Dewoitine D.520
| Dewoitine D.520 | |
|---|---|
 Dewoitine D.520, exhibited in the Musée de l'air et de l'espace , Le Bourget |
|
| Type: | Fighter plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
October 2, 1938 |
| Commissioning: |
January 1940 |
| Number of pieces: |
910 |
The Dewoitine D.520 was at the beginning of World War II is the most advanced fighter aircraft of the French Air Force , which came into the combat. In terms of pure performance data, it was inferior to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 , the standard fighter of the German Air Force , but had significantly better maneuverability and better characteristics in descent and dive flight.
history
The Dewoitine D.520 was developed from 1936 based on the D.500 by a team led by the French designer Émile Dewoitine . After the nationalization of the armaments factories in France in March 1937, which also affected Dewoitine, a large part of this work officially took place within the SNCAM (Societé Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Midi, later merged into the EADS group). The development followed the specification C1 for a 520 km / h fast fighter aircraft, which was published by the technical service of the Armée de l'air in 1936.
After the first prototype could not generate the required speed, the project was modified and was tested together with the Morane-Saulnier MS.450 , the Caudron CR.780 and the Loire-Nieuport LN.60 in January 1937. There was a clear need for improvement, which delayed the progress of the project. Only in January 1939 was a second prototype completed, which had satisfactory properties and was tested again by the CEMA in Villacoublay in February of that year . This was soon followed by a third prototype equipped with a more powerful Hispano-Suiza 12Y-31 engine. Due to the delays that had occurred in the development of the competing models, the Armée de l'air finally decided to order a pilot series of 200 copies with an option for more.
commitment
The D.520 came into use from May 13, 1940. When the western campaign with Germany broke out on May 10, 1940, only 36 machines were operational, too few to give the French armed forces a chance against the Bf 109 of the German Air Force. The increasing mass production meant that before the armistice came into force on June 24, 1940, no fewer than 294 operational units were delivered to front-line units, of which around 50 were destroyed in aerial combat and around 5 by German flak.
A total of 403 machines were delivered to the Armée de l'Air before the armistice (June 25) . In May and June 1940, 108 safe and 39 probable enemy aircraft were shot down by D.520s, a total of 147: 7 Italian and 142 German. On June 9, 1940, the German II./JG 27 met with their Bf 109E and part of the French GC I / 3 with their D.520s. 6 German fighters (Bf 109) were shot down - and a D.520, which made a successful belly landing. German authors such as B. Ring and Girbig (book Jagdgeschwader 27 ) as well as Jochen Prien in his book series on the German fighter pilot associations (Volume 3, mainly about the Western campaign; undated, published approx. 2000) confirm these high losses against the D.520.
The D.520 was also used by the Vichy regime in North Africa and Syria as well as by the nations allied with Germany Bulgaria , Italy and Romania .
At the end of 1944, the remaining D.520 were taken over by the French armed forces and then used against the retreating German troops (more than 900 machines were produced in total). After the end of the war, some of the machines were converted into two-seater training aircraft, which were then given the designation D.520 DC ( Double commande ). In September 1953, the last D.520 was taken out of service in France.
Production and use from 1940 to 1944
The production of the D.520 was stopped with the conclusion of the armistice. In mid-1941, contracts for a joint aircraft construction program were signed between the Reich and the French government. It was planned to produce a total of 350 D.520s for the Armée de l'Air in Toulouse. 74 aircraft had been built by the end of 1941 and a total of 312 by the end of 1942. After the German occupation of southern France, production ran out in September 1943 after another 116 or 128 aircraft. So a total of 428 or 440 aircraft were built during this period.
During the German occupation in November 1942, a total of 246 D.520 were captured, which were forwarded to the head of the air force training system. Some of the planes went to Bulgaria. On January 31, 1944, a total of 44 D.520s were still in service with the Luftwaffe; on September 30, 1944, only seven. The demonstrable use of the aircraft took place at the fighter pilot schools JG 101 to JG 107 and the hunting instructor inspection office. With JG 101 these machines were repeatedly used to defend against enemy bomber formations. Up to September 30, 1944, a total of 137 accidents were recorded in the Luftwaffe's loss records, about half of which were total losses.
Development and technology
Dewoitine also initially experimented with the final configuration of the fighter (compare with the development of the Bf 109 ). It was the time of transition to strut-free fighters with high aerodynamic quality. The first of the three prototypes, for example, which flew for the first time in 1938, still had an open cockpit, which was probably intended to improve the pilot's view. However, a cockpit hood was already used in the second prototype because the D.520 was unable to reach the target speed of 520 km / h. The 654 kW (890 hp ) engine supplied by Hispano-Suiza could not satisfy either. The used 12Y-31 could not be cooled sufficiently with the given aerodynamics.
The production model of the D.520 was then powered by V-engines Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 with an output of 670 kW (910 PS). The drive was completed by an electrically adjustable 3-blade propeller . The fuselage was lengthened compared to the prototype. The series machines received additional armor and armament with a 20-mm cannon that shot through the propeller hub and four 7.5-mm machine guns in the wings.
A total of 910 D.520 of all variants (including the three prototypes) were built.
Other variants
In an effort to improve the performance of the D.520 and to meet the bottlenecks in the production of the domestic Hispano-Suiza engines, various other engines were experimented with. Up until the French surrender in June 1940, the following further developments of the D.520 were made:
- D.521 with a 768 kW (1044 hp) Rolls-Royce Merlin III. However, the engine turned out to be too heavy for the construction. The D.521 therefore never went into series production.
- D.522 with a (USA) Allison V-1710 C-1. The project was discontinued after the French surrender.
- D.523 was powered by an 809 kW (1100 PS) Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 and a Szydlowski-Planiol turbocharger. In June 1940 the first pre-series tests were almost complete and the variant was about to go into series production.
- D.524 with a 883 kW (1200 PS) Hispano-Suiza 12Y-89. A prototype was built, but never flown.
- D.525 , a planned further development of the D.523.
- D.530 , a planned further development with an even more powerful engine (1400 PS Rolls-Royce Merlin or 1800 PS Hispano-Suiza-12Y).
Even after the surrender, the design in the unoccupied part of France ( Vichy France ) was further developed. The following variants were created:
- D.520 amélioré , a production machine with minimal design changes aimed at improving top speed.
- D.520Z , a more powerful variant with 1177 kW (1600 PS) Hispano-Suiza-12Z engine. A prototype was built, but the tests were stopped by the German authorities. They resumed after the liberation of France in 1944, but ended for good in 1949.
- M.520T , a variant with a modified hull design, but which was never built.
In November 1942, the previously unoccupied part of France was occupied by the Germans and all further developments were stopped.
After the war, 13 D.520s were converted into the two-seater training version D.520 DC (double commande, double control) and used by the Armée de l'air.
The design of the D.520 was the direct basis for the development of the following additional types of Dewoitine:
- HD.780 : seaplane variant, only one prototype was built by the.
- D.790 : Concept of an aircraft carrier variant for the Aéronautique Navale .
- D.550 : unarmed record aircraft variant with reduced weight, one of which was built and still flew in 1939. Destroyed in 1944.
- D.551 : Military variant based on D.550 with 809 kW (1100 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Y-51 engine. Before the French surrender, only a few were built that were not flown. Work resumed in 1941, but the Germans soon stopped it again.
- Hispano-Suiza HS.50 : Version with Hispano-Suiza 12Z, which SNCASE developed at the request of Spain on the basis of the D.551. There was no series production in Spain. Only a non-airworthy demonstration frame was built in Seville .
Countries of operation
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Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 8.76 m |
| span | 10.20 m |
| height | 2.57 m |
| Wing area | 15.95 m² |
| Empty mass | 2092 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 2783 kg |
| Marching speed | 370 km / h |
| Top speed ( MSL ) | 425 km / h |
| Top speed (at 5500 m) | 534 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 11,000 m |
| Range | 1530 km |
| Engine | 1 × Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 |
| Engine power | 670 kW (approx. 910 hp ) at 4200 m |
| Armament | 1 × 20 mm MK through propeller hub 4 × 7.5 mm MG in the wing |
See also
literature
- Olaf Groehler : History of the Air War 1910 to 1980 , Military Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1981.
Web links
- ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: The Dewoitine D.520 at EADS )
Individual evidence
- ^ R. Danel, J. Cuny: Le Dewoitine D.520 (type monograph). Éditions Larivière, ca.1975.
- ↑ Hans Ring, Werner Girbig: Jagdgeschwader 27 . Motorbuch Verlag, 1991.
- ↑ Jochen Prien: The fighter pilot associations of the German Air Force 1934 to 1945 . Part 3, pp. 252 and 258.
- ^ Paul Martin: Invisibles vainqueurs , contribution by Yves Michelet on pp. 471–500, Éditions Yves Michelet, 1991.
- ^ Yves Michelet himself, March 2009.
- ↑ Bettina Glaß: The long shadow of armaments: The development of the aviation industry in the Toulouse area from the mid-1930s to 1970. Dissertation, Bochum 2004, p. 78 ff.
- ↑ SHHA Z.11609: L'industrie Aéronautique sous l'Occupation Allemande: Production de Matériel Aéronautique de 1940-1944 .
- ^ Federal Archives / Military Archives Freiburg: Production programs, name 116 ordered and delivered D.520. SHHA Z.11609 assumes 128 aircraft in 1943.
- ↑ Federal Archives / Military Archives Freiburg: List of the French aircraft that were incurred during the occupation of southern France.
- ↑ Waffen-Arsenal Volume 071 - Stranger Birds under the Balkenkreuz, Podzun-Pallas Verlag GmbH, p. 20.
- ^ Federal Archives / Military Archives Freiburg: Loss of Schools and Other Associations RL 2III, inventory lists January to September 1944.
- ^ According to Olaf Groehler: History of the Air War 1910 to 1980 , Military Publishing House of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1981, p. 237, 910 copies were produced.