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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.
| Aero A.32 | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Incomplete A.32 in the Finnish museum | |
| Role | Reconnaissance – bomber |
| Manufacturer | Aero |
| First flight | 1927 |
| Introduction | 1928 |
| Retired | 1944 |
| Primary user | Czechoslovak Air Force Finnish Air Force |
| Number built | 116 |
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.32IF 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 aircraft has survived, AEj-59 is on the show of the Päijänne-Tavastia Aviation Museum.
A total of 116 of all variants were built.
Variants edit
- A.32IF : Attack version for Finland, powered by a 450-hp (336-kW) Isotta Fraschini Asso Caccia piston engine. One machine.
- A.32GR : Attack version for Finland, powered by a 450-hp (336-kW) Gnome-Rhone built Bristol Jupiter radial piston engine. 15 machines.
- Ap.32 : Improved version for the Czech Air Force. Also known as the Apb.32.
Operators edit
Specifications (A.32) edit
General characteristics
- Crew: 2 – pilot and observer
- Length: 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan: 12.4 m (40 ft 8 in)
- Height: 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
- Wing area: 36.5 m2 (393 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 1,046 kg (2,306 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,917 kg (4,226 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Gnome-Rhône built Bristol Jupiter 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 313 kW (420 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 226 km/h (140 mph, 122 kn)
- Range: 420 km (260 mi, 230 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 2.85 m/s (561 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 53 kg/m2 (11 lb/sq ft)
- Thrust/weight: 0.160 kW/kg (0.10 hp/lb)
Armament
- Guns:
- 2 × forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns
- 2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis machine guns in flexible mount for observer
- Bombs: Up to 12 × 10 kg (22 lb) bombs
Gallery edit
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Airplane Aero A.32 in Kbely aviation museum in Prague, Czech Republic. -
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See also edit
Related development
Related lists
References edit
- "Pozorovací letouny firmy Aero typo AP-32". Letectví (in Czech). Vol. 10, no. 9. September 1930. pp. 338–341. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
External links edit
