The "Spartan Executive" is a 1930's monoplane, that was popular among the affluent and wealthy of the day, but would not fit the definition of Executive "style" of today...especially with its (noisy) Wasp radial engine, see also note below,...(a CJ4 or a Longitude would fit the style, though,...🙂...especially at this Executive Airport, we're going to visit, here...). However, with my (next) Part II, you'll agree with me, this (scenic) airport, of this post, Le Castellet (LFMQ), is not only unique but pretty too...

Regarding the aircraft, here, many of us might remember the Spartan Executive, from our (past) SIM years...I (fondly) recall Milton Shupe's Model since my early simming days, and, today, in the Library, I found an upload of a repaint of it, and, then looking, further, found a (newer/native) model of the plane, that I didn't own....so, picked it up for a flight. The Spartan was built, in the 1930s, in Tulsa (OK), for a short period of 4 years (36 total units), but proved popular among the affluent buyers, worldwide. As of today, nearly half of the total number are still registered with FAA, within U.S. itself. It's a pretty little (metal) plane, and evokes memories of Hugo Junkers' (hallmark) all-metal (early) designs. For example, Junkers-60 monoplane is noted as a comparable aircraft of similar configuration, role, and era. The Spartan is powered by a single P&W "Wasp" (Jr) Radial Engine, and, as a Side Note, "When the wife of (P&W founder) Frederick Rentschler, Faye, learned that the team was ruminating about a name related to the buzzing noise of bees; she came up with “wasp” and Wasp it became".

Then, for scenery, a while ago, I'd acquired a couple of (French) Airports, from SIM Market, by Publisher of name "FSX3D" (though they do publish for MSFS too, btw), which, I had not installed, so, I installed one of those, today, for Le Castellet (International) Airport, a rather unique airport, I should have known about, but I didn't, and, therefore, considered worth exploring. BTW, even though the airport may be less-known to the non-natives (like me), it's, by no means, a small airport...it has one (Hard Surface) Runway (13/31), see images, of dimension (5741 ft / 98 ft). The airport's website touts itself as an International VIP airport, and the "Business Aviation’s Gateway to The French Riviera"...sounds good...! And, "Le Castellet, Var", located 13 miles NW of Toulon (and just few miles north of the Mediterranean Coast, see the last two Spartan images, below, near this Sea), is a commune in Southeastern France...consisting of a small village, perched on a cliff edge, near to the (scenic) mountain ridges and rolling hills...(some images of which I've also captured in my Part II post)...surrounded by vineyards...(all these sound good to me too..🙂..)...

And, most importantly, about the airport, the (peculiar) Blue/Black/Red zones looking like a raceway, you see, alongside the Runway, which immediately caught my attention, is indeed that. The Circuit Paul Ricard, a French motorsport race track, was built at Le Castellet, Var, in 1969. The Circuit has been part of the French Grand Prix. The Blue and Red Zones are designated "run-off" areas for racing use.

So, in this post, Part I, please find the Spartan Executive lifting off Runway 31, into the skies of Le Castellet. Hope you enjoy these aerial views.

In Part II, I'll share my pictures, from a close-up tour, of this (nice) Airport...

Thanks for viewing...!!

[Freeware (Spartan Executive), FSX3D (LFMQ), REX]

Awesome shots!

Thank you, Schwarzgruber...!

Any credit to "FSX3D" and Milton Shupe...🙂..!

Superb shots, P_7878 !