Renard Epervier

Designed by Georges and Alfred Renard to compete in a government-sponsored design contest, the Epervier (Sparrowhawk) single-seat all-metal fighter monoplane was intended for a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled Hispano- Suiza 12 J Vee-type engine. Unavailability of this power plant led to installation of a 480hp Gnome-Rhone Jupiter VI nine-cylinder radial in the first prototype, which was built by Stampe et Vertongen as the Epervier Type 2 and flown in 1928. The Epervier Type 2 carried an armament of two synchronised 7.7mm guns and was lost in October 1928 after failing to recover from a flat spin. A second prototype, the Epervier Type 2bis, introduced revised streamlined fairings for the cantilever mainwheel legs, mainwheel spats and cylinder aft-fairings, and was built by SABCA (Societe Anonyme Beige de Constructions Aeronautiques). Demonstrated early in 1930 in competition with various foreign types for an Aviation Militaire order, the Epervier Type 2bis was rejected in favour of the Fairey Firefly. A further development of the basic design, the Epervier Type 3 powered by a 480hp Rolls-Royce "F" engine and utilising mixed construction and a redesigned wing, was studied under government contract, but was not built.

3-View

A three-view drawing (1280 x 864)