replaced with a new, larger, more traditional unit. The cowling was also proven impractical, and replaced with something that appeared a little less futuristic. Still pretty cool though, don't you think?

kevin

[The Inspector]

Right up there with the Penssy 'Zepher' and the 810 CORD roadster! looks like it's doing 250 in the chocks-

[JBSavage]

To recognize this significant event, I spent part of today polishing S/N 17. If it had not been for the snow and ice in front of the hangar door, I would have taken her up for a short flight. With the large number of Spartan enthusuasts throughout the world, there are many more chapters to be added to this great story.

[Edward Sheetmetalhands]

That dorsal fin is incredible! Had they just not gotten carried away with it, they would have been 6 years ahead of the B-17, P-47, P-51....

Was the vertical resized when they removed it?

What was going on at Spartan during the war years?

[tulsaboy]

Mr. Sheetmetalhands,

The dorsal was removed and the vertical was dramatically increased in size when the 7X evolved into the 7W. It was a wild idea that didn't work well in practice, presumably more because of the small size of the vertical than the presence of the fin. I think the fin was a neat flourish, but probably not necessary or particularly practical.

During the war years, Spartan was a beehive of activity. (prepare yourself for more info than you probably really wanted here)

Spartan was divided into three divisions- the Aircraft Factory, the School, and the Aero Repair operation. At the Aircraft Factory, the Spartan NP-1 trainer (similar to the N3N and Stearman) was built for the Navy, with a total of 201 constructed. After ceasing production of that aircraft, the factory tripled in size and geared up to build assemblies for a variety of manufacturers. Parts and major components of the B-24, A-26, P-38, B-26, B-25 and others were built on contract at Spartan. This work kept the Factory humming right through the end of the war.

The School was one of the contracted schools that the USAAF used to do basic pilot training, along with mechanics training. Spartan trained a few thousand pilots at its schools in Tulsa, Muskogee, and at the British Flying Training School #3 in Miami, OK.

The Aero Repair operation was also busy throughout the war, performing overhaul on PT-19s used at the school along with a host of other aircraft that were used by civilian and military operators throughout the war.

Hope that helps. Spartan was a happening place during the war, and continued to be so in the immediate post-war period.

kevin

[Second Air Force]

Also, the last government contract that Spartan finished was B-32 flight control surfaces. One of the first sub-contract awards was for outer wing panels for F4F Wildcats.

Unrelated (at least directly) to the Spartan operation was a HUGE Ranger engine overhaul facility that fed engines to the Spartan operations and other Primary schools in the midwest that flew the PT-19.

[tulsaboy]

Thanks, Scott! (by the way, check your e-mail!)

There was just so much going on at Spartan and in Tulsa, it is hard to sum it all up in a few sentences. Spartan also had big visions for a post-war environment, including the development of the tricycle-geared version of the 7W, known as the Model 12, and a twin engine aircraft among other ideas. They ultimately decided that the glut of war-surplus aircraft would severely depress the new aircraft market, and so J.Paul Getty redirected the factory's efforts into building travel trailers (still considered among the best constructed in the 1940's and 1950's.) The Aero Repair facility operated very successfully into the 1970's before being sold to an out-of-state company, and the school is still in operation today, for the moment in a few of its early buildings.

kevin

[Russ Blow]

When I was a kid in the early 70's we would spend all day hanging out at Norfolk Airport. One day I hear a big radial and run over to see what it was and there taxiing up to the Piedmont hangar was a awesome Spartan 7W. I walked over to admire the ship since I had only seen them in pictures and the pilot walks over and asks if I knew what it was. I said of course its a Spartan 7W! The guy got a kick out of a 11 year old knowing what it was because even then was a rare bird. And so a little later I found myself in the right seat flying over Virginia Beach. Talking about making a kids day. Heck made my year. I will never forget that.

I snapped a pic of it as it was leaving but cut off the tail so cant tell the NC number. I hope she is still flying though.

Last edited by Russ Blow on Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[tulsaboy]

What a great story, Russ! If you want to post the pic, or want to PM me and e-mail it to me, feel free. I'll bet we can ID it for you. It should still be around, and we can probably point you to some contemporary pics of it as well. Just let me know!

kevin

[Russ Blow]

What a great story, Russ! If you want to post the pic, or want to PM me and e-mail it to me, feel free. I'll bet we can ID it for you. It should still be around, and we can probably point you to some contemporary pics of it as well. Just let me know!

kevin

Just added the photo. It was a bad picture but I was just a kid with a hand me down instamatic. The trim was green. Hard to tell there. She was just taxiing out when I snapped it. Wish I had taken more but I was too busy gawking and flying

[tulsaboy]

Russ,

The Spartan you flew was 7W s/n 21, which bears the registration NC17633. At the time you flew in it, it was owned by Coke Darden. He might have been the gentleman that gave you a ride! He owned the aircraft starting in about 1964. It is now owned by Nigel Pickard and is based in the UK. Below are a couple of fun links with photo and video. Enjoy!

kevin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aeroreg/4946007402/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vng_OQ7IZ74

[Russ Blow]

Russ,

The Spartan you flew was 7W s/n 21, which bears the registration NC17633. At the time you flew in it, it was owned by Coke Darden. He might have been the gentleman that gave you a ride! He owned the aircraft starting in about 1964. It is now owned by Nigel Pickard and is based in the UK. Below are a couple of fun links with photo and video. Enjoy!

kevin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aeroreg/4946007402/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vng_OQ7IZ74

Wow Kevin thanks

I have always kept that picture on my desk and no one really could figure out why I kept some blurry picture like that. I had flown in Mooneys, Stinsons and of course Cessnas as a kid but never anything like that Spartan. The sound of that radial in flight is something I will never forget.

I Googled Mr. Darden and it appears he passed away in 2009. He was in the mid 70's a physics professor from U of South Carolina and indeed he was born in Norfolk and graduated high school here so it makes sense then why he might have been in Norfolk.

This solves an age old mystery for me. I just wish he was still around to thank him for the ride 40 years later.