History of War – October 2019

DEWOITINE D.520

A pilot from the French Vichy

Regime poses by the tail of D.520

STUB TAIL

The position of the cockpit

gave the aircraft a stubby

look, although it was only

slightly shorter than the

comparable Spitfire.

A D.520 comes in to land in Algeria

RIDING HIGH

The cockpit was

unusually far

back and high

up, allowing good

views except under

the nose and

directly behind.

Illustrations:

Alex

Pang

“METALSKINNED,

FAST, MANOEUVRABLE,

ANDHEAVILY AR ED,I WAS

SEEN ASAN EQUIVALENTTOTHERAF’S

SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE,ANDA COUNTER TO

THE LUFTWAFFE’S MESSERSCHMITT BF. 109 ”

DEWOITINED.520

COMMISSIONED:   1939

ORIGIN:   FRANCE

LENGTH:  8.8M (28FT 7IN)

WINGSPAN: 10.2M (33FT 5IN)

SPEED: 518KMH (322MPH) AT

18,000FT

ENGINE:   HISPANO SUIZA 12Y45

12 CYLINDER 648KW

(870HP)

CREW:   1

PRIMARY WEAPON:  1 X 20MM HISPANO

SUIZA HS404 CANNON

AND 4 X 7.5MM

MAC34 TYPE M39

MACHINE GUNS