Spartan 8W Zeus

The Spartan 8W Zeus was a prototype military aircraft trainer built by Spartan Aircraft Company in the United States in 1937. It was based on the airframe of the Spartan Executive civil aircraft. The sole airframe produced was designated serial number 8W-1 and was registered as NX17612

Design and development
The Spartan 8W Zeus was a conventional low-wing monoplane of metal construction, with a semi-monocoque fuselage and a cantilever wing. Designed as a two-place trainer, the 8W drew heavily from the design of the Spartan Executive. The wing, undercarriage, and lower half of the fuselage are essentially a modified 7W structure. The upper half of the fuselage was redesigned from a 4-5 place enclosed cabin into a tandem-seat, glazed cockpit with sliding canopies. The tail was also identical to that of the 7W. The main units of the tailwheel undercarriage were retractable.

The Spartan 8W Zeus was powered by a 600 hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp engine.

Operational history
The intended purpose of the Zeus was to offer an advanced trainer for military use. After production of the prototype, the airplane was marketed, without success, to the United States Army Air Corps. As a follow-up to those marketing efforts, the prototype was flown to Glendale, California in 1939 for further evaluation by the military. Again, there were no orders generated by that evaluation and the Zeus returned to the factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1940.

The final role of the prototype Zeus was as training tool for students at the Spartan School of Aeronautics.

Variants
A concept model was introduced in an information brochure that portrayed a combat version of the 8W Zeus, with armament. The FB in the designation indicated Fighter-Bomber. No FBW-1's were ever produced.
 * Spartan FBW-1