page_title: Spartan C3
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: Spartan C3 / Operational history
caption_attribution_description: English: Catalog #: 00071203 Manufacturer: Spartan Designation: C-3
context_page_description: The Spartan C3 is an American three-seat open-cockpit utility biplane from the late 1920s.
context_section_description: The C3 was used primarily by flight schools for flying training, including the Spartan School of Aeronautics. 
  
  Other firms utilised the aircraft's ability to carry two passengers for barnstorming flights, the type was popular for shuttling crews around the oil fields, while some were used as air taxis. 
  A C3-2 fitted with a large fuel tank in the front cockpit demonstrated its reliability by being flown non-stop from Walkersville, Ontario in Canada to Key West, Florida, a distance of (1,220 mi (1,960 km)) in 17.5 hours in November 1928. 
  The financier behind the transformation of the Mid-Continent Aircraft company into Spartan, William Skelly, also purchased a number of C3s for the Skelly Oil Company's use.
  The Fuerza Aerea Mexicana purchased 4 C3-120s in 1933 along with 6 of the later Spartan C2-175 monoplanes, and 5 other examples were exported to Mexico for commercial and private use, and at least one was operated by Aeronautica del Sur.
  A single C3-225 was exported to Argentina, and both a C3-120 and a C3-225 went to Chile.
caption: Fuerza Aerea Mexicana (Mexican Air Force) C3-120s
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