The Spartan 12W Executive was a

tricycle gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

post-war development of the

Spartan 7W 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 ...

, produced by the

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 ...

.Taylor 1989, p. 983. The 12W was intended to have higher performance and be more economical than the 7W.Eckland, K.O
"American airplanes: Spartan."
''Aerofiles.com'', October 6, 2007. Retrieved: August 27, 2017.

Design and development

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Spartan aircraft Company president

J. Paul Getty Jean Paul Getty Sr. (; December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American petroleum industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company in 1942 and was the patriarch of the Getty family. A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was the son of pion ...

was unsure of the market potential of a new executive aircraft."Spartan History."
''spartanexecutive.com'', 2003. Retrieved: August 28, 2017. After building just one model 12W Executive (NX21962), the manufacturer lost interest in luxury aircraft and focused on constructing

travel trailer A caravan, travel trailer, camper, tourer or camper trailer is a Trailer (vehicle), trailer towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent (although there are popup camper, fold-down ...

s instead.Donald 1989, p. 853. The sole example produced was owned by Spartan Aircraft and employed at their flight training school in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. The Spartan 12W Executive features

magnesium alloy Magnesium alloys are mixtures of magnesium (the lightest structural metal) with other metals (called an alloy), often aluminium, zinc, manganese, silicon, copper, rare earths and zirconium. Magnesium alloys have a hexagonal lattice structur ...

wings and tail surfaces and range extending wing tip-tanks. The magnesium alloy skin quickly corroded and was replaced with

aluminum alloy An aluminium alloy ( UK/IUPAC) or aluminum alloy ( NA; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There ...

. The tip-tanks were also removed.

Aircraft on display

Spartan Aircraft flight training school eventually sold the Spartan 12W. Over the years, the aircraft passed through a number of private owners' hands. The 12W was restored in 1967 and in 2012 was retired. The 12W is now on static display at the

Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium The Tulsa Air and Space Museum (TASM) is an ''aerospace museum'' in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in the northwest corner of the Tulsa International Airport property. It has of historical exhibits, hands-on activities, and vintag ...

.Stewart, D.R
"One-of-a-kind Spartan Model 12 plane comes home to Tulsa."
''Tulsa World'', September 28, 2012. Retrieved: August 27, 2017.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Davisson, Budd. "Spartan Executive." ''Air Progress'', March 1971. * Donald, David. ''Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada: Prospero Books;, 1997. . * Taylor, Michael J. H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation''. London: Studio Editions, 1989. .

External links

Photo of model 12WPhoto of model 12W
{{Spartan Aircraft Company 1940s United States civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Spartan Aircraft Company aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1946 Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear