The Stampe et Vertongen SV.4 (also known incorrectly as the Stampe SV.4 or just Stampe) is a Belgian two-seat trainer/tourer

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 ...

designed and built by

Stampe et Vertongen Stampe et Vertongen was a Belgian aircraft manufacturer formed in 1922 and based at Antwerp. The company specialised in design and construction of primary trainers/tourers and advanced trainers. One of their products—the Stampe-Vertongen SV.4� ...

. The aircraft was also built under licence in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

History

The SV.4 was designed as a biplane tourer/training aircraft in the early 1930s, by

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. The first model was the SV.4A, an advanced aerobatic trainer, followed by the SV.4B with redesigned wings and the 130 hp/97 kW

de Havilland Gipsy Major The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous de Havilland Tiger Moth, Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major en ...

engine. Only 35 aircraft were built before the company was closed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, between 1948 and 1955, the successor company ''Stampe et Renard'' built a further 65 aircraft as trainers for the

Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air and Space Component (, ) is the Air force, air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force (; ). It was founded in 1909 and is one of the world's oldest air services. ...

. A licensed SV.4C version was built in

SNCAN SNCAN, (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Nord''), or commonly, Nord, was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer in the pre- and post–World War II era. The company had been formed as one of six state ...

(Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Nord), and in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

by Atelier Industriel de l'Aéronautique d'Alger, the two firms completing a combined total of 940 aircraft. The postwar SV.4Cs were widely used by French military units as a primary trainer. Many also served in aeroclubs in France, numbers of which were later sold second hand to the United Kingdom and other countries. The Rothmans Aerobatic Team flew SV.4C aircraft from 1970 to 1973.

Variants

;SV.4: prototype ;SV.4A: aerobatic trainer with 140 hp/104 kW

Renault 4P The Renault 4P, also called the Renault Bengali Junior, was a series of air-cooled 4-cylinder inverted inline aero engines designed and built in France from 1927, which produced from to . Design and development Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic Ocea ...

-O5 engine ;SV.4B: improved version with 130 hp/97 kW

de Havilland Gipsy Major I The de Havilland Gipsy Major or Gipsy IIIA is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in a variety of light aircraft produced in the 1930s, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Many Gipsy Major engines still power vintage ...

. Postwar trainers for the BAF were fitted with more powerful

Cirrus Major The Blackburn Cirrus Major is a British, inline-four aircraft engine which was developed in the late 1930s, but continued development and production into the 1940s and post war. Design and development The Blackburn Cirrus Major started life as ...

or Gipsy Major X engine ;SV.4C: licence-built version with 140 hp/104 kW

ei engine ;SV.4D: one aircraft re-engined with 175 hp/130 kW Mathis G.4R engine A few SV.4s have been fitted with other engines, such as the

Lycoming O-320 The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of naturally aspirated, air-cooled, flat four engine, horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, direct-drive engines produced by Lycoming Engines. Introduced in 1953, it is commonly used on light aircraft such a ...

Ranger 6 Ranger 6 was a lunar probe in the NASA Ranger program, a series of robotic spacecraft of the early and mid-1960s to obtain close-up images of the Moon's surface. It was launched on January 30, 1964 and was designed to transmit high-resolution pho ...

or LOM 332b. At least one aircraft fitted with a Lycoming engine (OO-KAT) has been referred to by its owners as an SV.4E.

Military operators

; *

Force Publique The ''Force Publique'' (, "Public Force"; ) was the military of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo from 1885 to 1960. It was established after Belgian Army officers travelled to the Free State to found an armed force in the colony on L ...

; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

; *

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

No. 510 Squadron RAF No. 510 Squadron was a Royal Air Force transport and liaison aircraft squadron that disbanded during April 1944. It operated during the World War II, Second World War having formed during October 1942. History During 1942 it was decided that ...

operated one aircraft "liberated" by Belgian pilots Léon Divoy and Michel Donnet in 1941, and flown from occupied Belgium to England.OO-ATD and the flight to freedom
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Specifications (Post-War SV.4B)

In popular culture

* An SV.4 appears in the movie Biggles: Adventures in Time modified with a rear Scarff-ring turret. * A modified SV.4 appears in the movie

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Jeffrey Boam, based on a story by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jone ...

, sporting a fictional German paint scheme and a machine gun turret in the aft cockpit. * Two Stampe SV.4C appear in the movie

High Road to China (film) ''High Road to China'' (a.k.a. ''Raiders of the End of the World'') is a 1983 adventure film, adventure-romance film set in the 1920s starring Tom Selleck in his first major starring role, playing a hard-drinking biplane pilot hired by society h ...

, one destroyed as a result of aerial attack in the movie. They portray the World War I planes, but were actually built after World War II * Walter Matthau's character, Kendig, fakes his own death in an exploding Stampe over Beachy Head in the movie Hopscotc

History

Variants

Military operators

Specifications (Post-War SV.4B)

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading