VH-UMQ Simmonds Spartan
(c/n 45)
Roughly 50
Simmonds Spartans were built in Southampton, Hampshire in
1928-29. Several
of them were
exported to Australia. Unfortunately in this shot (nor in the
one of it arriving in a
crate (below)
just off-loaded from the Fremantle docks!!!) the rego is not
visible. The lettering
under the wings
merely says "Spartan". The importer at the time was Western Air
Service, Perth.
The shot
above was taken at Dowerin, WA circa 1930. The Spartan was
flew charters and
lots of
joyriding, until the undercarriage was wrecked on takeoff from the
private West Subiaco
airfield in
the Perth suburbs in March 1933. It was later owned by Mr.
H.C. Ittersahegen, the
WA agent for
Lanz tractors, and was stored in his hangar at the airfield alongside
his Klemms
-ULU and -UNG
when he returned to Germany later in 1933. They were still there by 1940
when the
airfield was cleared, and the ultimate fate both the Klemms and the
Spartan is unknown.
From Dave Fagan comes an image of the
manufaturers construction plate for c/n 45 (bottom of
the page).