Renard
Two Brussels brothers who built the only Second World War combat aircraft designed and built entirely in Belgium, a pressurised airliner that crashed on its first flight, and a fighter the Hurricane displaced.
Renard: the company and the aircraft that made its name
A pedal-powered beginning
Alfred Renard, born in Anderlecht in 1895, tried at 17 to win a Peugeot prize for muscle-powered flight with a winged bicycle built with his brother Georges. It failed, but he became an aeronautical engineer, co-founded the Stampe et Vertongen trainer partnership, the RSV in its designs standing for Renard-Stampe-Vertongen, and in 1925 set up his own company in Brussels to build aero engines of 100 to 240 hp. One Renard engine powered the second version of Belgium’s first helicopter, built by Nicolas Florine. In 1928 Georges joined and the firm became Constructions Aéronautiques G. Renard.
The R.31: Belgium’s own warplane
Renard’s best-known aircraft was the R.31, a Kestrel-engined parasol reconnaissance monoplane first flown from Evere on 16 October 1932. In 1934 the Belgian Air Force ordered 28, six from Renard and the rest from SABCA. Pilots disliked its tendency to flat-spin and aerobatics were banned, yet in May 1940 the survivors flew 54 reconnaissance sorties against the German invasion. It was the only operational Second World War military aircraft entirely designed and built in Belgium.
Fighters and an airliner ahead of their time
Renard also aimed high. The three-engined R.35, a pressurised 20-seat airliner for SABENA’s Congo routes, took off unexpectedly during a taxi demonstration at Evere on 1 April 1938 and crashed, killing pilot Georges Van Damme. The R.36 fighter, first flown on 5 November 1937, won a provisional order for 40, but after the prototype crashed in January 1939 Belgium chose to licence-build the Hawker Hurricane instead. The Merlin-powered R.38 reached 545 km/h before the German invasion ended Renard. Alfred later managed Stampe et Renard until 1970.
Renard in numbers
الشركة
- باختصار
- تأسست عام 1925
- Founded in Brussels by Alfred Renard as an aero-engine maker
- Renamed Constructions Aéronautiques G. Renard when Georges joined in 1928
- Ended by the German invasion of 1940
إنتاج
- اشتهر بـ
- Renard R.31
- 34 R.31 reconnaissance aircraft (with SABCA)
- Epervier, R.36, R.37 and R.38 fighter prototypes
- R.35 pressurised airliner prototype
اليوم
- الآن
- متوقف عن العمل
- Alfred Renard co-ran Stampe et Renard from 1947 to 1970
Alfred Renard died in 1988.
الأرقام
- Renard R.31 built
- 34 (32 for the Belgian Air Force per text)
- R.31 reconnaissance sorties, May 1940
- 54
- R.36 provisional order (cancelled)
- 401938
Every notable Renard aircraft
| الطائرات | دور | الرحلة الأولى | تم البناء | حالة | ملحوظة |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renard Epervier | Fighter prototype | 1928 | 2 | متقاعد | All-metal; first prototype lost in a flat spin |
| Renard R.31 | Reconnaissance / army co-operation | 1932 | 34 | متقاعد | Most built by SABCA; fought in May 1940 |
| Renard R.32 | نموذج استطلاعي | 1 | متقاعد | R.31 conversion with enclosed canopy and radial engine | |
| Renard R.36 | Fighter prototype | 1937 | 1 | متقاعد | Crashed 17 January 1939; order switched to the Hurricane |
| Renard R.35 | Pressurised airliner prototype | 1938 | 1 | متقاعد | Destroyed on its first flight |
| Renard R.37 | Fighter prototype | 1 | متقاعد | Gnome-Rhône radial; captured by Germany 1940 | |
| Renard R.38 | Fighter prototype | 1939 | 1 | متقاعد | Merlin II; reached 545 km/h |
Where Renard built, who led it, what it achieved
المصانع
- Evere · Evere airfield, Brussels — Flight testing of the R.31 and R.35
الناس
- Alfred Renard · founder and chief designer (1895–1988) — Also chief engineer at the Belgian defence ministry
- Georges Renard · co-founder from 1928
- Georges Van Damme · test pilot — Killed in the R.35 crash, 1938
الأرقام القياسية والأولويات
- Only operational Second World War military aircraft entirely designed and built in Belgium: the R.31
Renard, year by year
Alfred Renard founds an aircraft and engine company in Brussels
Georges Renard joins; Epervier fighter flies
R.31 first flight at Evere
Belgian Air Force orders 28 R.31s
R.36 fighter first flight
R.35 airliner crashes on its first flight
R.36 prototype crash; Hurricane chosen instead
R.31s fly 54 sorties against the German invasion
Everything people ask about Renard
What was the Renard R.31?
Why did Belgium not adopt the Renard R.36?
Did Renard build a pressurised airliner?
Is Renard connected to Stampe?
Around Renard
كل حقيقة، تم التحقق منها
- Alfred Renard, Wikipedia
- Renard R.31, Wikipedia
- Renard Epervier, Wikipedia
- Renard R.36, Wikipedia
- Renard R.35, Wikipedia
تم التحقق بتاريخ 2026-10-03.