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Description/History
The IAR-37 was a light bomber and observation/recon bi-plane aircraft designed and first flown in 1937, and was intended for the Royal Romanian Air Force. The IAR-37 showed promising results during testing, and would eventually be approved for production and service in 1938, with an initial batch of 50 being produced. there were various variants of the IAR-37 that would come around, those being the IAR-38, IAR-39, and IAR-39A, with about 380 total being produced. However this post of course is focusing on the original IAR-37, which has serial numbers 1-50. The primary feature that sets the variants apart from one another is their engines, and you can tell them apart by the external appearance of their engine compartment, with the original IAR-37 featuring a IAR 14K II c32 870 HP sublicensed engine.
Spoiler
Image above shows the visible differences between the variants.
The IAR-37 is based on the French Potez 25, it can carry either light bombs, or air-grenades on each wing, and also has 3-4 machine gun, with 2 forward facing machine guns, and 1-2 rear facing machine guns.
The IAR-37 would have heavy involvement in WW2 from the first day of Romania’s involvement all the way to the last day of their involvement, and would be fight both on and behind the front lines, fighting on pretty much every theater Romania fight in. They were used in pretty much any role it can fulfill, from observation/recon, and bombing (obviously), to being used as convoy escorts, fighters when they began having shortages of proper fighters, towing gliders, dropping leaflets, trainers for Ju-87D crews, etc. Though the IAR-37 family became outdated fairly quickly, being unarmored, slow, and having weak armaments, and though the Romanians tried substituting its roles to more capable German made aircraft, and had attempted to replace them with domestic designs such as the IAR-47, and IAR-471 prototypes, neither would be produced, so the Romanians had to make do. That being said the IAR-37 family performed fairly well all things considered, and were well liked by the ground units they supported.
Specifications:
Spoiler
Though the First image is of the IAR-39, it does show a very detailed illustration of the IAR-37 family design, so I think it is relevant. It is important to note that the two aircraft differ in engine, wing span, and bomb type.
| Wingspan | 12.22/10 m |
| Length | 9.5 m |
| Height | 4.09 m |
| Weight (empty) | 2219 kg |
| Weight (bomber) | 3435 kg |
| Weight (recon) | 3060 kg |
| Maximum speed at 3200 m | 335 km/h |
| Climbs to 4000 m | 8 min. 30 sec. |
| Maximum operational ceiling | 8000 m |
| Range | 650 km |
| Engine | IAR 14K II c32 870 HP |
| Machine-guns | 4x7.92 mm Browning PWU |
| Bombs | 12x50 kg |
| Serial numbers | 1-50 |
Photos:
Spoiler
Images below this text are of the IAR-39, bit I am incuding them because it shows some up close images of some shared features.
Sources: