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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0737.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 22, 1932 yfp r The Spartan "Cruiser ;; X [|l—'HERE was a time, \J) II and not so very long III ago, when it was a common thing to hear the complaint that a potential purchaser of aircraft could not obtain from a British firm anything between the light aeroplane two-seater of some 100 h.p. and the large commercial " air liner " of several hundred or even over 1,000 h.p. During the last two years things have changed radically, and there are now available to the purchaser of aircraft a very complete range of types and sizes, from the smallest single-seater through two-seaters, three-seaters, four seaters and six-seaters, to the small, intermediate and large commercial aircraft. He would be a difficult man to please who could not find among them a type to suit his parti cular needs. A six-seater which has recently made its appearance, and which should find a large field of usefulness, is the new three-engined monoplane pro duced at Cowes by Spartan Aircraft, Ltd., and to be marketed as the Spartan " Cruiser." The close connec tion between Spartan Aircraft and Saunders-Roe, Ltd., is doubtless responsible for the similarity in structural features to Saro flying boats which the " Cruiser " exhibits. These features have by now been well tried out in such types as the Saro " Cutty Sark," " Wind hover " and " Cloud " flying boats, and their application to THE SPARTAN "CRUISER" Three Gipsy III Engines Dimensions Wing span Length overall. . Height overall Wing area Area of ailerons Area of tailplane Area of elevators Area of fin Area of rudder Weights (Passe Tare Pilot Five passengers Luggage Fuel for 4 hours Oil Loaded weight Weights Tare Pilot Freight Fuel for 6 hours Oil Loaded weight Per/ Maximum speed Cruising speed Initial rate of climb . Ceiling When fully loaded, tl maintain height, but the three e Ft. in. .. 54 0 . . 39 2 .. 10 0 Sq. ft. .. 436-0 40-3 30-5 31-5 12-0 20-0 nger Machine) Lb. . . 3,400 170 850 100 600 70 .. 5,190 (Freighter) Lb. . . 3,320 170 . . 1,000 900 75 .. 5,465 ormance i M. 16,45 11,95 3,05 M2. 40,5 3,74 2,84 2,93 1,11 1,86 Kg. 1 545 77 386 45 273 32 2 358 Kg. 1 508 77 455 410 34 2 485 M.p.h. Km./hr. 1 135 110 217 177 600ft./min. (3,05 13,000 ft (3 960 le machine will not m./sec.) m.) only will climb with either of ngines stopped. a landplane type is to be re garded as very sound business. Fitted with three de Havil- land " Gipsy III " inverted engines, the " Cruiser " carries, when equipped for passenger work, five passen gers in addition to the pilot. This represents a power of 72 h.p. per paying passenger, which cannot be regarded as excessive in view of the good performance of the machine. When the cabin furnishings are removed and the " Cruiser " used as a freight carrier, the pay load becomes 1,000 lb., or 2.78 lb./h.p., for an endur ance of 6 hours and a cruising range of approximately 700 miles. If the range is short ened, the pay load is, of course, correspondingly in creased. As the machine has been designed to, and actually does, fly on any two of its three engines, it should cruise at a power expenditure low enough to ensure that engine failure should be almost un known, and forced landings to all intents and purposes eliminated. The ratio of gross weight to tare weight is always worth examining, as it represents to some extent the " structural efficiency " of the aircraft. For the Spartan " Cruiser " as a passenger machine the ratio is 1.53, and for the freight- carrier it is 1.65. Both figures must be regarded as good, and indicate that considerable en gineering skill has been brought to bear on the struc tural design. 689
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