Refueler, Not

This aircraft is a Spartan C-3, S/N 66 manufactured 8/31/28 by the Spartan Aircraft Company, Inc. of Tulsa, OK. It had a 120 HP Walter 9 cylinder radial engine installed, S/N 11005. It weighed 2,150 pounds in three-seat configuration. This airplane landed twice at Tucson.

It lands at Tucson on 9/7/1928 flown by J.W. Welborn with J.F. Nagle as passenger. Their homebase is recorded as Tulsa, and they are westbound to Los Angeles from El Paso, TX. This may well be the ferry flight west from the factory.

There is no record of the first buyer, but the airplane was housed at the Aeronautical Club of California, Los Angeles, CA as of 1/17/29.

It sold on 5/23/29 to C.H. Veil and James W. Warner of San Francisco, CA, “to be used as refueling plane in proposed endurance flight.” It was found unsuitable for that task and it was sold to James W. Warner of San Francisco on 5/31/29.

It sold three more times in the next five months, the last sale being on 11/23/29 to Percy Perkins of Sacramento, CA. The airplane was involved in an accident at Rio Vista, CA on 7/1/30 and “washed out.” The registration was cancelled on 7/26/30.

UPLOADED: 07/26/05 REVISED: