- Yes
- No
The Renard R.32 was a Belgian monoplane reconnaissance/ground support aircraft built in 1936.
It was based on the R.31, and included an enclosed cockpit and a more powerful engine.
Two different versions were built, one with a Gnome-Rhône 14N01 engine with a 3-bladed propeller, and another one with a slightly worse Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine and a twin-bladed propeller
The former was eventually reverted to R.31 standards while the latter simply crashed after the pilot ejected due to engine fumes in the cockpit.
Still, it could be armed with two or four machine guns in the wings, plus one or two more for the back gunner. It could also bring a decent payload into battle, but the bombs themselves were quite small, more on that later.
The Renard R.32 with the Gnome-Rhône engine:
And the one with the Hispano-Suiza engine:
Specifications
Engine: Gnome-Rhône 14N01 (or Hispano-Suiza 12Y) (1050 and 830 hp respectively)
Wingspan: 14.4m
Length: 9.2m
Height: 2.92m
Wing area: 32m²
Empty weight: 1550kg (1650kg)
Loaded weight: 2300kg
Wing loading: 72kg/m² - Est. Turn time: 13s
Max speed: 385km/h at 4000m (350km/h)
Armament: 2 or 4 × 7.62mm FN-Browning machine guns (ammo: 350 rpg) and 1 or 2 × 7.62 FN-Browning machine guns (ammo: 500) in the rear
Payload: 500 to 800kg of bombs*
Climb rate: 13.8m/s (12.8m/s)
Service ceiling: 11500m (10700m)
Range: 1300km
It is unknown what kind of bombs could’ve been carried, as the only blueprint detailing them isn’t readable:
If i had to guess, but that’s just my opinion, i would say that the bigger bombs are 8 × 62.5kg bombs, and the others are 24+6 × 10kg bombs, which would add up to 800kg.
For the 500kg payload, only keep the 8 × 62.5kg bombs.
This blueprint also shows where the 4 machine guns were mounted, as well as the fuel tanks in the wings.
It is to be noted that the 800kg payload requires the fuel tank in the fuselage to be replaced by 24 bombs, so it would come at the cost of range.
Overall this could be a decent ground attack plane, 62 or 10kg bombs are certainly unimpressive but still dangerous to a lot of Rank I tanks and ground targets in air RB!
Coupled with good armament and maneuverability, it’s a pretty good pick for a french event/premium aircraft or to start grinding a possible BeNeLux tree.
About the armament (french and luckily barely readable)
.png.9a3ce960bbc0d3bb8a3785d667a3db33.png)
“This aircraft is designed for long-range reconnaissance and bombing. Its maneuverabilty and performances, as well as its aerobatic capabilities make it a two-seater fighter aircraft as well. Created as a light bomber aircraft, it can carry 500 or 800kg of bombs. (…) It has 2 or 4 machine guns and 1 or 2 rear machine guns on the turret.”
Sources
https://www.belgian-wings.be/renard-r-32
https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/233559-belgium-data-sheet-renard-r-32-in-work/