Photos by Jan Morgan
Collection Gift Guide: First-Class Retro Flight Plan
December 2, 2003
1937 Spartan 7W Executive
Starting out as a small company that built
nondescript trainers in the early 1930s, Spartan Aircraft changed course in 1937
with the introduction of the Spartan 7W Executive. The company’s owner, Oklahoma
oilman W.G. Skelly, envisioned fast, luxurious transport for the superrich, and
that is exactly what he got in that era’s equivalent of the Learjet. Flown
almost exclusively by tycoons and heads of state (one was custom fitted and
delivered to the king of Iraq), the Spartan was the fastest production aircraft
available. Seating five and sporting a top speed of 212 mph, the Executive was
faster than any commercial airliner and a match for many of the military pursuit
aircraft of the era. But in spite of standing out as perhaps the most advanced
and beautiful aircraft of its time, the Depression helped hold production to
fewer than 40 examples, and only 10 are known to be flying today.
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The Learjet of its day, the Spartan Executive was the preferred transport of
business executives and despots alike in the late 1930s. (Click image to enlarge)Built of stressed aluminum over lightweight aluminum ribs (rather than the steel tubing and fabric of most ’30s aircraft), the Spartan carried a powerful and reliable 450 hp supercharged Pratt & Whitney 9-cylinder radial engine. The Spartan Executive was all about power, speed, luxury, and presence. The large interior was finished in the manner of a contemporary Packard or Duesenberg, featuring cloth seats and headliner trimmed in leather. The deep rear seat had plenty of legroom and could hold three across, and the cabin was fully insulated to reduce in-flight sound levels.
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A flight in a Spartan gives a taste of the high life, circa 1937.
Interiors were outfitted like luxury cars. (Click image to enlarge)The 10th aircraft constructed, this particular Spartan Executive—NC17605—was originally delivered to Bodine Drilling Co. in Kansas in 1937. Air racer Arlene Davis acquired the aircraft in 1939 and entered it in the Los Angeles–to–Cleveland Bendix Trophy Race. The Spartan finished fifth behind the hottest military aircraft of the period.
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To fly the Spartan is to
visit another era. It is a big step up onto the wing and a short walk to the
cabin door. Inside, this aircraft maintains originality by being upholstered in
high-quality cloth. The seats are adjustable, and even a short-legged pilot can
find a comfortable position to operate the controls and reach the rudder pedals.
The instrument panel is well laid out, with logical placement of the important
controls for the magnetos, battery master, flap, and landing gear. A large
single control wheel with a flip-over capability sits on a polished aluminum
column. (Click image to enlarge)
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