D.520

D.520

V.G.33C-1

VB.10C-1

D.520

V.G.33C-1

VB.10C-1

France

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.0	3.0	2.3

Class:

Fighter

Research:5 600

Purchase:22 000

This page is about the French fighter D.520. For the version in the British tree, see D.520 (Great Britain).

Description

The D.520 is a rank II French fighter with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB) and 2.3 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.73 "Vive la France". In it's early development, the Dewoitine D.520 was marred by official interference. The fighter was hardly match for the German Bf 109, yet it's pilots fought with great bravery and skill to bring the respectability to the type during the battle of France.

General info

Flight performance

Due to the D.520's mediocre handling, each scenario must be exploited to the best for the maximum efficiency from the plane. However, maintaining a high speed with the aircraft is essential to do well in common dog-fighting tactics such as Boom & Zoom and Turn & Burn.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 5,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	529	515	11200	21.1	21.9	7.1	7.1	300
Upgraded	571	550		19.0	20.0	13.6	10.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	320	400	340	280	~12	~8

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 370	< 400	< 430	> 340

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass in front of pilot.
• 8 mm Steel plate behind pilot.
• 3 mm Steel box behind pilot's head.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The D.520 is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon, nose-mounted (60 rpg)
• 4 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns, wing-mounted (675 rpg = 2,700 total)

Usage in battles

The main purpose of the D.520 is the role of an interceptor/fighter. It has no bomb-capacity and thus stands limited to aerial combat. In this respect there are a few things to consider, first and foremost that this is a fighter that does not do great away from a squad. It has mediocre flight characteristics as far as speed, climb and turn is concerned. It is however quite well armoured to compensate for such, meaning that it will stay air-worthy where other aircraft would crash, and instead stands a fighter which is effective in engagements where it has support to rely on. Without such support, it is a very situational plane which can engage certain enemies depending on advantage in altitude, speed, or sometimes even a turning radius. It has a respectable armament of one powerful Hispano 20 mm cannon with a very limited ammunition load (60 rounds), and four 7.5 mm guns with a good deal of ammunition which makes it competitive in realistic battles. Its strong airframe is able to withstand significant wind resistance making it potent in a longer dive. Despite its limited attributes it handles fairly comfortably and thus can be a real asset to a pilot which employs situational awareness combined with an in depth understanding of the enemy aircraft he will choose to either engage or avoid. It has a potent incendiary tracer round for its machine guns and the Hispano makes it pack a fairly significant punch despite its limited cannon ammunition. The D.520 is best considered a heavier single-seat fighter aircraft which can out-endure other enemy squads due to its armour, but not out-turn, out-run, out-gun many other types of aircraft on its own rank.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 7 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs
III	Wings repair	Engine		Offensive 20 mm
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Powerful 20mm cannon
• Good fighter armament
• Plenty of ammo for the machine-guns
• Very incendiary ammunition for its tracer ammunition.
• Fairly good armour

Cons:

• Very little ammo for the 20mm cannon (60 rounds)
• Relatively poor rate of climb
• Very situational aircraft.
• Takes a lot of machine gun rounds to shoot down a enemy plane when you run out of cannon ammo.

History

Widely regarded as the the best French fighter ,to emerge during World War 2, of french origin, the Dewoitine D.520's combat carrier had two main phases. After the fall of France, large numbers of the type were sent to Africa and some took part in the 1941 Syrian campaign against the British and Free French forces. Fighting alongside the German Luftwaffe, the D.520's pilots were involved in the fight against the Allies during the operation Torch landings in November, 1942. After the victory of the Allies, a large number of D.520 pilots decided to change sides and fight for the Allies. The types was extensively used by Luftwaffe fighter schools as trainers, this shows the desperation faced by that service late in the war. Accident rates among students were very high.

Power-plant

The D.520 was powered by either the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 ebgine or 12Y-49, rated at 850 hp ( 634 kW ) and 820 hp ( 612 kW ) respectively. Each engine drove a different propeller. The D.520 underwent trials for the more powerfull 12Y-51 ( D.523 ) and 12Z-89ter ( D.524 ) engines although none of them were accepted.

Armament

Compared to other french fighters at the time, the Dewoitine D.520 was relatively well armed. it's armament consisted of one Hispano-Suiza HS404 20-mm cannon with 60 rounds, and four wing-mounted 0.295-in ( 7.5mm ) MAC 1934 M39 machine guns, each with 675 rounds of ammunition.

Cockpit

The D.520's cockpit was set well in aft, giving it excellent downward vision in flight. However, taxiing was quite a tricky task. It required the pilot to weave to retain a semblance of forward visibility.

The D.520 over France

The D.520 fought with great distinction over the short battle of France. There were a number of notable victories against the Luftwaffe in the North, including the shooting down of the leading Luftwaffe ace Werner Mölders. In the South, the D.520's scored easy kills against the Italians who joined the war on the 10^th of June. Frances Only "ace in a day" was Le Gloan, who shot down four CR.42s and a BR.20 in a single sortie on the 15^th of June.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.