Designed by Georges and Alfred Renard to compete in a government-sponsored design contest, the Epervier (Sparrowhawk) single-seat all-metal fighter monoplane was intended for a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled Hispano- Suiza 12 J Vee-type engine. Unavailability of this power plant led to installation of a 480hp Gnome-Rhone Jupiter VI nine-cylinder radial in the first prototype, which was built by Stampe et Vertongen as the Epervier Type 2 and flown in 1928. The Epervier Type 2 carried an armament of two synchronised 7.7mm guns and was lost on 11 September 1928 after failing to recover from a flat spin.
A second prototype, the Epervier Type 2bis, introduced revised streamlined fairings for the cantilever mainwheel legs, mainwheel spats and cylinder aft-fairings, and was built by SABCA (Societe Anonyme Beige de Constructions Aeronautiques) under contract for Alfred Renard. Since Alfred Renard was both chief designer for Renard and technical director of Stampe, it is hard to keep the two firms separate. Demonstrated early in 1930 in competition with various foreign types for an Aviation Militaire order, the Epervier Type 2bis was rejected in favour of the Fairey Firefly.
A further development of the basic design, the Epervier Type 3 powered by a 480hp Rolls-Royce “F” engine and utilising mixed construction and a redesigned wing, was studied under government contract, but was not built.
Type 2bis
Powerplant: 1 × SABCA Jupiter, 360 kW (480 hp)
Wingspan: 10.20 m / 33 ft 6 in
Wing area: 20.00 sq.m / 215.28 sq ft
Length: 7.00 m / 23 ft 0 in
Height: 2.76 m / 9 ft 1 in
Empty weight: 794 kg / 1750 lb
Max take-off weight: 1300 kg / 2866 lb
Wing loading: 62.5 kg/m2 (12.8 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 3.49 kg/kW (5.74 lb/hp)
Maximum speed: 273 km/h (170 mph, 147 kn)
Maximum speed at 4,000 m (13,000 ft): 265 km/h (165 mph; 143 kn)
Maximum speed at 5,000 m (16,000 ft): 261 km/h (162 mph; 141 kn)
Stall speed: 99 km/h (62 mph, 53 kn)
Service ceiling: 9,300 m (30,500 ft)
Practical ceiling; 8,600 m (28,200 ft)
Time to 4,000 m (13,000 ft): 8 minutes 30 seconds
Time to 5,000 m (16,000 ft): 12 minutes 35 seconds
Crew: 1
Guns: 2x synchronised fixed forward firing 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine-guns
All Aero 