HISTORY OF THE SPARTAN AIRCRAFT DETAILED AS PHOTO DONATED TO ISLAND COLLECTION

The Wight Aviation Museum has presented a historic photograph of Pauline Gower and Dorothy Spicer – with their Spartan Aircraft called ‘Helen of Troy’ – to Gavin Stride, the Executive Director of Island Collection. Gavin was making a fact-finding tour of the Museum on Tuesday in his role as leading the establishment of a new Arts Council Not-for-Profit Organisation (NPO), which has the ambition to encourage shared ambition, nurture talent, support creative education and produce a cultural strategy for the Isle of Wight. The photo shows Gower and Spicer’s aircraft, which was built at Somerton works near Cowes, and was used by them for their Air Tours business. The duo also toured the country to encourage support for aviation. It was 1 of 3 Spartans owned by the pair. Through the support and encouragement of the Spartan Aircraft Company’s management Dorothy was encouraged to train in aeronautical engineering at a time when this was forbidden for women. Pauline used her social and political connections to get women into flying aircraft to help the war effort by establishing the women’s branch of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). During his tour, Gavin was shown how the Island made gondolas for airships and thousands of planes for the World Wars. Chairperson Helen Blake also explained about the museum’s interwar aircraft, including the Spartans, as well as hovercraft, the largest metal Seaplane ever built and the only British rocket to have successfully launched a satellite. Helen and Gavin discussed the recent collaboration between GKN at Cowes and Rolls Royce to develop a revolutionary composite turbine blade which has enabled the building of the UltraFan; the biggest and most powerful jet engine in the world. Wight Aviation Museum is currently raising funds to return a fully restored example of the Spartan aircraft to the Isle of Wight.