By Fred Johnsen
There’s a dazzlingly shiny aluminum aircraft in the Vintage area that carries Royal Air Force roundels on the fuselage, and has the pedigree to do so. It’s a Spartan Executive.
If any Spartan Executive shows up at AirVenture, it’s cause for interest. Only 34 of the tail-wheeled aluminum monoplanes were made. And while that could be considered enough for an assembly line in the 1930s and 1940s, each of the Executives had a lot of hand-fitting of parts, making interchangeability an interesting exercise for modern-day restorers.
This RAF Executive was flown to Oshkosh from Pennsylvania by owner Jim Savage. He learned his Spartan once flew from the Polaris Flight Academy in Lancaster, California. It was part of a workaround that enabled willing Americans to help the British gain trained American flyers to serve England before the United States was openly involved in World War II. The retractable gear and powerful R-985 engine let the Spartan Executive substitute for traditional military advanced trainers like the AT-6 Texan.
For most of 1941 and into 1942, this Spartan carried U.S. civil registration while it was actually owned by the British. In late December 1942, this aircraft was transferred directly to the Royal Air Force Ferry Command in Montreal, Canada. It acquired the RAF serial KD 102.
Jim Savage dug into the history of his Spartan, and found logbook entries by at least two RAF pilots who flew his machine before going on to greater exploits during the war. “Getting to know the RAF officer who actually flew it more than 70 years ago is a rare privilege,” Jim said.
He figures his Spartan tallies 30-50 flying hours a year these days. AirVenture visitors are lucky to get a look at this silver marvel, because, Jim said, “I don’t go to many shows.” Asked how the Executive handles in the air, Jim said, “It’s big, it’s heavy, and it’s smooth.” He says the cabin on this vintage luxury aircraft is so quiet “you don’t need headphones.”
Jim’s Spartan previously was involved in a mishap that broke both main gear legs and did considerable damage to the lower surfaces. He bought the aftermath from an insurance company in 2007 and went to work on it. Enlisting his wife to help with the count, he determined the Executive has more or less 9,000 round-head rivets. As he was attaining a mirror gloss to the aluminum skin, Jim decided to tackle each rivet head by hand to clean the intersection between rivet and skin, an area that can harbor darker color if left untended. The result of so much elbow grease is simply dazzling.
This Spartan Executive has another feature of interest. Four covered ports in the left side of the aft fuselage once were launch tubes for parachute flares. Back in the day, if a Spartan Executive pilot reached a destination airfield in darkness, a parachute flare could be released while flying a left-hand pattern, providing enough illumination for a safe landing, Jim explained.
Jim Savage’s Spartan Executive at EAA AirVenture 2019 is a classic study in prewar airplane design and construction, lovingly refurbished and flown here for all to enjoy.