The RSV and SV aircraft

Not satisfied with the aircraft on the market, Stampe and Vertongen built their own training aircraft. Alfred Renard designed the first series of RSV aircraft. He was succeeded by George Ivanow. His designs were sold under the name SV. After the accident of Ivanow, the design office was taken over by another Russian: Demidoff. He would refine the original design of the SV-4 into the type we know today.

The RSV aircraft designed by Alfred Renard were very robust and ideal for student pilots, who do not always land their aircraft gently. After George Ivanow took over from Renard, designing aircraft for pleasure aviation was also considered and finer models were put on the drawing board. The most famous and commercially successful was the SV-4, which was marketed in several variants. Initially based on the de Havilland Tiger Moth, the design was refined, especially at the request of Elza Leysen, who was eager to perform aerial acrobatics. The story goes that due to an unclear notion on the plan, the upper wing was mounted at a slightly twisted angle, which greatly improved the aerobatics of the aircraft. Some time later the SV-5 would also see the light.

This was a sturdier aircraft, designed to military specifications. Not only the Belgian military aviation bought these machines, but also the Latvian Air Force, who 'exchanged' 10 machines for 5,700 tons of grain.

The dramatic accident with the SV-10 put a damper on the success story of Stampe and Vertongen.

The outbreak of World War II and the destruction of the installations by the Germans just before the liberation, put an end to aircraft construction in Antwerp.

However, the SV-4 made a "comeback" in France where the type was built under license after the war. The French sometimes want us to believe that “un Stampe” is a French product, but nothing could be further from the truth.

In later years, Jean Stampe himself teamed up with Alfred Renard for a while, but it had little commercial impact.