{{Short description|Romanian fighter prototype}} {{Infobox aircraft | name = IAR 12 | logo = | logo_size = | image = IAR 12.png | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Fighter-trainer aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = | manufacturer = Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = 1 | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 1933 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = IAR 11 | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}

The '''IAR 12''' is a Romanian low-wing monoplane fighter-trainer aircraft designed before World War II.

==Design and development== The failure of the first fighter designed at Brașov did not discourage the energetic team of the I.A.R. Works. Even before the second prototype of the C.V. 11 was disqualified from the fighter contest, the first details of its successor had already been laid out by Engineer-in-Chief Elie Carafoli. A new tail with enlarged rudder was fitted to essentially the same fuselage, giving a more conventional look and offering better control during flight. As a consequence, the overall height increased by more than a meter, i.e., 40% of the original dimension. Unlike the IAR 11 design, the wingtips were rounded, and the span had been increased as well, giving a {{cvt|19.80|m2}} wing area compared to the original {{cvt|18.20|m2}} of the C.V. 11. An anti-crash pylon with a minuscule Venturi-tube installed at its top appeared behind the cockpit to protect the pilot in case the aircraft overturned.

The powerplant chosen for the new aircraft, named I.A.R. 12, was again a Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb, that offered 450 h.p. (336 kW) at 1,900 r.p.m., similar to the type fitted to the first C.V. 11. However, due to the increased aerodynamic drag, the maximum speed at ground level decreased to {{cvt|294|km/h}}. This unsatisfactory result, combined with poor handling characteristics experienced during early test flights, constrained Carafoli to improve the construction and try a new engine, fitted to essentially the same fuselage, giving a more conventional look and offering better control during flight. An anti-crash pylon with a minuscule Venturi-tube installed at its top appeared behind the cockpit to protect the pilot in case the aircraft overturned. Such a feature on the C.V. 11 C1 could have saved the life of Cpt. Popescu on that fatal day in early December 1931.

==Operators== ;{{flag|Romania}} *Royal Romanian Air Force

==Specifications (IAR 12)==

{{Aircraft specs |ref=<ref name ="JAWA38">Grey, C.G. and Bridgman, L., ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938''.(1972). Newton Abott: David & Charles {{ISBN|0-7153-5734-4}}</ref><!-- reference --> |prime units? = met<!-- eng for US/UK aircraft, met for all others. You MUST include one or the other here, or no specifications will show --> |crew=one |length m=7.2 |length ft=24 |length in=7 |span m=11.70 |span ft=38 |span in=5 |height m=3.5 |height ft=12 |height in=6 |wing area sqm=19.8 |wing area sqft=213.13 |empty weight kg=1150 |empty weight lb=2535 |gross weight kg=1,540 |gross weight lb=3395 |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=IAR LD 450 12-cylinder W-form watercooled in-line built under license Lorraine-Dietrich 12 Eb |eng1 kw=340<!-- prop engines --> |eng1 hp=450<!-- prop engines --> |max speed kmh= 294 |max speed mph=183 |max speed note= at sea level |endurance=2 hours 10 minutes |ceiling m=7,900 |ceiling ft=25,915 |armament = *2 x 7.7 mm Vickers machine-guns in the nose of the aircraft firing through airscrew. }}

==See also== {{aircontent| |related= *IAR 11 *IAR 14 |similar aircraft= *Boeing P-26 *Dewoitine D.500 *Avia BH-3 }}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== *{{cite journal |last1=Cortet|first1=Pierre|title=Les chasseurs I.A.R: à la mode "Jockey" des années 30, mais en Roumanie...|journal=Le Fana de l'Aviation |date=May 1976 |issue=78 |pages=10–13 |issn=0757-4169 |language=fr|trans-title=The I.A.R Fighters: In the Jockey Style of the Thirties, but in Romania...}}

{{IAR_Aircraft}}

Category:1930s Romanian fighter aircraft 12 Category:Low-wing aircraft Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1933 Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Category:Single-engined piston aircraft