TheStampe et Vertongen RSV.26/100,RSV.18/100,RSV.26/18,andSV.18were a family of two-seat touring aircraft designed byAlfred Renardand built byStampe et Vertongenin Belgium in the 1920s[1]and under license byGates Aircraftin the United States as theGates Convertiplane.[3]Originally designed as a biplane, a monoplane version soon followed, and the aircraft was eventually marketed as convertible between the two configurations.[4]Sometimes described as a lightened version of theRSV.26/140military trainer, the RSV.26/100 was actually a fresh design.[1]
| RSV.26/100, RSV.18/100, RSV.26/18, and SV-18 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | touring aircraft |
| National origin | Belgium |
| Manufacturer | Stampe et Vertongen,Gates Aircraft |
| Designer | Alfred Renard |
| First flight | 1928[1] |
| Number built | 11[2] |
Design and development
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In 1928, Stampe et Vertongen contracted Alfred Renard to design an aircraft with which the firm could compete in the emerging touring aircraft market, which in Belgium was dominated by British types.[1]His response was a conventional, single-bay biplane with staggered wings of equal span.[5]The pilot and passenger sat in tandem open cockpits and power was provided by a radial engine in the nose.[5]The fixed undercarriage consisted of main units braced to one another, and a skid to support the tail.[5] At the time, Stampe et Vertongen designated their aircraft with two numbers: the wing area (measured in square metres) and the engine power (measured in horsepower).[6]Renard's new design had a wing area of 26 m² and was to be powered by a 75 kW (100 hp)Renard Type 100and was therefore designatedRSV.26/100.[1]Two years previously, the firm had introduced a training biplane for theBelgian Air Forcethat also had a wing area of 26 m2(280 sq ft); powered by a 75 kW (100 hp) engine, it had been designated theRSV.26/140.[7]The similar designations caused confusion in the aviation press, but Renard insisted that the RSV.26/140 and RSV.26/100 were two distinct aircraft.[8]
With monoplanes becoming more popular, Stampe et Vertongen considered the possibility of marketing a version of the RSV.26/100 in this configuration.[4]Renard was able to realise this design by removing the lower pair of wings and bracing the upper pair of wings to the fuselage with two struts on each side.[9]The resulting aircraft, having lost 8 m² of wing area, was now designated theRSV.18/100.[4]The monoplane version was a little faster than the biplane, but climbed a little more slowly.[4]With the differences between the two configurations so minimal that one could be converted to the other within one hour, Stampe et Vertongen decided to market the type as a convertible, theRSV.26/18.[4]
At the time,Wright Tuttle Motorswas negotiating a license to build theRenard Type 100engine in the United States.[10]The firm also purchased an RSV.26/100 and exported it, where it came to the attention of their client,Ivan R. Gates.[10]Gates was an exponent of light aviation and was so interested in the type that he not only purchased the first RSV.26/18, but a few weeks later, bought a license to produce it in the United States.[10]Gates established a factory atLong Island[3]and had engineer Nathan F. Vanderlip redesign the fuselage to change it from wooden construction to steel-tube construction.[10]However, only two aircraft were built[11]before theWall Street Crash of 1929ruined the company and Gates himself, who committed suicide as a result.[3]Three or four fuselages survived, one of which was used as a chicken coop as recently as 1975.[3]
The onset of the Great Depression also halted Stampe et Vertongen's production of the type.[1]AfterGeorge Ivanowjoined the firm, he made one final attempt to market the design, modifying the RSV.18/100 (OO-AKG) to use ade Havilland Gipsy IIIengine[12]and rebuilding the fuselage and empennage along similar lines to theSV.4.[11]Marketed first as theSV.18M(Modification) tourer,[12]then further modified and marketed as theSV.18MA(Modification Armée) fighter-trainer,[12]no further production ensued.
Variants
edit- RSV.26/100
- biplane version withRenard Type 100engine (5 built)[4]
- RSV.18/100
- monoplane version withRenard Type 100engine (1 built)[13]
- RSV.18/105
- monoplane version withCirrus Hermesengine (1 built)[14]
- SV.18M
- monoplane withde Havilland Gipsy IIIengine (1 converted from RSV.18/100)[12]
- SV.18MA
- militarised SV.18M (1 converted)[12]
- RSV.26/18
- convertible version withRenard Type 100engine (2 built)[11]
- Gates Convertiplane
- American variant of RSV.26/18 withRenard Type 100engine and fuselage of steel tube construction (2 built)[11]
Specifications (RSV.26/100)
editData fromJouhaut 1999, p.58
General characteristics
- Crew:1 pilot
- Capacity:1 passenger
- Length:7.10 m (23 ft 3 in)
- Wingspan:9.36 m (30 ft 8 in)
- Height:2.73 m (8 ft 11 in)
- Wing area:26 m2(280 sq ft)
- Empty weight:484 kg (1,060 lb)
- Gross weight:747 kg (1,640 lb)
- Powerplant:1 ×Renard Type 100,75 kW (100 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed:168 km/h (104 mph, 90 kn)
- Range:640 km (400 mi, 350 nmi)
- Service ceiling:4,600 m (15,000 ft)
- Rate of climb:6.0 m/s (1,000 ft/min)
Notes
edit- ^abcdefJouhaud 1999, p.51
- ^Jouhaud 1999, p.53,56
- ^abcdJouhaud 1999, p.55
- ^abcdefJouhaud 1999, p.53
- ^abcJouhaud 1999, p.52
- ^Hauet 1984, p.9
- ^Jouhaud 1999, p.36
- ^Hauet 1984, p.22
- ^Jouhaud 1999, p.57
- ^abcdJouhaud 1999, p.54
- ^abcdJouhaud 1999, p.56
- ^abcdeDillien 2011, p.51
- ^OO-AKGis the only member of this family of aircraft that Jouhaud (1999, p.59) notes as having been built in permanent monoplane configuration.
- ^OO-APC(Hauet 1984, p.24). De Maeyer (1980, p.6) describes this as a conversion
References
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- de Mayer, Paul (January–February 1980). "Built in Belgium: Part 1".Air-Britain Digest.32(1): 3–6.
- Dillien, André (2011)."Serie OO-AAA -> OO-AZZ".Registre historique de la matricule aéronautique civile belge.Retrieved2011-05-23.
- Hauet, André (1984).Les avions Renard.Brussels: Éditions AELR.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft.London: Aerospace Publishing.
- Jouhaud, Reginald (1999).Les Avions Stampe.Amsterdam: Wimpel.
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989).Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation.London: Studio Editions.