(Dewoitine) D.500 - D.510 @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • A D.510 of 4th Escadrille of GC II/1 (SPA 62) A D.510 of 4th Escadrille of GC II/1 (SPA 62)
    A D.510 of 4th Escadrille of GC II/1 (SPA 62)
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    Dewoitine D.500s of 52d squadron(1935)
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    D.510
  • A D.510 with Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs engine<br>under test at Martlesham Down (October 1936) A D.510 with Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs engine<br>under test at Martlesham Down (October 1936)
    A D.510 with Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs engine
    under test at Martlesham Down (October 1936)
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    Dewoitine D.510
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    Dewoitine D.510
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    D.510s of GCI-4 (SPA 153)
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    Dewoitine D.510
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    D.510
  • Dewoitine D.510 Dewoitine D.510
    Dewoitine D.510

Dewoitine D.510

The Dewoitine D.510 was the last fixed-gear and open cockpit fighter used by the French Air Force. The study, responding to specifications of the Air Ministry, was made by Émile Dewoitine and started in 1930 with the D.500 and continued in 1932 with the D.501. The D.501 and D.510 were the first to be equipped with a cannon firing through the propeller axis.

Program

The C1 program (or 1930 single-seat fighter program) is started to replace the Nieuport-Delage NiD.62 aircraft. The Technical Department of Aeronautics asks for a fighter capable of flying at more than 350 km/h, with a fixed landing gear and an open cockpit. This last demand is supposed to improve visibility in combat, but already seems obsolete in the 1930s. Émile Dewoitine, head of the French aerospace company (SAF), began designing a cantilever wing monoplane fighter of all-metal construction, the D.38. The constantly improved prototype was designated D.50, D.50bis and D.500 to participate in the C1 program tender. There were 10 other competitors: the Mureaux 170, Bernard 260, Blériot-SPAD S.510, Gourdou-Leseurre 482, Hanriot-Biche 110, Loire 43, Morane-Saulnier 325, Nieuport-Delage 121, Nieuport-Delage 122 and Wibault 313. The Bernard 260 appeared superior to the D.500, but the bankruptcy of the Bernard company prevented any further development of this aircraft.

The first flight of prototype No. 01 takes pce in Toulouse on June 18, 1932, with Marcel Doret at the controls. The Dewoitine stands out for its flying qualities, speed and all metal construction. The aircraft is technically well-born and will not sustain any major changes during its development. The radiator is enlarged to improve cooling of the engine, weights are placed on the fins to prevent flutter and a two-bladed timber propeller is installed. The pilot has a complete instrument panel with fifteen instruments, an oxygen inhaler and radio pre-equipment.

Specifications

The D.500 No.48, built in the spring of 1934 is equipped with a 860 hp 12Ycrs engine, a Ratier three-bladed metal propeller (pitch-adjustable on the ground), a bigger radiator and radio equipment. The first flight takes place on August 14, 1934, with Marcel Doret at the controls and the D.510 becomes the first French military aircraft to exceed 400 km/h.

The aircraft inherits from the D.501 the motor-cannon, a V-cylinder engine fitted with the caliber 7.5mm axis-mounted Hispano-Suiza HS-9 cannon and two MAC (Manufacture d'Armes de Chatellerault) machine guns installed in the wings.

A total of 120 D.510 is built by the Dewoitine and Lioré and Olivier companies, of which 30 exemplars are exported.

In the Air Force

The Dewoitine D. 510 entered service in November 1936, one year after the Dewoitine D.500. It was unique at its appearance in 1932, but was quickly surpassed by the evolution of techniques between 1934 and 1936, when the in-flight controllable pitch propellers, closed cockpit, retractable landing gear and high load wings became standard.

1937, the Zurich meeting, disillusionment

The Air Force sent a delegation to the Zurich meeting in July 1937, with their best fighters, D.500, 501 and 510. The circuit around the Alps is a debacle. The Messerschmitt Bf-109V8 flies at an average of 388 km/h, the Avia B-534 at 370 km/h, the Dornier Do 17M V1 bomber at 368 km/h and the best French aircraft at 321 km/h... The event is seen as a humiliation by aviators, some generals in denial speaking of a "collective hallucination".

The best French fighter, in service for just two years, reveals yet unable to intercept German fighters, bombers or aircraft of smaller power.

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 highlights the technical backwardness and the slowness of the French Air industry. This aircraft, born from a 1934 competition, enters service in 1937.

Combat units

The D510 are put into operation in November 1936 at the GC II/1, followed by the GC I/1. The GC II/1 performs a three-month cruise over North Africa, which starts on October 29, 1937. This trip is for testing the D. 510 in colonial conditions and to give exemplars in January, 1938, to the light aviation group of Sidi Ahmed, renamed 5th GAA (standalone air group). The squadron 3/8 (future GC II/8) is provided in July 1938. GC II/1 transfers 15 D.510s to the Naval Aviation, which forms the AC3 squadron, based in Cuers on 1 December 1939. These units receive a total production of 90 planes. These aircraft are gradually being removed from first line to the arrival of the Morane-Saulnier MS 406 in October 1939 and Bloch 152 in November 1939. They are therefore affected to second line training units, under the term "transition Aircraft".

The ERCs (Regional Escadrilles de Chasse) are created for the mobilization in August 1939 and composed of reservists. ERC 571 in Algiers and ERC 573 are equipped in November 1939, and aggregated on May 15, 1940 in the GC III/4, based in Casablanca.

Training units

Following delivery of new aircraft models in the Air Force, the D.510s are allocated to training. They serve as transition to young recruits before flying on first line aircraft. The main school of Avord is equipped, and on May 10, 1940, nine aircraft are operational. On May 20, Avord school holds a mix of 10 D.500 and D.510 in La Rochelle.

The AC3 fighter squadron transfers its planes in Saint-Raphaël, where they receive their new Bloch 151s in mid-April 1940.

The armistice

Of the 57 D.510 in service May 10, 1940, only thirty are present in the statements made by the French army after the armistice. The others are either unserviceable or abandoned. Aircraft captured by the German army are dismantled. Planes in the hands of the French army are stored and finally destroyed.

GC III/4, the last user of D. 510s, is dissolved on 25 August 1940.

China

Twenty-four D.510c are delivered to the Republic of China between February and June 1938.

Production and exportations

In total, the aircraft was built to 381 exemplars. Exportations were as follows:

  • 1935 : 2 D.510J sold to Japan.
  • 1935 : 3 D.510V sold to Venezuela.
  • 1936 : 1 D.510A sold to Great-Britain.
  • 1936 : 2 D.510TH sold to Spain.
  • 1936 : 1 D.510R sold to USSR.
  • 1937 : 14 D.501L sold to Lituania.
  • 1937 : 24 D.510C sold to China.

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Specifications (D.510)

  • Number built : 381.
  • Length : 7.7 m (25 ft).
  • Height : 2.4 m (8 ft).
  • Wing span : 12.1 m (40 ft).
  • Wing area : 16.5 m² (177 sq ft).
  • Empty weight : 1,422 kg (3,135 lbs).
  • Max. weight : 1,923 kg (4,239 lbs).
  • Max. speed : 400 km/h (248 mph).
  • Service ceiling : 10,000 m (32,800 ft).
  • Range : 860 km (534 mi).
  • Powerplant : One Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs engine.
  • Power : 641 kW (861 hp).
  • Armament : One 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS-9 with 60 rounds and two 7.5 × *54 mm MAC 34 1929C with 300 round (*or 76 mm).

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This text stays momentarily aircraftube.com©´s property, before its full or partial integration to Wikipedia.
Dewoitine D.500 - D.510 : Your comments on this subject
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