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 plywood fuselage. The prototype G-AAWY first flew in May 1930 with a
Cirrus Hermes II engine. The 13 production aircraft that followed used mainly the
de Havilland Gipsy II
The de Havilland Gipsy is a British air-cooled four-cylinder in-line aircraft engine designed by Frank Halford in 1927 to replace the ADC Cirrus in the de Havilland DH.60 Moth light biplane. Initially developed as an upright 5 litre (300 ...
engine.
One aircraft, G-ABBE, was fitted with floats and evaluated as a seaplane in 1931. It was converted back to a landplane and later sold in
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, where it was renumbered as ZK-ACQ.
A second aircraft, G-ABHD, was sold to Australia where it was renumbered as VH-UQD.
A third aircraft, G-ACHG, was sold to Denmark where it was renumbered as OY-DUK.
One aircraft, G-ABST, was built to test a new air-cooled Napier engine (later knowns as the
Javelin
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...
). The second prototype G-AAWY was also used by
Cirrus Aero Engines as an engine test bed. Production of the Arrow ended in 1933.
Production
Two prototypes and 13 production aircraft were built at Weston, Southampton, and after 20 February 1931 at
East Cowes
East Cowes is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. It has a population of 8,428 according to the United Kingdom Census ...
,
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...
.
Tail Number Model Serial Location
G-AAWY Spartan Arrow 51 United Kingdom
G-AAWZ Spartan Arrow 52 United Kingdom
G-ABBE Spartan Arrow 75 United Kingdom
K-ACQ Spartan Arrow 75 New Zealand
G-ABKL Spartan Arrow 76 United Kingdom
G-ABGW Spartan Arrow 77 United Kingdom
G-ABWP Spartan Arrow 78 United Kingdom
G-ABWR Spartan Arrow 79 United Kingdom
G-ABHD Spartan Arrow 80 United Kingdom
VH-UQD Spartan Arrow 80 Australia
G-ABHR Spartan Arrow 81 United Kingdom
G-ABMK Spartan Arrow 82 United Kingdom
G-ABOB Spartan Arrow 83 United Kingdom
G-ACHE Spartan Arrow 84 United Kingdom
G-ACHF Spartan Arrow 85 United Kingdom
G-ACHG Spartan Arrow 86 United Kingdom
OY-DUK Spartan Arrow 86 Denmark
G-ABST Spartan Arrow 87 United Kingdom
Survivors
G-ABWP a
Cirrus Hermes II powered Arrow (constructor's number 78) survives in flying condition based at
Redhill Aerodrome
Redhill Aerodrome is an operational general aviation aerodrome located south-east of Redhill, Surrey, England, in green belt land. It also serves as an important reliever airport for Gatwick airport.
Redhill Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary L ...
in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
Operators
The aircraft was operated by flying clubs and private individuals:
;
;
;
;
;
;
Specifications
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
Simmonds/ Spartan Aircraft
in Flight, 7 November 1930.
{{Spartan aircraft limited aircraft
1930s British civil utility aircraft
Arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
Biplanes
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1930