In the late 1930s, Alfred Renard conceived the most ambitious aeroplanes ever of Belgian design: the R.36 series fighters and the R.35, a pressurized airliner. It was to carry 20 passengers to the Congo colony. Professor Auguste Picard, immortalized as Tintin's Professor Calculus, was involved in the design of the pressure cabin. The prototype was supposed to make only taxi runs on 1 April 1938, but took off and then crashed. Test pilot Georges Van Damme lost his life. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)
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