Aero A.32

Aero A.32
300px
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

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.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 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.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

Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovakian Air Force
• Czechoslovakian National Security Guard

Finland

• Finnish Air Force

Slovakia

• Slovak Air Force (1939-1945)

Specifications (A.32)

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 (261 mi; 227 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,045 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

• 2007-08-cesko-312.jpg

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

• Letecké muzeum Kbely (166).jpg
• Letecké muzeum Kbely (167).jpg

See also

Related development

• Aero A.11

Related lists

• List of Interwar military aircraft

External links

• Photos at Ugolok Neba site