Spartan 8W Zeus

The Spartan 8W Zeus, also designated FBW-1 Zeus was a military aircraft produced in small numbers in the United States in the late 1930s, based on the airframe of the Spartan Executive civil aircraft. It was a conventional low-wing monoplane of metal construction, with a semi-monocoque fuselage and a cantilever wing. Two crewmembers sat in tandem beneath an extensively-glazed canopy, and the main units of the tailwheel undercarriage were retractable. Fitted with a fixed, forward-firing machine gun, a flexible tailgun, and capacity for light bombs under the wings, Spartan offered the Zeus to the USAAC for testing as an advanced trainer. Although no orders followed, Spartan sold a number of examples to Mexico and China.

Operators

 * Military
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico
 * 🇪🇸 Spain
 * Spanish Republican Air Force
 * Spanish Republican Air Force