Spartan C2-165 low-wing navigational trainer prototype (Army XPT-913)

The last Spartan model to receive any sort of certification was the low-wing navigational trainer, the C-2-165. It received its Group 2 Approval on 5-3-32 at about the time both the factory and school were almost shut down due to lack of business.
Complete specifications are not available for this rare model, but photographs suggest the fuselage and landing gear may have been copied directly from the C-3 biplanes. Two struts braced the long low wing; no wires were used as with the lighter C-2-60.
The 5-cylinder Wright R-540 165 HP engine was used, fitted with a metal, ground adjustable propeller.
A factory photo shows NC993N with a blind flying hood covering the back cockpit, and the words "radio-blind flying" painted at the rear of the fuselage. Gross weight is listed at 2140 lbs., so the plane was almost 500 lbs. lighter than the C-3 models.
Records indicate that serial No's D-1 and D-2 were eligible for approval, but only S/N D-1 was built, NC993N. It was routinely referred to as "The Army Trainer" by students. This plane was used for several years as a blind-flying and radio-navigational trainer for the Spartan School of Aeronautics.

Click to expand...

Jos Heyman said:

Aerofiles gives registrations NC992N and NC993N.

Click to expand...

Skyblazer said:

Jos Heyman said:

Aerofiles gives registrations NC992N and NC993N.

Click to expand...

Yes, based on the civil register, but I'm inclined to believe the Spartan book when it says that company records "indicate that serial No's D-1 and D-2 were eligible for approval, but only S/N D-1 was built".
That's something I discovered only recently, the fact that some civil registrations can be listed for certain aircraft (and c/n numbers even associated with them) while in fact the aircraft in question were not actually built. It's kind of confusing really but apparently that's what happened in this here example.

Click to expand...

• Registration [992N] was absolutely NOT a Model C2-165 but the completely different C2-60. I have a photo here to prove it.
• The designations are confusing but "C2" did not mean this was the same type, only that they were both two-seater types with engines of different power.
• The second C2-165 (c/n D-2) was registered as [11003]. I doubt it would have received both a constructor's number AND a registration if it hadn't been built.
• As [NC993N] (c/n D-1) was used by the Spartan School of Aeronautics at the time, it is likely that [11003] was the one evaluated as XPT-913 by the Army.

Paulmcmillan said:

I know this is an old post - But I found it (and joined group) when googling NC992N - The reason being the following

On my US Caterpillar list I have a bailout of Mr Bryan 'Jake' Maxwell Jacobs at Tulsa, Oklahoma 13th April 1931. I had a bit on Mr Jacobs

"In June, 1928, he accepted a position as airplane and engine inspector for the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce, predecessor of the Bureau of Air Commerce. He was stationed at the Fokker factory at Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, for about six months. The work in this position consisted of the testing of pilots and mechanics for licenses, inspection of aircraft for airworthiness, and investigation of accidents and violations of the regulations. in the fall of that year, Jacobs was appointed one of the three original engineering inspectors for the Aeronautics Branch and held this position till 1931" . This work entailed the visual checking of new types of airplanes prior to their being granted licenses for commercial operation and the carriage of passengers, static testing of the wings, control surfaces, control systems, factory methods, etc., and flight tests to determine the stability, control characteristics in various altitudes, and satisfactory recovery from spins. During one of these flight tests at Tulsa, the plane developed wing flutter and shed both wings in the air. Jacobs joined the Caterpillar Club by bailing out when he got down to about 500 feet. Shortly after this experience he was transferred to airline inspection, and with another inspector had charge of the inspection of airline operations in the Western quarter of the country."

I was recently reading The Spartan Story: by Chet Peek with George Goodhead and on the section on Spartan C-2-60 it says "But old-timers tell a
story, that is probably true, of one student who was determined to find out just what a C-2 would stand.
Announcing, "I'm going to pull the wings off this plane!", he donned a chute, climbed into one of the little ships and took off. Heading for the north side
of the field, he proceed to "wring out" the C-2 until, sure enough, the wings folded up. He parachuted down safely, but the plane was a total loss."

The story is to much similar to be anything else but same incident.. Not a student but an Inspector and probably to licence a Spartan - Now the issue is what one -The text makes clear it is a C-2 - I asked on Air Britain and they flagged up " Spartan Aircraft used Identification Application I-10406 on 2nd February 1931 and Identification 992N was issued. The Application was for a C2-45 c/n I-1, a 2PCLM aircraft with a 45 hp Szekely engine. Nothing else apart that the Identification was unassigned on an unknown date, and the registration was used on a glider in California." - But your text and photo shows "Registration [992N] was absolutely NOT a Model C2-165 but the completely different C2-60. I have a photo here to prove it." - So I am now thinking Jacobs bailed out of NC992N

Click to expand...

Paulmcmillan said:

Kevin

Thanks for your input - but Jacobs would have been their to test as part of an ATC for an aircraft I can’t imagine him testingnything but a prototype - also I think the date pre dates C-60 production?

Click to expand...