This aeroplane has been referred to on many occassions as the "French Spitfire". Whilst it was probably the best the French had at the time and without doubt it performed very well against the German opposition, it was nowhere near or ever would be as good a fighter, or aircraft for that matter, as a Spitfire. When the French changed sides for the first time in the war the Germans would probably not have let them keep a plane that they felt was in any way as good or superior to something they had themselves. When they changed back again sure they kept them on but they were only to pleased to be given Spitfires and other hardware by the allies rather than this somewhat, by then, dated machine.
MARIETTE, e-mail, 10.05.2012 07:42
Mon père 1913/2010 qui travaillé à hispano-suiza m'a parlé de cet avion de chasse sous licence des USA. 1940 la France ne possédait qu'un petit nombre de cet avion qui était aussi performant que les avions Allemands et Anglais Cordialement MARIETTE
WWIIguy, e-mail, 09.05.2012 08:50
Just got an old Heller kit of a D.520. Some nice colour schemes here. Looking forward to building and displaying this little known fighter.
François Tournier, e-mail, 11.12.2011 15:12
Je suis, au sein d'une équipe, en train de reconstituer un Dewoitine 520, le dernier des trois existants en France, cet appareil est visible au Musée de l'Aéronautique Navale à Rochefort sur Mer-17300- (FRANCE, Charente-Maritime), si des amateurs ou des passionnés ont des archives, photos ou conseils veuillez me les faire parvenir.
Merci d'avance à tous. François Tournier
Bernie Long, e-mail, 03.09.2011 21:59
Saw a nicely restored 520 today at Musee d'Air et Le Espace at Le Bourget. Nifty little fighter that packed a punch with 4 mg and a 20 MM, Too bad it didn't get the upgrades the 109's, 190's, Hurri's, Spits, P-40's and P-51's got.
Ben Beekman, e-mail, 29.01.2011 02:52
In reply to the question about the red and yellow color schemes, the Germans required that Vichy aircraft be identified by alternate longitudinal red and yellow stripes around the engine cowling and also on the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces. This was to take effect during June of 1941. See "French Fighters of World War II" by Alain Pelletier, published by Squadron/Signal Publications. This book contains some excellent illustrations of French fighters (Allied and Vichy) by Richard Hudson showing the red and yellow Vichy colors.
Cliff Sweeting, e-mail, 07.01.2011 08:44
Never really achieved its full potential, once the design and production centres fell into Nazi hands. The Germans were very good at adopting and adapting captured weapons, but they obviously saw nothing to interest them here.
a.casais, e-mail, 09.12.2010 14:03
This plane is not even similar to the spitfire, the cockpic is backwards and the wings and the tailplane are smallers and are not round it, maybe in the capacity of the plane.
mbmarklll, e-mail, 29.11.2010 09:09
Dehwhatin :)
Martin Kesler, e-mail, 24.10.2010 05:30
I would really like to know how to pronounce the name, DEWOITINE................
chenoir, e-mail, 16.01.2010 01:01
The red and yellow markings are the colors of Vichy, the French Government during WWII.
Tim Haskins, e-mail, 22.10.2009 15:44
I am looking for the story behind the red and yellow colour scheme on many of the D.520's. I really would appreciate it if anyone knows.
Steve, e-mail, 11.08.2009 20:17
Re. the Spitfire: The D520 was actually more nearly analogous to the Me-109. Note the wing area: 172 sq.ft. compared to the 174 sq.ft. for the 109, and contrast that with the Spitfire's 242 sq.ft. Power and performance of the D520 were quite close to the Me-109D. Continental designers of monoplane fighters seemed obsessed with minimizing the size of the airframe - which in the case of the Me-109 led to the "stretch" being used up by the time of the G-model.
Jeff Fallang, e-mail, 13.07.2009 08:59
Saw a beautifully restored machine at Duxford Flying Legends, definitely a treat. It compared favorably against the YAK fighters from my vantage point, even though it was just an airshow.
Andre L. Garnier, e-mail, 25.10.2008 05:30
I sat in one in 1945 that was part of a group of 12 or 15 D 520 that where used as trainers by the Luftwaffe and marked with the German cross.. in the Cognac Air Field in the south of France....
Sgt.KAR98, 14.10.2008 05:08
This one looks like the french Spitfire.I wonder if it´s nice as the best of the RAF.
Sgt.KAR98, 14.10.2008 05:08
This one looks like the french Spitfire.I wonder if it´s nice as the best of the RAF.
If you want to send an email just replace '(@)' in the address with '@' !
