Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Belgian Aircraft 1920-1929, Renard Aircraft, Sabca Aircraft, Renard R-31, Renard R.30, Sabca S.40, Sabca S.2, Renard R-36, Renard R.17, Renard Epervier, Acaz T-2. Excerpt: The Renard R-31 was a Belgian reconnaissance aircraft of the 1930s. A single engined parasol monoplane, 32 R-31s were built for the Belgian Air Force, the survivors of which, although obsolete, remained in service when Nazi Germany invaded Belgium in 1940. The Renard R-31 was the only World War II operational military aircraft entirely designed and built in Belgium. The Renard R-31 was designed by Alfred Renard of Constructions Aéronautiques G. Renard to meet a requirement of the Belgian Air Force for a short ranged reconnaissance and army co-operation aircraft. It first flew at Evere, near Brussels, on 16 October 1932. It was a parasol monoplane of mixed construction, powered by a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine, with a welded steel tubing structure with metal sheet covering the forward fuselage and fabric covering of the remainder of the airframe. The wing was held in position by a single Vee strut on each side, conjoined with its fixed under carriage. An order for 28 R-31s was placed in March 1934, with six to be built by Renard and the remainder by SABCA. One aircraft was fitted with a Lorraine Petrel engine for evaluation, but this was later replaced by the normal Kestrel engine. A second aircraft was fitted with an enclosed canopy and a Gnome-Rhône Mistral Major radial engine, becoming the R-32, with this then being replaced by a Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine, but the R-32 did not show sufficiently improved performance to gain a production order. A further six R-31s were ordered in August 1935. The R-31 entered service with the Belgian Air Force in 1935, replacing the Bregu. More:
| | Aircraft Manufactured by Belgium: Belgian Aircraft 1920-1929, Renard Aircraft, Sabca Aircraft, Renard R-31, Renard R.30, Sabca S.40, Sabca S.2 |  | 8.78 |  |