- Yes
- No
The Renard R.36 is a Belgian fighter designed to give Belgium a modern fighter aircraft, it was an extremely promising design, surpassing french fighters of the time and being on par with the likes of the Spitfire. Unfortunately, the R.36 crashed in january 1939 and the belgian government instead chose the Hurricane, which was viewed in Belgium as a terrible decision since it was an inferior and foreign design. The crash was simply a pretext and the real reasons were purely political.
Unbeknownst to many, there were two versions of the R.36, simply named first and second version.
As for the differences, the air intake is bigger on the second version and also in the front of the fuselage instead of behind the cockpit. From the first to second version, the Ratier propeller was replaced by a Hamilton Standard propeller “constant speed”, the glycol in the cooling system was replaced by water and the rudder was enlarged, and the weight was increased by 70kg.
Renard R.36-1 with the smaller intake and rudder as well as the difference between some Renard fighters:
So now that the differences are cleared up, we can now move on to the specs of the R.36-1
Engine: Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs (910 hp)
Wingspan: 11.64 m
Length: 8.54 m
Height: 2.9 m
Wing area: 20 m²
Empty weight: 1700 kg
Loaded weight: 2400 kg
Wing loading: 120 kg/m² - Est. Turn time: 15 s
Max speed: 505 km/h at 4000 m
Armament: 4 × 7.7 mm FN-Browning machine guns (ammo: 1400) and 1 × 20 mm HS 404 cannon (ammo: 60)
Payload: 8 × 10 kg bombs + 1 grenade launcher with 30 grenades (yes, grenades)
Climb rate: 13.5 m/s
Service ceiling: 12000 m
Range: 1000 km
So the conclusion here is the same as with most Belgian fighters of the time - while its armament is very similar to its french counterparts, don’t be fooled! It is far more maneuverable than any D.520 or M.S.406!
Its wing loading was of 120 kg/m², if we compare it to the extremely maneuverable Ki-43-II which had a wing loading of 121 kg/m², we can get a pretty good idea of how nimble this machine was. So, as with any other japanese fighter of its time, there is no armor on the plane nor are the fuel tanks self-sealing - so use your turning abilities as soon as you can!
The machine guns, while only being rifle-caliber machine guns are substantially better than their French or British counterparts, basically being modified American .30 cals rechambered in 7.7 mm and having a high fire rate of 1600 rpm, as well as good incendiary rounds
About the differences between the R.36-1 and R.36-2:
(french i know, sorry)
Some sources and graphs:
Spoiler
Renard R-36/37/38 & 40, Nicolas Godfurnon