The Spartan 7W Executive! A really beautiful plane. The developer has a website but no direct link to information about the plane. It is available now on Simmarket.
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HGC made the Hughes Racer that came out a couple of months ago. That one was pretty well reviewed, especially after a little patching. This plane is so beautiful (in real life and in this version) that I’m okay with a blind purchase… I’ll let you know what I think when I get some time in it.
(I also thought that release trailer was a PBS documentary at first… “Ken Burns Presents: Spartan 7W” 
It’s really nicely done, I have to say…)
Thanks! I didn’t get the Hughes Racer, so I am tentative to go blind into the Spartan, not knowing enough about the developer. But I am this close simply based on the beauty of the plane itself and the look of the model.
I know. That was just such a strange intro. I am glad I’m not the only one that thinks that. 
I’m back! I took the 7W out for a spin, and here’s my initial impressions:
EDIT - I’m striking out things that have been fixed
THE GOOD
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It’s a very, very, very good looking aircraft. On a scale of 0 to Carenado, I’d give it an 8.5 at least. The exterior and interior textures aren’t photo-realistic 8k masterpieces, but they’re very well done, and the overall effect is very positive.
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The manual is really great. There is a lot of information in there, although a good deal of it comes via hyperlinks to more thorough source documentation. The “main” manual really has a selection of pertinent info from those other docs, but the items included give you a good overview of the plane.
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The sounds – which apparently are, at least in part, licensed from Big Radials – are quite good. No audible looping. The radial purrs at cruise, and has a throaty feel on the ground. (If you have any Big Radials planes, you know what to expect.)
THE NOT SO GOOD
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This is, by a huge margin, THE most difficult plane to taxi I’ve ever used in the sim. I think there’s something off with the ground handling, namely that the plane appears to be too “sticky”. There’s an incredibly narrow range of throttle between “will not move at all” and “starts to accelerate way too quickly” - and I mean INCREDIBLY narrow; like 10rpm or so. Also, the plane gets incredibly “loose” once it gets over about 20kn groundspeed; everything’s fine and then suddenly you’re doing tailslides and spinouts like you’re drift racing. I think that may be related to the use of CFD, as it very much feels like “flight mode” is suddenly kicking in at that point, and there’s no more ground friction coming from the tail even though the tail hasn’t lifted yet. It’s not impossible to taxi this plane… just almost impossible. (Also, I think the animation of the tail wheel is reversed, but that appears to be only cosmetic.)Fixed by first patch -
On takeoff, the tail lifted off the runway at about 50-60 knots as expected; I let it get to about 70, then pulled back gently on the stick… and nosed over into the runway. That… was unexpected. I didn’t make any changes to the weight and balance, so I don’t think it was a CG issue, unless the CG is out of range by default. As this thing climbs like a demon with neutral trim, I think the “fix” is to just let it take off by itself. But I don’t think a small stick pull should be generating such a massive tail rise. I’ll just go ahead and blame CFD again.Fixed by first patch - was probably related to the CG issue after all. -
There’s a basic GPS/AP setup in the plane, but there’s no way (that I see) to select a heading for the autopilot. It will do alt hold and VS normally, but you’re limited to ROL mode for LNAV. I didn’t use a flightplan for this flight, so I don’t know if NAV mode is available and will follow an LNAV course, but I suspect it isn’t and it won’t. If the GPS/AP suite is going to be gimped to that extent, I’d rather the plane have an O.G. steam cockpit and stop taunting me.Mod conflict - not an issue with the plane itself. -
I’m honestly not sure if this is an issue with the plane or with my controls, but I’ll mention it anyhow: in ROL mode, the plane would occasionally suddenly decide “Yay! I’m a Spitfire!” and start to roll over into a combat dive. I blame CFD.Not seeing this anymore after first patch. -
Controls seem a bit twitchy. This, I think, is DEFINITELY related to CFD, as all the CFD planes I have also seem a little twitchy. (By “twitchy” I mean that the aerodynamic effect seen can be disproportionate to the control input.)Flight model change seems to have fixed this as well. -
The mixture control has no discernible impact – the EGT and cylinder temps don’t change at all when you lean or rich the mix – unless you lean out to the cutoff point (which has a very, very discernible impact). There’s no fuel flow gauge on this plane, so there’s no real way to tell whether the mixture is doing anything at all.
NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD; JUST OBSERVATIONS
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I can’t testify as to the reality of the flight model, but I’ll say it does fly like I’d expect a powerful 30s era monoplane should fly. It climbs well, doesn’t really want to slow down, and is generally a pleasure to fly. (Just not to taxi…) Even better post-patch! And it does want to slow down now, so approaches are easier.
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The starter button doesn’t even register as a clickable switch unless the start prerequisites (fuel valve, booster pump, and primer) have been set. Took me a little bit to figure that one out…
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You can recline the seats! The ashtrays work! Rolling down the windows in flight is very loud! I wish you could draw the curtains in the back, though.
The bottom line is, I like it quite a bit once it’s in the air. On the ground, not so much. Still quirky on the ground, but managable. But - and this is the important thing, I think - all these critiques I have are for very fixable items, which I’m pretty certain will be fixed in due time. Once they are, I think this will be is a fantastic touring plane.
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I picked it up and did one test flight so far. Sounds are great, plane looks great inside and out. Ground handling is squirrely on takeoff and landing (more so on landing, I had a really hard time staying straight and not ground looping). The EGT gauge seems broken and didn’t move when I leaned the mixture. Also got some strange propeller wind milling when stopped with all switches off - it spun fast enough to have a prop disc, even with ambient wind conditions!
All in all, I like it, it certainly could use a patch or two, but it’s nice.
3 Likes
An update: there is definitely some issue with the ground contact of the plane. If you trigger the sim’s pushback function (I use shift-P, your assignment may vary), the plane moves microscopically slowly even with the parking brakes off. That’s definitely a large part of the taxi issues.
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Hello all,
I have got the Spartan this morning and did some flying around KHQM.
All in all a nice rendition of this classic. Thank you HCG!
My observations:
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I can confirm the taxi issues - the aircraft sticks to the ground and then leaps away and picks up the speed quite fast. The Spartan then tends to skid when trying to make a turn.
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The skin on the aircraft looks a bit too smooth and clean to my eyes. Now the cleanliness may hold true for some very well kept examples, though I would still expect some little wrinkles and more pronounced bumps on the skin of the aircraft. Check the picture below for what I mean (not perfectly polished and perhaps a bit scratched + the skin on the upper wing clearly is not as smooth as the one in MSFS rendition).
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The modelling of the cowl flap at the belly of the aircraft seems to be a bit rough at the edges (it needs to be opened to be seen). Not a big deal to me personally as I fly from the inside of the cockpit
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The Spartan is pretty slippery and not easy to slow down even with everything hanging out from the aircraft
Of course I have no idea about the real deal as I have never flown one IRL, but the aircraft is actually a good glider as I need to land with everything hanging out of the aircraft (gear + full flaps) and still need to idle the engine to get to landing speed. -
Related to the above: I found out that when I close the throttle completely and keep the airframe clean (gear up + flaps up) and trim the plane, it files happily straight when it settles about 80 kts IAS. This surely does not feel right.
So these are my two cents about this little gem. I would appreciate if the dev gives them a thought 
2 Likes
Just to add to the list above:
- The VR zoom does not work.
Does the Spartan have a lockable tailwheel? That would help with take off roll and landing though I can not confirm either from the MSFS Spartan manual or from the sources available on https://vintagespartanaircraft.com/
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From Jim Savage:
All Spartans were built with a full swiveling, non locking tail wheel. In the late 1940’s, Spartan designed a modification to convert it to a lockable design. Spartans with either of those configurations can be identified with a fork with two arms. In 1954, Spartan came out with another tailwheel modification. It can be identified with its single arm. It is steerable, but not lockable. My airplane has the 1954 design.
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OK, more feedback from me:
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The ground handling definitely needs some tweaks.
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In weight & balance screen, no matter what I do I always get CoG out of limits message.
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There is something wrong with the prop.
a) There are strange effects on the prop disc as seen in this screen.
b) Which may be related to inaccurately mounted prop blades - it looks like one is permanently in full fine position while the other is in permanent full coarse position.
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The prop is windmilling even when the aircraft is fully shut down.
I believe these are fixable issues
Thanks for listening!
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Did you send this to HCG Digital Arts? hcgdigitalarts@gmail.com
Posting issues here is great to share impressions with other users, but never assume posting here means that the devs will see the reports. (Also why MSFS issues need to be filed as bugs.)
Going to pick this up to support HCG, but hoping the issues noted here can be addressed before he’s offline from June-September. (Was cool that he warned folks about that right on the product page, though! Keeps people from freaking out and thinking Boeing 247 all over again. )
Gonna pick this up myself right now! Anxious to give it a try. And see if I can tame it on the ground!
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You are right. Will do!
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The developer has made the ground handling issue the top priority.
I’m not a big fan of SimMarket, so if this ends up in other stores and the ground handling gets corrected, I’m in.
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Hm looks like a very capable developer with a lot of passion and enthusiasm for his project (and also talented in videomaking.)
@FndrStrat06 I was also very cautious about SimMarket at first. Their installer app is really a no brainer and takes only a few seconds to install. It simply locates your community folder by default. Acknowledge and you are set to go.
@GamingCat2130 I met the developer when he was launching his Hughes H1. This developer is the real deal with incredible talent and work ethic. Responsible, honest and sincere. A real treat to showcase his work!
3 Likes
Version 1.1 now available that addresses the ground handling, taxiing plus other fixes.
Thanks for heads up.
This is the changelog:
#########CHANGELOG.###########
v_1.1 May 26 2023
prop blade rotation fixed
cowl edited
tail wheel steers proper direction
many flight model edits/fixes
Nice update indeed. The ground handling is much improved, prop blades and prop disc is OK as well.
I am not much of a fan about the new cowling as now you can actually see what is ahead through the gap between the cowling and the nose of the aircraft.
Also, I found out that the artificial horizon is missing a pointer indicating bank angle. The horizon moves, there is a scale on top of the gauge but there is no pointer.
This is the MSFS gauge
And this the pointer the MSFS gauge is missing
