One-of-a-kind Spartan Model 12 Plane Comes Home to Tulsa

Sept. 28, 2012
The Spartan Executive Model 12 was a post-World War II prototype of what the Spartan Aircraft Co. of Tulsa envisioned to be an advanced and luxuriously appointed version of the Spartan 7W Executive produced by the company before the war.

Sept. 28-- It was one of those phone calls the curator of a flight museum receives from time to time.

"I'm often called by people who say, 'Hey, I think I have an airplane you might want,' " said Kim Jones, curator of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium. "And it turns out to be a homebuilt or partially built airplane."

But a call this spring from a woman in California was different.

The caller left a message and her number. Near the end of the day, Jones returned the call.

"You have an airplane we might be interested in?" Jones asked.

"Yes, it's a Spartan Model 12," the woman said.

"You mean THE Model 12?" Jones said.

"Yes," Linda Nikolaus said. "It's the only one."

Jones nearly had to pick himself off the floor.

The Spartan Executive Model 12 was a post-World War II prototype of what the Spartan Aircraft Co. of Tulsa envisioned to be an advanced and luxuriously appointed version of the Spartan 7W Executive produced by the company before the war.

The Spartan 7W was considered the finest corporate aircraft of its era, news reports and aviation histories say.

During the war, Spartan owner J. Paul Getty shifted production from the Spartan Executive to military trainers and spotter aircraft. After the war, Getty convened his engineering team to decide whether to produce airplanes, appliances or other products.

The Spartan team decided so many surplus World War II aircraft would be coming on the market that there would be no buyers for the Model 12.

So Spartan Aircraft Co. began building Spartan trailers between 1946 and 1960.

Like the Spartan Executive aircraft, the Spartan Mansion, Spartan Manor, Spartanette and other trailer models became state-of-the-art.

The prototype Model 12 was bought and sold a few times before it found a home in Bishop, Calif., with Nikolaus.

"We were here four years ago on a road trip," Nikolaus said. "We knew the Spartan school (Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology) was here. We didn't know the museum was here. We started talking to people and found out about it."

After a tour of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium, Nikolaus began thinking of the Model 12 in its hangar in Bishop.

"Where else would you put it if you were going to donate it?" she said. "Where it came from."

Glenn Wright, TASM's executive director, Jones and the museum's board decided to have maintenance check on done the plane to make sure it was airworthy.

They hired Ken Morris of Poplar Grove, Ill., who had owned and flown a Spartan 7W Executive for five years.

"The 7W is the most beautiful plane out there," Morris said. "It's basically a (Beech) Bonanza that burns more fuel. I refer to it as the Learjet of the '30s -- it's quite the corporate cruiser."

The Spartan Model 12 checked out with no problems.

The flight to Tulsa over the past two days was uneventful, Morris and Nikolaus said.

"It was wonderful," Nikolaus said. "This is absolutely the perfect place for it to be."

The Model 12 will be on the museum ramp with the Commemorative Air Force's B-29 Superfortress, P-51 Mustang and other aircraft of the era Friday, Saturday and Sunday for ground tours and viewing, Jones said.

For more information, call the museum at 918-834-9900 or visit its website at http://www.tulsaairandspacemuseum.org/.

Spartan Executive Model 12

Manufacturer: Spartan Aircraft Co., Tulsa

First flight: 1946

Status: One aircraft in existence

Number built: One

Seats: Five

Powerplant: 450 horsepower radial engine

Source: Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium

D.R. Stewart 918-581-8451

[email protected]

Copyright 2012 - Tulsa World, Okla.