Stampe et Vertongen
Two Antwerp pilots built a little biplane of which they made only 35 before the war, yet more than a thousand were eventually built, and two Belgian pilots used one to escape to England.
Stampe et Vertongen: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Two pilots and an engineer
Stampe et Vertongen was founded at Antwerp in 1922 by two pilots, Jean Stampe and Maurice Vertongen, with the engineer Alfred Renard as chief designer. Its first aircraft carried the prefix RSV, for Renard, Stampe and Vertongen: trainers and tourers such as the RSV.22 and RSV.32 biplanes. In the late 1920s the Renard brothers left to build aircraft and engines under their own name, and the company’s designations became simply SV.
The Stampe
Its masterpiece came in 1933. The SV.4 was a light two-seat aerobatic biplane, at first with a de Havilland Gipsy III engine, and it proved so successful that in some countries it is known simply as the Stampe. Stampe et Vertongen built only 35 before the German invasion halted production on 10 May 1940. The real numbers came under licence: SNCAN in France and the Atelier Industriel de l’Aéronautique d’Alger together built 940 SV.4Cs, widely used as a primary trainer by French military units and in French aero clubs.
Escape to England
In 1941 two Belgian pilots, Léon Divoy and Michel Donnet, took an SV.4 in occupied Belgium and flew it across the Channel to England; the RAF’s No. 510 Squadron later used it. After the war Jean Stampe and Alfred Renard joined forces again as Stampe et Renard and built 65 more SV.4s for the Belgian Air Force between 1948 and 1955. Sources differ on when it finally closed: 1957 in English accounts, January 1970 in French ones.
Stampe et Vertongen in numbers
The company
- In short
- Founded 1922
- Founded in Antwerp by pilots Jean Stampe and Maurice Vertongen
- Chief designer Alfred Renard; early types prefixed RSV
- Production stopped by the German invasion on 10 May 1940
- Post-war successor Stampe et Renard
Production
- Best known for
- SV.4 biplane
- SV.4: 35 built pre-war in Belgium
- 65 more built by Stampe et Renard, 1948–1955
- 940 licence-built in France and Algeria
- About 1,040–1,050 SV.4s in total
Today
- Now
- Defunct
- Museum at Antwerp Airport
The numbers
- SV.4 built in total
- about 1,040–1,050
- SV.4 built by the company before the war
- 35
- SV.4C licence-built in France and Algeria
- 940
- SV.4B built by Stampe et Renard
- 651948–1955
Every notable Stampe et Vertongen aircraft
| Aircraft | Role | First flight | Built | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stampe et Vertongen RSV.22 | Trainer biplane | Retired | |||
| Stampe et Vertongen RSV.26 | Trainer and tourer biplane | Retired | |||
| Stampe et Vertongen RSV.32 | Trainer biplane | Retired | |||
| Stampe et Vertongen SV.4 | Aerobatic trainer and tourer biplane | 1933 | about 1,040–1,050 | Retired | Mostly licence-built by SNCAN and AIA Algiers |
| Stampe et Vertongen SV.5 | Military training biplane | Retired | |||
| Stampe et Vertongen SV.10 | Biplane bomber | Retired |
Stampe et Vertongen aircraft in the world’s air forces
1 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Stampe et Vertongen types. 0 of them still have one in service.
| Air force | In service | Formerly flown |
|---|---|---|
| Latvian Air Force | Stampe et Vertongen SV.5 Tornado |
Where Stampe et Vertongen built, who led it, what it achieved
Factories
- Antwerp works · Antwerp (Deurne) airfield
People
- Jean Stampe · co-founder, pilot — Revived the business with Alfred Renard after the war
- Maurice Vertongen · co-founder, pilot
- Alfred Renard · chief designer — Left in the late 1920s to found Renard Constructions Aéronautiques
- Léon Divoy and Michel Donnet · Belgian pilots — Escaped to England in an SV.4 in 1941
Records and firsts
- SV.4 flown from occupied Belgium to England by Léon Divoy and Michel Donnet in 1941
Stampe et Vertongen, year by year
Stampe et Vertongen founded at Antwerp
SV initials first used on aircraft
Alfred and Georges Renard found their own engine company
SV.4 first flight
German invasion halts production
Divoy and Donnet escape to England in an SV.4
Stampe et Renard resumes SV.4 production for the Belgian Air Force
Last of 65 post-war SV.4Bs delivered
Company closes, according to English sources
Stampe et Renard closes, according to French sources
Everything people ask about Stampe et Vertongen
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Around Stampe et Vertongen
Every fact, checked
Verified 2026-10-03.