Spartan Clipper

Last updated

Clipper
SClipper.jpg
Role Civil touring aeroplane
Manufacturer Spartan Aircraft Limited
Designer H.E. Broadsmith
First flight 14 December 1932
Retired Destroyed 4 May 1942
Primary user Spartan Aircraft Limited
Produced 1932
Number built 1

The Spartan Clipper was a British light touring aeroplane of the 1930s. It was a single-engine, two-seat, low-wing monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage.

Monoplane fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with a single main wing plane, in contrast to a biplane or other multiplane, each of which has multiple planes.

Contents

Development

H.E. Broadsmith designed the Clipper as a two-seater; he employed the outer wings of the Monospar ST-4. Spartan Aircraft Limited built one example at their East Cowes works in 1932. The aeroplane was initially fitted with a 75-hp Pobjoy R motor. Registered G-ACEG it flew for the first time on 14 December 1932. After modification to undercarriage, cabin glazing and cowling, it received a Certificate of Airworthiness on 29 June 1933.

General Aircraft Monospar

The General Aircraft Monospar was a 1930s British family of touring and utility aircraft built by General Aircraft Ltd (GAL).

Spartan Aircraft Ltd

Spartan Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1930 to 1935. It was formed by reinvestment in Simmonds Aircraft which had suffered financially.

Pobjoy R

The Pobjoy R is a British seven-cylinder, radial, air-cooled, aircraft engine designed and built by Pobjoy Airmotors. Introduced in 1926 it was a popular engine for ultralight and small aircraft in the 1930s. A notable feature of the Pobjoy R was the propeller reduction gear which allowed the small engine to operate at more desirable higher speeds.

In 1933 the Clipper was raced in the King's Cup Race.

Kings Cup Race

The King's Cup Race is an annual British handicapped cross-country air race, is run by the Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association and was first contested on 8 September 1922. The event was open to British pilots only, but that did include members of the Commonwealth.

In 1938, it was re-engined with a Pobjoy Niagara III of 90-hp, after which it was used as a company hack until 4 May 1942, when it was destroyed in an air raid on Cowes.

Pobjoy Niagara

The Pobjoy Niagara is a British seven-cylinder, air-cooled, radial, aero-engine first produced in 1934. The design ran at higher speeds than conventional engines, and used reduction gearing to lower the speed of the propeller. This led to a noticeable off-centre mounting for the propeller. The Niagara was a popular engine for light and experimental aircraft, well regarded due to its small diameter, smooth operation, low noise and innovative engineering.

Cowes town on the Isle of Wight, England

Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry.

Specifications (S.5)

Data from British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 3 [1]

General characteristics

Wingspan distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip of an airplane or an animal (insect, bird, bat)

The wingspan of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777-200 has a wingspan of 60.93 metres, and a wandering albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of 3.63 metres, the official record for a living bird. The term wingspan, more technically extent, is also used for other winged animals such as pterosaurs, bats, insects, etc., and other fixed-wing aircraft such as ornithopters. In humans, the term wingspan also refers to the arm span, which is distance between the length from one end of an individual's arms to the other when raised parallel to the ground at shoulder height at a 90º angle. Former professional basketball player Manute Bol stands at 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) and owns one of the largest wingspans at 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m).

In aviation, manufacturer's empty weight (MEW) is the weight of the aircraft "as built" and includes the weight of the structure, power plant, furnishings, installations, systems and other equipment that are considered an integral part of an aircraft before additional operator items are added for operation.

Aircraft engine engine designed for use in powered aircraft

An aircraft engine is a component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines, except for small multicopter UAVs which are almost always electric aircraft.

Performance

Related Research Articles

Airspeed Courier aircraft

The Airspeed AS.5 Courier was a British six-seat single-engined light aircraft that saw some use as an airliner. Production aircraft were built by Airspeed (1934) Limited at Portsmouth. It first flew on 10 April 1933 and was the first British type with a retractable undercarriage to go into production, with a total of 16 built.

Short Scion

The Short S.16 Scion and Scion II were 1930s British two-engine, cantilever monoplanes built by Short Brothers and by Pobjoy Airmotors and Aircraft Ltd. in Rochester, Kent between 1933 and 1937. Altogether 22 Scion/Scion II aircraft were built and they provided useful service to operators working from small airstrips/water courses in many parts of the globe, including Europe, the Near and Middle East, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Many were impressed into the RAF during the Second World War, providing pilot ferry services, anti-aircraft co-operation and radar calibration duties. Of the civilian Scions, at least two were still operating in Australia in 1966, one having been re-engined with de Havilland Gipsy Minor engines.

Spartan Cruiser

The Spartan Cruiser was a 1930s British three-engined transport monoplane for 6 to 10 passengers built by Spartan Aircraft Limited at East Cowes, Isle of Wight. It was a development of the Saro-Percival Mailplane for passenger use.

Spartan Arrow

The Spartan Arrow is a British two-seat biplane aircraft of the early 1930s, built by Spartan Aircraft Limited.

Saro Shrimp

The Saunders Roe A.37 Shrimp was a 1930s British two-seat four-engined experimental flying boat built by Saunders-Roe Limited ("Saro") at Cowes.

Miles Monarch

The Miles M.17 Monarch was a British, light, touring aeroplane of the 1930s. It was a single-engine, three-seat, cabin monoplane with a fixed, tailwheel undercarriage.

ANEC I

The ANEC I and ANEC II were 1920s British single-engine ultralight aircraft designed and built by Air Navigation and Engineering Company Limited at Addlestone Surrey. One was privately constructed in Brisbane, Australia.

Arrow Active

The Arrow Active is a British aerobatic aircraft built in the 1930s.

BAT Baboon

The BAT F.K.24 Baboon was a British two-seat training biplane produced by British Aerial Transport Company Limited of London during World War I.

Comper Swift

The Comper C.L.A.7 Swift is a British 1930s single-seat sporting aircraft produced by Comper Aircraft Company Ltd of Hooton Park, Cheshire.

Bristol Primary Trainer

The Bristol Taxiplane and Bristol Primary Trainer were British single-engine biplane light aircraft built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in the early 1920s. A total of 28 were built, being mainly used as trainers.

British Aircraft Swallow

The B.A Swallow was a British light aircraft of the 1930s. It was a license-built version by the British Klemm Aeroplane Company of the German Klemm L.25. A total of 135 were built.

British Aircraft Eagle

The B.A. Eagle was a light aircraft manufactured in the United Kingdom during the 1930s. It was a three-seat low-wing monoplane built by the "British Klemm Aeroplane Company" Production was limited, with 43 aircraft built.

Bristol Type 84 Bloodhound

The Bristol Bloodhound was a British two-seat reconnaissance/fighter aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a possible replacement for the Bristol F.2 Fighter for the Royal Air Force. It was unsuccessful, only four prototypes being built.

Praga E.114 aircraft

The Praga E.114 was a single-engine sport airplane, designed and manufactured by the Czechoslovakian company ČKD-Praga. Due to its light weight it was also called Air Baby.

Miles Satyr

The Miles M.1 Satyr was a 1930s British single-seat aerobatic biplane designed by F.G. Miles and built for him by George Parnall and Company.

Moss M.A.1

The Moss M.A.1 was a British light two-seat low-winged sporting monoplane of the 1930s.

The Shapley Kittiwake is a 1930s British two-seat gull wing monoplane designed and built by Errol Spencer Shapley at Torquay, Devon.

Cranwell CLA.4

The Cranwell CLA.4 was a single-engined two-seat inverted sesquiplane designed and constructed for the 1926 Lympne trials by an amateur group from RAF College Cranwell. Two were entered, though engine problems prevented one from taking part; the other was eliminated with a broken undercarriage. A third aircraft was amateur-built in Canada and flew until 1934.

Kay Gyroplane

The Kay Gyroplane Type 33/1 was a 1930s British single-seat autogiro design by David Kay.

References

  1. Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 3. Putnam.
  2. 1 2 3 London 1998, p. 338.