The Aero A.32 was a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

built in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in the late 1920s for army co-operation duties including

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

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 Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero ...

with an export customer in the

Finnish Air Force The Finnish Air Force (FAF or FiAF; fi, Ilmavoimat, , Air forces; sv, Flygvapnet, , Air weapon) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. Its peacetime tasks are airspace surveillance, identification flights, and production of Finnis ...

, which purchased 16 aircraft in 1929 as the A.32IF and A.32GR (which spent most of their service lives as

trainers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used f ...

). 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. Ap-32 CLH

Variants

* A.32IF : Attack version for

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, powered by a 450-hp (336-kW) Isotta Fraschini Asso Caccia

piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

. One machine. * A.32GR : Attack version for Finland, powered by a 450-hp (336-kW) Gnome-Rhone built

Bristol Jupiter The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turn ...

radial piston engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is cal ...

. 15 machines. * Ap.32 : Improved version for the

Czech Air Force "The air is our sea" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , flying_hours = , websi ...

. Also known as the Apb.32.

Operators

; *

Czechoslovakian Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia ce ...

* Czechoslovakian National Security Guard ; *

; *

Slovak Air Force (1939–45) The Slovak Air Force, known since 2002 as the Air Force of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Vzdušné sily Ozbrojených síl Slovenskej republiky), is the aviation and air defense branch of the Slovak Armed Forces. Operating 23 aircr ...

Specifications (A.32)

Gallery

File:2007-08-cesko-312.jpg, Airplane Aero A.32 in Kbely aviation museum in Prague, Czech Republic. File:Letecké muzeum Kbely (166).jpg, File:Letecké muzeum Kbely (167).jpg,

External links

Photos at Ugolok Neba site
{{Czech aircraft 1920s Czechoslovakian military reconnaissance aircraft 1920s Czechoslovakian bomber aircraft A032 Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1927

Variants

Operators

Specifications (A.32)

Gallery

See also

External links