Spartan Cruiser (Saro-Percival A-24 Mailplane)

This wooden-framed, low-wing tri-motor was originally designed in collaboration by Saro and Percival as the A-24 Mailplane in 1931. The consortium lost interest in the venture as pure mail contracts dissipated, but the design was offered to Spartan Aircraft UK on the Isle of Wight, which marketed the type as a passenger aircraft. Orders for modest numbers were received, the first from Yugoslavia's Aeroput. Other examples went to Iraq, Egypt and India. Some later versions were built for Spartan Airlines, which was subsumed into British Airways and three were impressed into World War II RAF service.

Robert Jackson "The Encyclopedia of Aircraft", 2004