Spartan C2

Spartan C2
Role	sport aircraft Type of aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Spartan Aircraft Company
Designer	Willis Brown[1]
First flight	1931[2]
Number built	over 56[1]

The Spartan C2 is a light aircraft produced in the United States in the early 1930s as a low-cost sport machine that would sell during the Great Depression.

The C2 is a conventional, low-wing monoplane design with two seats side-by-side in an open cockpit.^[2][3] The wing was braced with struts and wires and it carried the main units of the divided fixed undercarriage. Power was supplied by a small radial engine mounted tractor-fashion in the nose, which drove a two-bladed propeller.

Spartan introduced the C2 in 1931 with a 55-hp engine, and sold 16 examples before ongoing economic circumstances brought production to a halt.^[2] Spartan then built 2 examples with 165-hp engines to use in their own flying school. These latter aircraft were fitted with hoods that could be closed over the cockpit for training pilots in instrument flying.^[1][4] Spartan offered this version to the U.S. military as a trainer,^[5] but officials at the time believed that low-wing monoplanes were unsuitable for pilot training.^[4] Spartan also tendered a proposal to the U.S. Bureau of Air Commerce to provide its inspectors with a two-seat light aircraft.^[5] The design in question was probably the C2-60,^[5] but in any case, the tender was not accepted.^[5]

• C2-60 — initial production version with 55–60 hp (41–45 kW) Jacobs L-3 engine (16 built)^[1][2]
• C2-165 — trainer with 165 hp (123 kW) Wright J-5 engine and hood for instrument training for Spartan School of Aeronautics (2 built)^[1]

• Spartan School of Aeronautics (2 × C2-165)

Three C2s are preserved in museums — a restored example on display at the Tulsa Air and Space Museum,^[6] a restored and flyable example at the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon, and an example awaiting restoration at the Golden Wings Flying Museum, Blaine, Minnesota.^[7]

Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1931,^[8] Aerofiles: Spartan^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 1 pax
• Length: 22 ft 5.25 in (6.8390 m)
• Wingspan: 40 ft (12 m)
• Height: 6 ft 11.5 in (2.121 m)
• Wing area: 161.8 sq ft (15.03 m²)
• Airfoil: Clark Y
• Empty weight: 684 lb (310 kg)
• Gross weight: 1,125 lb (510 kg)
• Fuel capacity: Fuel:15 US gal (12 imp gal; 57 L); Oil:1.5 US gal (1.2 imp gal; 5.7 L)
• Powerplant: 1 × Jacobs L-3 3-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 60 hp (45 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed metal propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 95 mph (153 km/h, 83 kn)
• Cruise speed: 80 mph (130 km/h, 70 kn) </li.
• Landing speed: 39 mph (34 kn; 63 km/h)
• Range: 320 mi (510 km, 280 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 13,000 ft (4,000 m) service
• Rate of climb: 800 ft/min (4.1 m/s) initial
• Wing loading: 6.96 lb/sq ft (34.0 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 18.756 lb/hp (11.409 kg/kW)

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Aeronca C-2
• American Eagle Eaglet
• Curtiss-Wright Junior
• Okamura N-52
• Rearwin Junior

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spartan C2.

Notes

Bibliography

• "C2-60, -165". Aerofiles. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
• "The Spartan Aircraft Company". AirVenture Museum. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
• "Aircraft". Golden Wings Flying Museum. Archived from the original on 2011-01-20. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing. p. 2955.
• "Spartan's Aircraft Manufacturing History". Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 835.
• "Exhibits". Tulsa Air and Space Museum. Archived from the original on 2011-03-18. Retrieved 2011-02-27.