The SET 7 was a military trainer & reconnaissance aircraft that was produced in Romania in the mid-1930s. It was originally designed as a conventional single-bay biplane, with slightly staggered wings, a standard undercarriage with fixed tailskid, and a tandem open-cockpit arrangement for the pilot and instructor or observer. Power was supplied by an Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar radial engine, and, from the outset, the aircraft was equipped for wireless & photographic reconnaissance duties.
An armed version followed in 1934, adding a trainable machine gun for the observer and a fixed machine gun for the pilot. This version, the 7K, was powered by a neatly cowled Gnome-Rhône 7Ksd engine, and the 7KB (fitted with bomb racks) & 7KD were specialised subtypes that followed it. A floatplane version was produced as the 7H.
SET 7K - armed reconnaissance version with Gnome-Rhône 7Ksd/7Ksf engine (20 built, delivered by August 1936)
SET 7KB - 7K fitted with IAR-built Barbieri-type bomb racks (20 built, delivered by September 1937)
SET 7KD - 7K stripped of most equipment and used for liaison duties (Divizionar - "army division use") (20 built, delivered between October and December 1938)
Maximum speed: 251km/h (156mph, 136kn) at sea level
255km/h (158mph; 138kn) at 1,500m (4,900ft)
253km/h (157mph; 137kn) at 3,000m (9,800ft)
Stall speed: 92km/h (57mph, 50kn)
Service ceiling: 6,800m (22,300ft) service ceiling; 7,500m (24,600ft) absolute ceiling
Time to altitude: 1,000m (3,300ft) in 2 minutes 40 seconds
2,000m (6,600ft) in 5 minutes 40 seconds
3,000m (9,800ft) in 9 minutes 5 seconds
4,000m (13,000ft) in 13 minutes 41 seconds
5,000m (16,000ft) in 19 minutes 41 seconds
Armament
Guns: 1x fixed forward-firing synchronised 7.70mm (0.303in) Lewis gun with twin 7.70mm (0.303in) Lewis guns on a Grossu IAR ring mount in the rear cockpit
Bombs: 300kg (660lb) of bombs and/or Holt flares carried under-wing
References
123Antoniu, Dan; Cicos, George (2007). Romanian Aeronautical Constructions (2nded.). Bucharest: Vivaldi. p.239. ISBN978-973-150-002-7.
1234Craciunoiu, Cristian; Axworthy, Mark; Scafeş, Cornel (1995). Third axis, fourth ally: Romanian armed forces in the European war, 1941-1945. London: Arms and Armour Press. p.243. ISBN1854092677.
↑Grey, C.G.; Bridgman, Leonard, eds. (1937). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1937. London: Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd. p.255c.
↑Gugju, Ion; Gheorghe Iacobescu; Ovidiu Ionescu. Romanian Aeronautical Constructions 1905–1974. Brasov. pp.158–159.
Further reading
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p.352.