Allow me to translate the article for you guys:
ROMANO R-13O
by Jean Liron
At the same time the twin-engined R-110 and R-120 were being developed, the design bureau at Chantiers Aéronavals E. Romano drafted a "light" monoplane fighter.
As with the Mureaux workshops and a little later the Caudron company, the Romano workshops had bet, right or wrong, on the four advantages inherent to a fighter that would be lightweight yet endowed with a firing power comparable to that of the so-called heavyweight fighters. These advantages were as follows:
- A 60% cost reduction for a production item compared to a 100 hp type;
- A greater possibility of evolving the design, thanks to the total weight, weight balancing and wing loading;
- Reduced power resulting in reduced specific fuel consumption and reduced engine master torque, and improved view;
- Narrow dimensions of the airframe resulting in diminished vulnerability.
The Romano 130 was studied in response to a programme from the chief military command published on July 13, 1934 as part of the five-year plan.
It consisted in a land-based interpolation of the R-90, a biplane with a wingspan inferior to six meters (approximately 18 feet).
The gull-shaped upper wing was connected to the top of the fuselage without the help of any strut, and connected to the stepped-back lower wing by N-shaped struts. Each half wing, of rectangular shape, was fitted with an aileron. The pilot was covered by a fully glazed bubble canopy.
In a similar fashion to the carrier-borne Grumman aircraft, the landing gear retracted fully in the fuselage sides.
The engine chosen was the 450 hp inverted Renault 12 RO-3, the same used on the R-110. A three-bladed Ratier propeller with electrically-operated variable-pitch extended ahead of the engine. A 210-liter armored tank was to contain ethylated fuel.
Capable of attaining a 10,000-meter (30,000-foot) ceiling, it was meant to fly up to 480 kms per hour, with a 320 kms/hour cruise speed and a landing speed situated below 100 kms/hour thanks to flaps located below the lower wing.
The aircraft was to have a steel-tube structure entirely covered with light alloys.
The competitors of the Romano 130 were the Loire 250, the Dewoitine 513, the Nieuport-Delage 160, the Morane-Saulnier 405, the Bloch 150, the Blériot-Spad 710 and the ANF-Les Mureaux 190.
The Loire 250 and the Nieuport 160 never materialized; the Dewoitine 513 failed to reach the required speed; the Bloch 150, at least in its initial configuration, proved too heavy; the Blériot-Spad 170 was accidentally destroyed on June 15, 1937; as for the Mureaux, it had to be abandoned late in 1937 due to its engine's tendency to burn more oil than fuel!
As no official order had been placed for it, the R-130 did not proceed beyond the design stage.
Although the fully sealed cockpit, retractable gear, intrados flaps, supercharged engine and easy construction could have placed it in the same league as the modern fighters of its time, the biplane layout (also used for the Spad 710) and light weight (also a feature of the Mureaux 190) made too much of a difference.
The grand winner of the said programme was the Morane Saulnier 405, which was chosen to take over as the main French pursuit type.
After the state took control of all aircraft companies, the SNCASE retained only one small design bureau at Argenteuil.
The project that received the R-130 designation was therefore the last design emanating from Chantiers Aéronavals Etienne Romano.
Initially published in Aviation Magazine International, March 15, 1967
Translated from the French by Stéphane Beaumort.