Aero A.32

Aero A.32

Picture - Incomplete A.32 in the Finnish museum

Role: Reconnaissance - bomber
Manufacturer: Aero
First flight: 1927
Introduced: 1928
Retired: 1944
Primary user: Czechoslovak Air Force Finnish Air Force
Number built: 116

The Aero A.32 was a biplane built in Czechoslovakia in the late 1920s for army co-operation duties including reconnaissance and tactical bombing. While the design took the Aero A.11 as its starting point (and was originally designated A.11J), the aircraft incorporated significant changes to make it suited for its new low-level role.

Like the A.11 before it, the A.32 provided Aero with an export customer in the Finnish Air Force, which purchased 16 aircraft in 1929 as the A.321F and A.32GR (which spent most of their service lives as trainers). They were assigned numbers AEj-49 - AEj-64 and were used until 1944. At least one fuselage has survived, preserved at the Finnish Air Force Museum (in storage as of 2003).

A total of 116 of all variants were built.

Variants

A.321F : Attack version for Finland, powered by a 450-hp (336-kW) Isotta Fraschini Asso Cassia piston engine.
A.32GR : Attack version for Finland, powered by a 450-hp (336-kW) Gnome-Rhone built Bristol Jupiter radial piston engine.
Ap.32 : Improved version for the Czech Air Force. Also known as the Apb.32.

Operators

Czechoslovakia Finland Finnish Air Force

Specifications (A.32)

General characteristics

Crew: two, pilot and observer
Length: 8.20 m (26 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 12.40 m (40 ft 8 in)
Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 36.5 m² (393 ft²)
Empty weight: 1,046 kg (2,301 lb)
Loaded weight: 1,917 kg (4,217 lb)
Powerplant: 1x— Gnome-Rhone built Bristol Jupiter radial engines, 313 kW (420 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 226 km/h (141 mph)
Range: 420 km (262 miles)
Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,040 ft)
Rate of climb: 171 m/min (561 ft/min)
Wing loading: 53 kg/m² (10.7 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 160 W/kg (0.10 hp/lb)

Armament

2 x— forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns
2 x— .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis machine guns in flexible mount for observer
Up to 12 x— 10 kg (22 lb) bombs

Gallery

Airplane Aero A.32 in Kbely aviation museum in Prague, Czech Republic.

Related development Aero A.11

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Source: WikiPedia