- Yes
- No
(First of all, i’ll admit it is on the weaker side of reserve planes, even though it’d definitely be playable.)
The Renard Épervier was a belgian monoplane fighter from 1927. Being an all-metal design it was fairly modern for its time but in 1928 during a test flight, the pilot got himself in a flat spin and ejected from the plane before it recovered on its own, stayed at level flight for a while and crashed near Brussels.
Even though the belgian authorities were interested, the Fairey Firefly IIM was instead chosen to equip the air force.
Only two were built, one was the Type 2, the first prototype, and the Type 2bis with a modified streamlined fairings for the cantilever mainwheel legs, mainwheel spats and cylinder aft-fairings, which is the one i am suggesting.
The ailerons could also be used as flaps during landing, so even though there technically weren’t flaps, you should still be able to use the ailerons as flaps during dogfights to get the upper hand on some biplanes that might outturn you. The fuel tank could also be jettisoned in flight if you… felt lucky?
Another version, the Épervier type 3 powered by a Rolls Royce Kestrel engine (700 hp) and using a redesigned wing, was studied under a government contract, but was never built.
The Épervier type 2bis with its wheel fairings:
Specifications
Engine: Jupiter VI (480 hp)
Wingspan: 10.2m
Length: 7m
Height: 2.76m
Wing area: 20m²
Empty weight: 844kg
Loaded weight: 1300kg
Wing loading: 62kg/m² - Est. Turn time: 9s
Max speed: 273km/h at SL - 261km/h at 5000m
Armament: 2 × 7.62mm FN-Browning machine guns
Payload: 1 × 300kg bomb/torpedo
Climb rate: 7.8m/s
Service ceiling: 9300m
It’s certainly not the greatest plane, at least it turns as well as its 1.0 brothers and is equipped with excellent FN-Browning machine guns, some might argue it’s in Rank 0 territory but i think it can just work in the context of the BeNeLux tech tree as a reserve plane, even though it might be said it can be a french event vehicle but i would personally see a rather weak reserve plane unappealing as an event vehicle and would only, in my opinion, make sense in the context of a possible BeNeLux tree.
That being said, while it is slow, When you have a hard time using this slow plane as a fighter, don’t forget you can also use it as a good ground attack plane, since it also comes with a 300kg bomb or torpedo, which is a pretty concerning payload for any 1.0 tank!
Lemme know what you think!
Sources:
André Hauet, Les avions Renard
Charles Mali, Les avions S.A.B.C.A. et associés, Prototypes et projets