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The Dewoitine D.500 was an all-metal, open-cockpit, fixed-undercarriage monoplane fighter aircraft designed and produced by French aircraft manufacturer Dewoitine.

Developed to meet a specification issued by the French Air Ministry in 1930, the D.500 was intended to be a more capable replacement to the Nieuport 62. Ordered by the French Air Force during November 1933 and introduced in its initial model during 1935, the design was developed into several variants, most notably the D.510, which was re-engined with the more powerful Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs powerplant. It proved to be a relatively popular aircraft during the Interwar period; in France, in addition to the French Air Force's units, a specialised variant, the D.501, was also procured by the French Naval Aviation for carrier operations. Beyond its use in France, the D.500 saw several export sales and evaluations by prospective major customers including the Empire of Japan, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom.

The D.500/D.501 saw combat with several operators. During the Spanish Civil War, it was surreptitiously supplied to the Spanish Republican Air Force; it was also flown by the Republic of China Air Force against the invading Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the late 1930s, the type was largely superseded by a new generation of French fighter aircraft, these typically featured further innovations such as enclosed cockpits and retractable undercarriages, and included the design's direct successor, the Dewoitine D.520. Despite being largely obsolete, both D.500s and D.510s were operated by the French Air Force during the initial months of the Second World War, the latter remaining in use up to the end of the Battle of France and signing of the Armistice of 22 June 1940 between France and Nazi Germany.

Development

The origin of the D.500 was the issuing of the C1 specifications by the French Air Ministry during 1930. Several aviation companies investigated a response to C1, including French aircraft manufacturer Dewoitine, headed by Émile Dewoitine. Dewoitine and his team designed a clean-sheet all-metal monoplane interceptor and submitted their proposal, designated D.500, to the Air Ministry. On 18 June 1932, the prototype made its maiden flight. During November 1933, an initial quantity of sixty aircraft was ordered from Dewoitine on behalf of the French Air Force, for whom the type was to serve as a replacement for the Nieuport 62. On 29 November 1934, the first production D.500 made its first flight. It featured a sharp fuselage, complete with a streamlined nose section that housed the aircraft's powerplant, a single Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine capable of generating up to . Underneath the fuselage was a relatively large-volume radiator, which was designed to present the smallest possible frontal area while still meeting the cooling requirements of the Hispano-Suiza engine. The cockpit of the D.500 was located directly above the trailing edge of the wing. The control surfaces of the D.500 were relatively small as a result of the aircraft's high speed performance. The fixed undercarriage had faired axleless wheels, complete with pneumatic brakes, mounted on a pair of V struts attached to the lower fuselage longerons. The undercarriage's vertical stresses are absorbed by an oleo-pneumatic strut bolted to the central wing's single spar and is integral with the fuselage.

The D.500 had a low-mounted elliptical, all-metal cantilever wing, with an aspect ratio of 8.9. The wing had a thickness of 0.3 m (11,81

in.) at the root, gradually tapering towards its rounded-off tips. Balanced ailerons extended throughout the span, except near

the fuselage, where these were reduced to provide greater downward visibility for the pilot. During November 1939, in Morocco, North Africa, a single escadrille of D.510s (ERC571) was activated despite these planes lacking cannon. During May 1940, this escadrille merged with ERC 573 to form GC III/4. This groupe was disbanded by the end of August 1940. At Dakar, one groupe designated GC I/6, remained in service until being replaced by Curtiss H-75s at the end of 1941.

Fourteen D.501s (named D.501L), originally sold to Lithuania, and two D.510s ostensibly intended for the Emirate of Hedjaz, saw service with the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, arriving some time during mid-1936. When the French government found out about the delivery of the D.510s, they demanded the return of the 12Y engines. As a result of this request, these aircraft were refitted with Klimov M-100s (a Soviet-built copy of the 12Y) from a Tupolev SB bomber. The French also dispatched two D.510 to Japan for evaluation by the Imperial Japanese Navy, but the Japanese found the A5M to be superior and did not place any orders.

In course of the air battles over Chengdu and Chongqing, which were mostly fought using Soviet-made Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighter aircraft, Capt. Cen Zeliu of the Chinese Air Force 17th Fighter Squadron, 5th Fighter Group led seven Dewoitine D.510s fighters on 4 November 1939 in a level, head-on attack against an incoming formation of IJANF G3M bombers. Cen used experiences with the unreliability of the Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20mm autocannon under the g-forces of a diving attack to influence his method, and shot down the lead bomber of the formation, piloted by the commander of the 13th Kōkūtai.

Variants

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|span m=12.09

|height m=2.42

|wing area sqm=16.5

|airfoil=

|empty weight kg=1496

|gross weight kg=1929

<!--Powerplant-->

|eng1 number=1|eng1 name= Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs|eng1 type= V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine|eng1 kw= 640

|prop blade number= 3|prop name= Ratier metal propeller|prop dia m=

<!--Performance-->

|max speed kmh= 402

|max speed note= at

|range km=700

|ceiling m= 11000

|climb rate ms= 14.85

|time to altitude= in 1 minute 19 seconds

|wing loading kg/m2= 117

|fuel consumption kg/km=

|power/mass=

<!--Armament-->

|guns=<br/>

  • 1 × Hispano-Suiza HS.9 cannon, 60 rounds
  • 2 × MAC 1934 machine guns, 300 rpg

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • "The Dewoitine D.500 pursuit airplane (French) : an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane." National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 1 May 1933. NACA-AC-180, 93R19564.
  • Leyvastre, Pierre. "The Day of the Dewoitine". Air Enthusiast Quarterly, No. 1, n.d., pp.&nbsp;17–19, 84–96.