Romano R.90
Chantiers Aéronavals Étienne Romano · France · first flew 1935 · fighter
The Romano R.90 was a French Navy catapult fighter prototype, a single-seat floatplane built to defend cruisers and battleships without needing a carrier deck.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Upper wing roots gulled upward into the fuselage for pilot visibility |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Single-seat gull-winged floatplane fighter with twin underwing floats
- Upper wing roots gulled upward into the fuselage for pilot visibility
- Machine guns mounted in the floats as well as the lower wing
The gulled upper wing meeting the fuselage, twin floats and compact single-seat fighter proportions distinguish it from bulkier French reconnaissance floatplanes.
Specifications
- The Romano R.90 has a length of 8.67 m (28 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 8.88 m (29 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 368 km/h (229 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
France's 1933 specification for a catapult-launched seaplane fighter drew rival designs from Loire, Bernard and Potez as well as Romano; the R.90 first flew in August 1935 with a 720hp Hispano-Suiza radial and gulled upper wings for a better forward view, but the French Navy ultimately chose the Loire 210 instead.
Variants
Although only one R.90 was built, its design fed directly into the related Romano R.83 and R.92 fighters, which were built in secret for the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.
Where you'll see it
It never served operationally itself; its true legacy was clandestine, arming the Republican side in Spain through its derivative variants.
Related aircraft
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