You can read the text of their report here.
109E, the principal German fighter type at the time. In April 1940, French pilots tested the D.520 in a mock air combat with a captured Bf. The D.520’s armament of a single Hispano-Suiza 404 20-millimeter cannon firing through the propeller hub and four fast-firing 7.5-millimeter machine guns in the wings put it on par with the top fighters of the time.įootage of the last D.520 in flyable condition prior to an accident in 1986 Dewoitines versus Messerschmitts The French fighter came with modern features including a good radio set, self-sealing fuel tanks and a manually-operated fire-suppression system in the cockpit. The elevated cockpit, situated far to the rear with an armor plate behind the seat, afforded the pilot good visibility in all directions except directly below the nose, which could pose problems while taxiing. Like the Spitfire, the D.520 was an elegant, all-metal design, except for the fabric-covered ailerons and tail surfaces.
This total increased to 1,400 - including 120 for the French navy - when Germany invaded Poland two months later. The French air ministry was finally interested and ordered 200 D.520s in 1939. The improved aircraft could hit 332 miles per hour in level flight, and more than 500 miles per hour in a dive. However the relatively lightweight liquid-cooled engine was prone to overheating and bulky underwing radiators created additional drag, causing the prototype to fly just below the desired speed.ĭewoitine installed uprated 12Y-31 and -45 engines with streamlined radiators and switched from a fixed- to a variable-pitch propeller. His initial design mated an all-metal airframe to the most powerful V12 engine then available, an 890-horsepower Hispano-Suiza 12Y-21 inline engine.
So while the French Dewoitine fighters did see a lot more combat after the Battle of France, they mostly fought against the Allies.Īviation engineer Émile Dewoitine first conceived the D.520 to meet a requirement for a fighter that could exceed 310 miles per hour. While many French pilots such as Antoine Saint-Exupéry - author of The Little Prince - went on to fight for the Allied cause, most French warplanes fell into the hands of the French Vichy regime.
It’s always been a small consolation to the French that they had just begun to field their own cutting-edge fighter, the Dewoitine D.520, when France fell.īetween May and June 1940, the German Luftwaffe overwhelmed the French Armée de l’Aire. The British had their Spitfire Mark I and II and the Germans had their Messerschmitt Bf.109E - designs that set the standard for high-performance fighters at the beginning of World War II.
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