The F.K.32 was designed by Frederick Koolhoven as a replacement for the Avro 504Ks of the LA-KNIL, the Luchtvaartafdeling-KNIL or Aviation Service of the Dutch East India Army, who had used them since 1919.

[1] The F.K.32 was an unequal span, single bay biplane, its wings braced with strongly outward-leaning V-form interplane struts on each side and a noticeable absence of flying wire.

Instructor and pupil sat in tandem in a single, long, open cockpit under the upper wing, which had a trailing edge cut-out for enhanced visibility.

Inverted V-form struts leaned from the front and rear of the cockpit to the two wing spars to form a cabane, assisted by a transverse strut on each side from the top of the fuselage to the wing just outboard of the fuel tanks mounted on its underside.

Short, vertical legs were fixed to the lower wing spar immediately below the base of the interplane struts.