- Yes
- No
- Benelux
- France
- UK
- Other / Don’t know
- I said no
The Renard R.38 is the last variant of the R.36 family that was fully built.
It was first flown on August 4th 1938 by SABCA test pilot Paul Burniat, who later said that the R.38’s flight performance place it between the Hurricane and the Spitfire.
It was fitted with a Rolls-Royce Merlin II engine, giving it an extra 40 km/h in top speed compared to the R.36, but unfortunately had to drop the nose-mounted cannon because the Merlin engine didn’t allow the cannon to be fitted, and had to rely only on the 4 wing mounted guns which could vary quite a bit in firepower, more on that later.
Renard R.38
Specifications
Engine: Rolls-Royce Merlin II (1050 hp)
Wingspan: 11.64 m
Length: 8.8 m
Height: 2.9 m
Wing area: 20 m²
Empty weight: 1950 kg
Loaded weight: 2600 kg
Wing loading: 130 kg - Est. Turn time: 16 s
Max speed: 545 km/h at 5000 m, 430 km/h at sea level
Armament: 4 × 7.7 mm FN-Browning machine guns or 4 × 13.2 mm FN-Browning machine guns or 4 × 20 mm cannons (most probably HS-404s)*
Payload: 8 × 10 kg bombs + 1 grenade launcher with 30 grenades
Climb rate: 17.5 m/s
Service ceiling: 12900 m
Range: 1350 km
*About the 20mm cannons preset, i would put them as a researchable modification, since the 20mm rounds are more powerful but only 240 rounds make for a tradeoff suitable for a modification, and i would keep the 7.7 mm preset for a separate, lower BR plane, let me know if you disagree though
With the specs cleared up, it becomes pretty clear how one should play this aircraft.
While we could either ignore the 7.7 mm preset or keep it for a separate variant, the playstyle remains the same for all the Renard fighters and should be really close to how a Spitfire should play.
As Paul Burniat said, the flight performance of this plane is between a Spitfire and a Hurricane, meaning it is a middle ground between the Spitfire’s faster speed and the Hurricane’s tighter turning radius, coupled with four devastating 13.2 mm machine guns or even 20 mm cannons, it should make very short work of anyone trying to dogfight this plane (except some Japanese fighters, but their guns are worse so it’s fine)
It also has access to eight 10 kg bombs, only useful for AI targets or as a fun challenge in mixed battles, and if that’s too easy for you, you can always try out the grenades and try to kill open-tops or milk trucks with them!
As for where it would go, i would really like to see it in a Benelux tree, but if that doesn’t come true, then the next-best options would be either France due to Belgium’s geopolitical ties to France or Great Britain due to the nature of the plane and its engine, or maybe another nation, tell me in the comments!
Sources
“Renard R-36/37/38 & 40”, Nicolas Godfurnon