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Dewoitine D.520

1939 WORLD WAR 2

Dewoitine D. 520 Story

The Dewoitine D. 520 is a single-seat piston-engined fighter jet designed and built for the French Air Force. Developing from the lessons learned from their ill-fated D. 513 design, Dewoitine produced a fighter with a sleek design and acceptable performance, especially compared to the Luftwaffe - the D. 520 bravely but unsuccessfully in the fall Fight back to claim France of 1940. Nonetheless, the D. 520 was widely respected and continued to be used by the French Vichy Air Force and even in post-war France.

The D. 520 was the first French successful WWII best "modern" fighter design.

Design work on the D. 520 began as early as 1936, and the first prototypes flew in 1938. Apart from a few design changes and different engine types (all from the Hispano-Suiza series), the models are virtually identical. From D520. 1 A prototype, the basic series D.520, was born and ordered for production until 1939, and the system was used until 1940 - by the time the Germans invaded, only about 36 had actually been delivered.

The D. 520 reportedly performed well against its German counterparts, although it was less than successful in defending France. About 114 enemies were killed and 85 French D. 520s were lost before the air defenses finally collapsed.

The system was still produced by the French Vichy Air Force on the German side and was still partially available after the war.

At the heart of the D.520 is a simple straight-line fighter known for its sleek overall design and closed-top rear cockpit. The location of the cockpit away from the nose certainly reduces the pilot's forward and downward visibility, but the extra space in the nose allows for the installation of engines (with a variable pitch propeller system) and weapons. Armament consists of a nose-mounted 20mm cannon and 4 x 7.5mm machine guns, two on each leading edge of the wing.

Trailing edge flaps were also introduced into the wing design. A single vertical tail adorns the rear wing, and retractable landing gear completes these features.

Specification

Basic

Year:

1939

Staff:

Production

[881 units]:

Dewoitine - France

Roles

- Fighter

Dimensions

Length:

28.74 ft (8.76 m)

Width:

33.46 ft (10.2 m)

Height:

8.40 ft (2.56 m)

Weight

Curb Weight:

2,092 kg

MTOW:

2,790 kg

(difference: +1,539 pt)

Performance

1 x Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 12-cylinder V-engine, 930 hp.

Performance

Maximum Speed:

336 mph (540 km/h; 292 knots)

Service Limit:

36,089 ft (11,000 m; 6.84 mi)

Maximum range:

957 miles (1,540 km; 832 nautical miles)

Armor

Default:

1 x 20mm HS 404 cannon in the nose

4 x 7.5mm machine guns in the wings

Changes

D520. 1 - the model name of the prototype; the first prototype with the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-21 inline engine; the other prototypes had slight modifications to various design elements including the canopy and wings; the second prototype, With the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 engine; the third prototype, with the 890 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engine.

D. 520 - Main series designation; equipped with 920 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 or Hispano-Suiza 12Y-49 engine.

D. 524 - Experimental variant; equipped with 1,200 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y-89 engine.