Stampe et Vertongen RSV . 32 The Stampe et Vertongen RSV . 32 was a trainer aircraft produced in Belgium in the early 1920s . Designed originally for the Stampe et Vertongen flying school , the Belgian Air Force became a major operator of the type , where it became the first aircraft of entirely Belgian design and manufacture to enter service . Many others were purchased by flying clubs and private owners . No RSV . 32 was in existence by the end of World War II . Jean Stampe and Maurice Vertongen , veterans of World War I , founded a flying school at Deurne in 1923 . Their research into the training aircraft then available led them to believe that the British - built Central Centaur IV was the best choice for their school . When they discovered that the Centaur IV had just ceased production , their friend , Maurice Boel , introduced them to engineer Alfred Renard , whom Stampe and Vertongen contracted to design a similar aircraft that could be built cheaply and locally . Renard ' s response was a conventional two - bay biplane with unstaggered wings of equal span . Power was provided by a radial engine in the nose . The student pilot and instructor sat in tandem in a single , open cockpit and communicated through a speaking tube . The main units of the fixed undercarriage shared a common axle , and the tail was supported by a skid . Construction was of wood throughout , braced with wire and covered in fabric , and stressed to withstand rough treatment by student pilots . To reduce costs , many parts were interchangeable , including the struts , longerons , undercarriage legs , and even the upper and lower wings . Initial construction of the prototype commenced in a dance hall in Evere and was completed in the hangar of the " Administration de l ' Aéronautique " ( the Belgian Aviation Administration ) on 23 April 1923 . The aircraft was registered " O - BOEL " in honour of the friend who introduced Renard to Stampe and Vertongen . After the prototype had been tested , King Albert I paid a royal visit to Stampe et Vertongen and asked for a joy ride over Antwerp in it . The RSV . 32 was produced between 1923 and 1932 and the total number built is sometimes given as fifty - seven , however Paul de Meyer , writing for " Air - Britain Digest " in 1980 called this number " unlikely " and " greatly exaggerated " . The type saw service with not only Stampe et Vertongen ' s school , but flying schools at Gosselies and Saint - Hubert as well . The Belgian Air Force purchased nineteen examples in three batches . These served until 1936 , when surviving machines were sold to private owners . Flying clubs that operated the type included the Antwerp Aviation Club and the Aéro - Club Royal Belge . At least one private owner added a third seat to the aircraft , and at least three examples were converted to 2 + 2 seating with a fuselage modification designed by Renard . This latter configuration was designated the RSV . 32 / 2X2 . Variants . The RSV . 32 was built in at least seven variants . The precise subtype is known for forty - one aircraft : Additionally , one RSV . 32 was to be fitted with an 82 - kW ( 110 - hp ) Renard engine and possibly amphibious undercarriage , but this machine was never built . Finally , note that some of these aircraft were converted from other subtypes , so the same airframe might in some cases be counted twice in the production figures .