Combat aircraft. Dewoitine D.520

Speaking about the aircraft of the Second World War, they usually talk about the stamps that represented the main participating countries. But there are cars that deserve to talk about them. Such an aircraft is the product (realistically) of the company Devuatin.

D.520 is deservedly considered the best French fighter of the Second World War. And not because he was the newest of all that came up with the French designers, but because the car was just wonderful.

And it's not just some outstanding LTH machines, but the fact that the French pilots fought and fought really well on it. And not only French.

Our story the more interesting, because the company Emile Devuatina developed a plane, let's say, as a private initiative. We understand this approach, in the USSR this principle was implemented and was quite normal, but in Europe it did not spread. For first, all the same money, and then everything else.

Emil Devuatin

And his plane:

Strange, but at the very start this rather elegant plane lost in the competition to the MS.405 aircraft of the Moran-Saulier company, which mutated in the Moran-Saulier.406 and took its place in the plans of the French Ministry of Defense.

But the Dev.WAT family of the D.500 family actually formed the basis of the fighter aviation France, therefore, the chances remained, despite losing the competition. Although money for the construction and further work was not given to Devatin. In the 30s, such greed was normal for France, for which later it was necessary to pay for the full program.

D.520 for the first time went up in the sky of 2 in October of 1938. Since the old 12Y21 engine was put on the plane to save, the aircraft showed nothing. The maximum speed that was able to squeeze out of D.520 was less than 470 km / h. In general, everything was so bad, but on the other hand, it is just as promising.

It was necessary to replace the engine, put a normal screw, redo the cooling system.

It helped. Changing the car and putting the motor 12Y29, Devuatin received at the exit 505 km / h. What was already similar to what was ordered by the French Defense Ministry.

In 1939, at the very beginning, a second copy, D.520-02, was released for testing. He was different from the first instance. He had a completely different tail, plus a flashlight radically altered. The middle section now did not fold back, but shifted back, and it could, if necessary (to save life) open in flight.

D.520-02 received weapons, consisting of 20-mm motor-gun "Hispano-Suiza" and two 7,5-mm machine guns in gondolas under the wing.

This plane went to the main tests. On tests, the speed was even higher than that of the first instance, 511 km / h.

And with the third instance, everything became beautiful. With the 12Y31 engine, which was put on the plane in the summer of 1939, the aircraft developed the 535 km / h. The bonus was improved rate of climb. Encouraged by this growth in LTH, the Devuatina gunsmiths removed the winged containers with machine guns and placed four machine guns in caliber of 7,5-mm and their ammunition in their wings.

For 1939 of the year - very impressive.

It is not surprising that the French Defense Ministry decided to order 200 aircraft. It happened in April 1939. In June, Devuatin received a second order, another for 600 aircraft.

The serial fighters differed slightly from the first ones by a slightly elongated fuselage, additional gas tanks in the wings and the new 12Y45 engine, the 930 horsepower, which should have improved the aircraft's LTH.

And so the engine somewhat let everyone down. Just like in the USSR. The motor was not ready, the deadlines were broken, and the plane went to the series, but very slowly.

And then the war began ...

By December 31, the French Air Force received all 19 vehicles. In the conditions of an already ongoing war, even if it was nicknamed "strange", this was clearly not enough.

But even those that came out of the shops, to call full fighters language does not turn. In general, the new engine - new problems. The engines were heated and even overheated at maximum speed, the superchargers jerked, the guns were overheated from engine overheating, there were problems with the exhaust. In general, such a set for a new car is quite typical for itself, but to top it all, the speed dropped.

In general, with the maximum speed was a disaster, it fell to 500-510 km / h, which eventually upset the military to such an extent that the planes went to the factory.

Again, no car becomes immediately on the wing. Children's diseases are cured by the hands of specialists and time, but with the latter it was not very good. Considering the Bf-109Е appeared in sufficient quantities by the Germans - everything became altogether sad. And the "messer" had to oppose a plane that was really not inferior to him. D.520 was so basically. It remains to be in fact.

The first combat-ready D.520 began to arrive from the factory only in early April, but not in a stream, but in quite normal batches. Moreover, Devuatin managed to assemble and refine about a hundred aircraft at the time of transfer. And the changes made - about a miracle! - returned to the plane the speed of the prototypes, that is, 535 km / h.

The plant, according to the requirements of the military, entered the operating mode of assembling 100 aircraft per month. By May 1940, the first 76 machines were already in the army, but alas, the 10 of May began the most devastating German offensive.

D.520 actually from the factory were thrown into battle. To be fair, in all the French Air Force only one group of GC 1 / 3 (34 aircraft) thoroughly mastered the new aircraft to the level of an efficient unit. The rest, alas, mastered the technique in the course of the battles, which did not lead to achievements.

GC 1 / 3 entered into battle on May 13 near the Belgian border. The results of the first battles looked very encouraging. The group reliably shot down 10 German planes (Hs-126 - 3, Non-111 - 1, Do-217 - 2, Bf-109D - 3, Bf-109E - 1). Their losses amounted to 2 aircraft, shot down in battle with the "Messerschmitt" over Sedan.

The first battles showed that D.520 was inferior to Bf-109 in speed and vertical maneuver, but exceeded in maneuverability. The Germans had a more powerful engine. But in terms of weapons was actually parity, since the 2 109E wing cannon did not have the accuracy of a French one, but firing a propeller through a sleeve.

The rest of the German fighters, including the "Messerschmitts" of the earlier series did not go to any comparison with the D.520.

In total, in battles over May-June 1940, D.520 had 108 confirmed victories on his account. If you look at it and compare it with casualties in air battles (14 planes), everything is quite impressive, but the problem was that the French Air Force suffered the main losses during the retreat, losing the planes on the ground.

In general, the French lost about Devuatins 100.

On 25 June, that is, at the time of the actual end of the fighting, Devuatin factories manufactured 438 D.520. The plant produced ten fighters per day, but it is natural that after the surrender, the fighter production was stopped.

But the war for D.520 did not end there.

The 153 aircraft remained in France, and the French pilots simply hijacked the bulk of the combat-ready vehicles. 175 aircraft flew to North Africa, three flew to England. All the Germans remaining in France were mothballed just in case.

In North Africa, the 4 groups in service were the Devuatins found themselves in the Vichy Aviation of the puppet government of Petain. And in fact, immediately began to fight against the former allies of the British.

Two air groups were sent to Lebanon and Syria, where they fought against the British Air Force, supporting German operations in Iraq. A funny moment: British troops invaded Syria as a result, which included parts of De Gaulle's "Free France". The Germans preferred away from sin to remove the "allies" of the French from Syria.

The results of the battles with the British Hurricanes and Spitfires were as follows: the French shot down 30 British aircraft. In response, the British shot down 11 aircraft and destroyed 7 on the ground. The concomitant losses of the French (accidents and major damage) sentenced another 12 aircraft.

In general, D.520 proved to be a very worthy opponent for both the Germans and the British.

Considering the usefulness of combat aviation units for themselves, the German command allowed the Vichy government to allow its air force, increasing the number of combat aircraft. As a fighter was approved D.520.

Production of aircraft in 1941 was resumed instantly, from units and parts of the pre-war groundwork. The entire equipment was fully preserved at the factories, which made it possible to receive combat vehicles almost immediately.

In general, in Vichy, with the help of the Germans, they provided themselves with quite good aircraft. In France itself, there were 234 D.520, 173 machines were based in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, 30 - in Senegal.

8 November 1942, Anglo-American forces launched a landing in the North African colonies of France as part of Operation Torch. Reasonable air strikes were inflicted on the French airfields. Rightly the French responded with a blow to the blow.

In these battles D.520 showed that he was not at all inferior to the Allied fighters. For example, in the air battles near Oran, reflecting the attacks of the Allied aircraft, the French lost the Devuatins 35. And the Allies lost their 44 aircraft (25 fighters and 19 bombers).

The Germans eventually got tired of flirting with the French, and the Vichy Air Force was beheaded and dispersed. The reason was the deserter flight of the group GCI / 2 in Algeria, to "their". The Germans requisitioned the remaining Devuatin 248, and the enterprises in Toulouse that produced the aircraft were stopped and closed.

Germans distributed aircraft to the Allies, the benefit is that the plane was worth it. More than a hundred cars flew to Bulgaria, where they took part in repelling American raids on the oil fields of Romania, tried to resist the bombings of Sofia, and managed to make war against the Germans. In general, the Devuatins served in the Bulgarian Air Force for quite a long time, until 1947.

More than fifty D.520 received Romanians. So the French fighter was on the Eastern Front, where, however, he did not find any special laurels. Romanian pilots preferred Messerschmitts, and by that time the enemy had planes stronger than D.520.

Italians gave 60 D.520. They were equipped with four training aviation units, as a combat fighter in the Italian Air Force D.520 was not used.

The Germans themselves also tried to use the “Devuatins”. In the spring of 1943, scheduled test flights began, there was even a whole squadron that mastered these machines, JG101, commanded by the famous ace Walter Novotny.

But the Germans "Devuatin" as is "did not go." In general, it is natural, since the Germans had enough of their good planes in 1943, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Plus, French aircraft were technically very different from German ones. For example, the cause of heaps of accidents in the performance of German pilots was the fact that on the French aircraft the gas sector traditionally worked in the other direction from the German one.

However, in small quantities D.520 was used in air defense. And in the 1944 year, when everything began to get unpleasant for the Luftwaffe, D.520 was again collected in Toulouse, and they released about 150 units.

In June, 1944, the plant finally stopped assembling D.520 due to the virtually complete destruction of Allied aircraft.

And in the same 1944, D.520 began to fight against the Germans. With the offensive in France, the Allies captured about 50 aircraft in varying degrees of combat readiness. It turned out to be a simple matter to find the pilots, to re-form the GCB 1 / 18 air group, and the Devuatins began, as in Bulgaria, to fight against the former allies.

After the war, D.520 very long served as a training aircraft, the aircraft turned out strong and tenacious. Training D.520DC with dual control became the forge of personnel for the post-war French Air Force and served as such until the 1963 year.

Currently, four D.520 (all in France) are preserved, one of them still flies - at air festivals and air shows.

The plane was really good and in no way inferior to colleagues from around the world. The only disadvantage of his career was that France quickly won back, because D.520 went the way of a mercenary, fighting for some, then for others.

But the fact that D.520 really fought the entire war, from the first to the last stage, definitely puts it on par with the most outstanding planes of the time.

LTH D.520:

Wingspan, m: 10,20
Length, m: 8,60
Height, m: 2,57
Wing area, sq.m: 15,97

Weight, kg
- empty aircraft: 2 036
- normal takeoff: 2 677

Engine: 1 x Hispano-Suiza 12Y 45 x 935 hp

Maximum speed km / h: 535
Cruising speed, km / h: 435

Practical range, km: 1530
Maximum rate of climb, m / min: 690
Practical ceiling, m: 10 500

Armament:
- 20 mm gun HS 404
- four wing 7,5-mm machine gun MAC 34 M39

Total was built 905 "Devuatin" D.520.

Comments

[polpot]

Thank you interesting story

[vvvjak]

"Live a century, learn a century - you will all die a fool." This is me about myself, for the first time I read about this plane.

[iouris]

The general public knows little about WWII French military aviation, since it is believed that the French are allies in WWII. In fact, basically, France, like its military aircraft, fought on the side of Hitler. Mostly, the British got it.

[lucul]

The potential of the aircraft was (a good glider), it would have an engine in which 1500 hp ....
It would fly completely differently)))
But not only the USSR had problems for those years with engines over 1 000 hp)))

[NF68]

Quote: lucul

The potential of the aircraft was (a good glider), it would have an engine in which 1500 hp ....
It would fly completely differently)))
But not only the USSR had problems for those years with engines over 1 000 hp)))

During the WWI, France was a world leader in the creation and production of the most modern aircraft engines at that time - the French produced more than 80 thousand of them, as much as the Germans and the British combined. Later, in the 30's, closer to WWII, the French lagged behind the Germans and the British in this matter.

[Klingon]

not a bad airplane, except that the ammunition was small; it had 30 shells; a gun is not enough, nano-guns aren’t 200 and a barrel, the caliber is not even 12,7, although they certainly could do something, flap flaps or a keel ...
on the other hand, on our yaks and laggs, the ammunition load was also very modest

[nks]

Quote: Klingon

small ammunition he had 30 cannon shells

60 -

[Klingon]

Yes, for sure, thanks for correcting. with Spain 60

[sivuch]

30- This is an MG FF variant for bombers so that the shooter can change discs.
And in the 520s, the BZ of machine guns was 750 per barrel, and the machine guns were heated. Plus some kind of reservation.
By the way, it was the flyer who shot down Melders precisely at 520. (Then, one more thing, after which he himself was shot down)

[fighter angel]

They are absolutely right: "Pope" was shot down by sous-lieutenant Pomier-Leiraj, who was then literally torn to pieces by the Melder dogs, not even allowing him to leave the car with a parachute ...

[Yuriy_999]

But did not Melders die in a plane crash?

[fighter angel]

Yuri, in this battle he did not die. He was shot down and he escaped with a parachute. He was captured, but not for long, after a few days, France surrendered. But he really died in a plane crash when he flew to Udet’s funeral, on He-111 ...

[Yuriy_999]

Thank. Not so much in aviation history.

[san4es]

... But the fact that the D.520 really fought the whole war, from the first to the last stage, unequivocally puts it on a par with the most outstanding aircraft of that time.

[novobranets]

This "Frenchman" looks like a Yak. But the story is convoluted to the point of absurdity. Escape from the Germans to Africa to fight for the Germans there .

[nks]

They did not fight for the Germans from the word at all.

[novobranets]

Quote: nks

They did not fight for the Germans

Two air groups were sent to Lebanon and Syria, where they fought against the British Air Force, supporting German operations in Iraq... The results of the battles with the British Hurricanes and Spitfires were as follows: the French shot down 30 British aircraft.

[nks]

As it is not difficult to notice from the comments, the article contains many errors of various kinds. Syria and Lebanon were under the French mandate. Although the Germans really used their territory for transit to Iraq, the actual deployed Nazi forces were not there. Moreover - Dentz refused the German offer to send reinforcements. The Vichy Air Force simply carried out air defense over its territory and did not take part in operations in Iraq. What and how there the Germans could remove from Syria after the British and De Gaulle occupied it was unclear. The Vichy regime, of course, was collaborative, but not Hitler’s ally and in clashes with allies in the anti-Hitler coalition (again, including free France) was engaged only in the defense of its own territory and did not take part in external operations

[novobranets]

Maybe. I judge from the information taken from the article, and it clearly says who, where, with whom, and how many times. You, apparently, in the subject, once gave such a detailed answer. I respect people who know such little-known pages of history. capacitor positive (+) lead

[nks]

Thank. I did not reproach you for anything. As for clearly written - this is still an exaggeration As for history, I would not say that they are already little known, but it’s understandable that this part of the WWII is not particularly covered in our country, although specifically the WW was important for the USSR, since it was one of the Lend-Lease paths

[Klingon]

and the French from Normandy flew on yaks

[novobranets]

Yes. And some of them died. And Albert Marcel, Lefebvre Marcel, Andre Jacques, Roland de la Poip were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. But now we are talking about other French pilots.

[iouris]

My intuition tells me that Comrade Yakovlev made his plane according to French patterns and was subsequently a big fan of French aircraft. And the Normandy squadron chose the Yaki for a reason.
And the Soviet aircraft engines of the late 30s were "from there".

[Undecim]

Pilot cabin Dewoitine D.520.
More than fifty D.520 received the Romanians. So the French fighter was on the Eastern Front, where, however, he did not find any special laurels. Romanian pilots preferred the Messerschmitts, and by then the enemy had more powerful aircraft than D.520
There is not a single document that would confirm that the D520 came to Romania. French and English literature indicates Romania as the planned operator, to which the aircraft did not even reach.

[Klingon]

gustav. Bf-109G was among the Romanians seem to be in high esteem

[doktorkurgan]

I’m wildly sorry, but the last photo of the post is not the D-520, but even the MS-406.

[sivuch]

Sorry, but this is MS-410 (jet nozzles)

[lucul]

This airplane has a complex profile.
As a result, visually, the plane, as it were, rests its wings on the air. Just like alive. Spitfire also had a similar visual effect.
Here is a photo where this effect is noticeable.

[pro100y.belarus]

Uh-huh. I almost believe in "great airplane". 935 h.p. "The beast", not a machine. And the caliber of the "powerful" machine guns is 7,5.
Just for the Ju-88, shoot is not a shot. And I almost believe that the French "fought", but they didn't have time to win, otherwise they would ...
Where does this nonsense come from?
Throw this sports airplane in winter near Stalingrad. There would have remained in the form of scrap metal.

[Alexey RA]

Quote: pro100y.belarus

And the caliber of the "powerful" machine guns is 7,5.
Just for Ju-88, to shoot - not to shoot.

So for the bomber, the Frenchman had a gun.
By the way, let me remind you that the Air Force of France’s ally at the same time was equipped with fighters, armed generally exclusively with rifle-caliber machine guns. And nothing - they flew well and shot down.

[sivuch]

Sorry, but your post is nonsense. Yes, in terms of engine power, the 520th was inferior to both the 109th and sleep.
But in general, the car was quite strong and tenacious, with an armored back, albeit thin, but many of the fighters of that time (including the early emily) did not have one, with a protected top tank and a wide chassis. Of course - with a normally working radio station (did everyone have it at 41?).
I don’t like the caliber of machine guns? Of course, it’s better to immediately 13.2mm - and more, more. But at that time, the same Junkers-88 had no reservation, and the caliber of machine guns was almost the same -7.92
Moreover, due to the lower rate of fire, the weight of the volley was lower.
For Stalingrad, the car, of course, is outdated, but for the summer of the 40th the big question is still who is better - Bf-109E3, Spitfire Mk1 or D-520C1

[Ruger-para]

And what duralumin scrap metal is worse than our wooden "scrap metal" Do you think that the Yak 7 was cooler than the Frenchman?

[petrol cutter]

I see pilots prefer the cockpit lantern not to close however. It's a sign?!. Because An open lamp reduces the streamlining and speed of an airplane.

[Narak-zempo]

Pokryshkin wrote that they also flew on MiGs without closing their lights - they were afraid that they would not open when they had to jump. And plexiglass was so-so.

[Saxahorse]

Beautiful plane. With good aerodynamics.

And with the third copy, everything in general became beautiful. With the engine 12Y31, which was put on the plane in the summer of 1939, the aircraft developed 535 km / h. The bonus was an improved rate of climb.

It is interesting to note that this Hispano-Suiza 12Y31 had a power of only 860 hp, but managed to squeeze 535 km / h. His main opponent, the Bf 109e, being lighter (1840 \ 2500kg) and having a Daimler-Benz DB 601A engine - 1050 hp. developed only 548 km \ h. A slight superiority, frankly speaking. On the other hand, Messerschmitt received his DB 601A back in the summer of 1938, a year earlier than the war, and most of the children's engine ailments were cured in advance.

I did not know before that the French were so clearly behind the Germans in engines.

[Amurets]

Quote: Saxahorse

I did not know before that the French were so clearly behind the Germans in engines.

But our, Klimovsky M-100-VK-107 legs grow from the same Hispano-Suiza 12Y. "Then the military engineer MI Levin, who was a member of the delegation, proposed a compromise solution that suited everyone. The Soviet side agreed to accept the documentation for the serial 12Ybrs engine, which satisfactorily supported 750 hp during testing, as a temporary one. On the basis of this documentation, production was launched. In the future, Hispano-Suiza undertook to bring the improved model, test it in the presence of the customer's commission and send additional drawings to Moscow for implementation in the series.

This idea became the basis for the development of a contract with the company. It entered into force on August 14, 1934 and was valid for three years. According to this document, Hispano-Suiza provided drawings, specifications, flow charts, etc. The French side had to provide information on all changes made to serial engines. "Http://engine.aviaport.ru/issues/39/index. html

[Saxahorse]

Quote: Amurets

But ours, Klimovsky M-100-VK-107, legs grow from the same Hispano-Suiza 12Y.

That's why I thought that the French were among the leaders in aircraft engines. But in fact it turns out that they themselves could not keep up with the Germans.

[Ruger-para]

Thank you, clearly told

[Mooh]

Please note that not only from the Germans. Swearing at M-105, an allegedly degraded copy of the Spanish-shizu, made by stupid scoops of shit and sticks, gave out more than 1000 horsepower, and the M-105PF something about 1250. The French never dreamed of such power. What syuza that gnome-ron never took the line 1000l.s.
As for this super aircraft, based on its performance characteristics - 2800 kg and 935 horsepower, it should have been flying significantly worse than the YAK, somewhere around the level of the serial LAGG, maybe even worse, but it is armed worse than the MIG, which they always scolded for weak weapons. Maybe some advanced aerodynamic solutions were used in it, which the author forgot to tell us about, but at first glance, nothing particularly good is visible in this aircraft.

[boriz]

MIG was scolded because there was no gun. Compare (by time) can only be with MIG-1. And he has 1 machine gun 12,7 and 2 -7,62. And D 520 stopped in development at the end of 1939. He had a prospect, a reserve for modernization. But, not fate ... But the gun was.

[unknown]

D.523 - 12Y51 - 1100 h.p.
D.524 - 12Y89 - 1200 hp
SE.520Z - 12Z - 1600 HP

[Narak-zempo]

Quote: MooH

Please note that not only from the Germans. Swearing at M-105, an allegedly degraded copy of the Spanish-shizu, made by stupid scoops of shit and sticks, gave out more than 1000 horsepower, and the M-105PF something about 1250. The French never dreamed of such power. What syuza that gnome-ron never took the line 1000l.s.

"Degraded copy" is about the M-100, and after the fall of France, the line was developed on its own. If the French had reached forty-one, they would probably have made a thousand-horsepower engine. With the same M-105PF, which at the time of its appearance was already losing to both the Germans and the British, the problems were also cut off. Not to mention PF2 and M-107, which did not really enter.

[mark1]

VK-105 PF2 is one of the main engines of the Soviet Air Force 1943-1945
Power on earth nom 1290 hp max 1310 hp
At an altitude of 2200 m nom 1240 hp
It was distinguished by its sophistication and reliability and was well received by the hp.
The M-107 didn’t even enter at all, the VK-107A was distinguished by a loaded thermal regime and low motor resources, which, with a certain deficit, did not allow them to maintain high combat readiness of the aircraft parts operating this power plant.

[mark1]

Devuatin was distinguished by a certain severity in piloting (literally walking behind the handle) and the weakness of the pilot's protection (5 mm back), and it is rather heavy for the m. the plane. Questions about aerodynamics - BB-22 with M103A in 1938 developed 567 km / h, I-180 M-87A - 540 km / h, Devatin -535 (the number of engines in the case of BB-22 is compensated by drag)

[Narak-zempo]

Quote: mark1

VK-105 PF2 is one of the main engines of the Soviet Air Force 1943-1945

You confuse PF and PF2.
And the PF2, whose power increase was purchased at the expense of altitude and resource, was inferior to the same "Merlin", not to mention the "Griffins".

[mark1]

Quote: Narak-zempo

You confuse PF and PF2.

Not at all - Yak-3, Yak-9

From October 1944, VK-105PF2 completely replaced the PF variant at Plant No. 26. This type of engine was intended only for fighters.

But with the year I messed up 1944-1945gg.

Quote: Narak-zempo

inferior to the same "Merlins", not to mention the "Griffins".

The British have their own pride - not the last people in the aircraft engine industry, but the VK-107A was still present with us - they were not completely lying in the dust.

[Narak-zempo]

Quote: mark1

The British have their own pride - not the last people in the aircraft engine industry, but VK-107A was still present with us - they weren’t completely lying in the dust

The history of our engine building during the war and before it can be characterized by the words of Wolf Larsen: "I did everything I could, but it was not enough."

[mark1]

Quote: Narak-zempo

"I did my best, but it wasn't enough."

Before the war, yes. In the course of the war - we are handsome, we decided all the questions ourselves, the Lend-Lease engines did not take

[Alf]

Quote: mark1

Lend-Lease engines did not take

And who would give them to us?

[mark1]

Quote: Alf

And who would give them to us?

Well, then we are well done ?! Or how?!
By the way, when delivering l-l planes, there were spare motors in the amount of 30% of the total (nothing prevented us from requesting more, within reason, but this of course did not solve the problem), including Merlin and Pratt & Whitney R-2800- 21 (it was even proposed to put it on the I-185).

[Alf]

Quote: mark1

nothing prevented to request more

He will eat something, but who will give him. Incidentally, motors in the states also did not appear by budding.

Quote: mark1

(even proposed to put on the I-185).

This is news, can I give you more details?

[Narak-zempo]

Quote: mark1

Before the war, yes. In the course of the war - we are handsome, we decided all the questions ourselves, the Lend-Lease engines did not take

We were lucky that Germany waged an air war in the West with a deliberately quantitatively and technologically superior enemy, distracting more than 2/3 of fighter aircraft. And the engines were supplied to us - along with Lend-Lease aircraft and as spare parts for them.

[mark1]

Quote: Narak-zempo

We are fortunate that Germany waged an air war in the West with a knowingly quantitatively and technologically superior enemy,

Was the "technologically superior enemy" unlucky that Germany was also waging a war in the East? Do not belittle your own merits, including in the air. German pilots did not come here to rest.

Quote: Narak-zempo

And the engines were supplied to us - along with Lend-Lease aircraft and as spare parts for them.

L-l aircraft - l-l engines, that's right. It was true that there was an opportunity to start the production of the I-185 with the pratt-whittney ... but apparently they thought that the production of an expensive "souvenir" series would not justify itself.

[mark1]

In the first quarter of 1942, TsAGI calculated the option of installing Merlin XX on the Yak-7. In addition to the increase in speed at high altitudes and maintaining at low altitudes, there was an increase in take-off distance by 28%, the impossibility of installing a motor gun and a critical dependence on the supply of engines and screws, in addition, take-off due to the diameter of the screw was possible only from three points, which (and the transfer to the wing of the armament) entailed changes in the design of the wing, and this was recognized as unacceptable in the current conditions.

[Alf]

Quote: mark1

critical dependence on the supply of engines and screws,

The only serious reason.

[mark1]

Quote: Alf

The only serious reason

The remaining reasons are certainly nonsense, but for similar reasons (the size of the screw, landing gear and wing modification), for example, did not go into the Yak-7M-82 series, although it would be at least no worse than La-5 when refining.
According to I-185 - I just read that such an option was also considered in a small series, from despair. It looks believable and logical.

[mark1]

I lied to you, my friend, about the I-185, or rather I did not find the source (which seems to be the same thing), but I can definitely say about the MiG-3 project

with a Pratt-Whitney R-2800-63 engine and a General Electric C-23 turbocharger, which were installed on the American R-47D-10RE Thunderbolt fighter

but he did not go for the same reason, expensive.

[Narak-zempo]

Quote: mark1

And the "technologically superior enemy" was not lucky that Germany was also waging a war in the East?

Of course, lucky. They could not beat the Wehrmacht of the 1941-42 model in a maneuverable land war without the possibility of depriving them of supplies by gaining dominance at sea, as happened with the African Corps.
Nevertheless, this is a fact: our aviation with great difficulty achieved air supremacy, provided that most of the Luftwaffe fighters were diverted to confront the Allied bombing.

[Ruger-para]

You read about the 100-m105 military production read-his engine hours before overhaul. The mechanics talked about 80 hours of the resource, and even then for the frequent and did not work out

[Keyser soze]

Great plane! Our Air Force was very helpful during the Allied bombing of 1943 / 44. 120 were agreed, but 96 aircraft came. Well, the Germans delivered Me 109 G6, too. In the end, the Allies lost 185 machines, against ours 27.

[Mikhail Matyugin]

Quote: Keyser Soze

Our Air Force helped a lot during the allied bombing of 1943 / 44. 120 was negotiated, but 96 aircraft came. Well, the Germans also delivered Me 109 G6, too. In the end, the Allies lost 185 machines, against our 27.

Interestingly, I did not know about such a price for the Air Force of the Western Alliance for the bombing of Bulgaria. But something tells me that this number of shot downs includes not only the victims of fighters, but also anti-aircraft guns.

[Keyser soze]

that this number of those shot down includes not only victims of fighters, but also anti-aircraft guns.

I didn’t find any information about who was shot down, but the air battles over Bulgaria in World War II were over a whole country and they could hardly cover a lot of anti-aircraft guns. The Air Force defended Sofia, Skopje, Nis, Ohrid, Plovdiv and flew to intercept, and the British and Americans climbed more often in 1943 / 44. Americans and Britons lost 256 killed and 333 prisoners.

[Dooplet11]

The first battles showed that the D.520 was inferior to the Bf-109Е in speed and vertical maneuver, but superior in maneuverability.

Roman, if you summarize your phrase, it will turn out "D.520 was inferior to Bf-109E in maneuverability, but superior in maneuverability. Vertical maneuver is also maneuverability. And maneuverability is such a thing that for two aircraft there are almost always areas of maneuverability, where the advantage passes from one plane to another. Therefore, it would be more correct to write as follows:

The first battles showed that the D.520 was inferior to the Bf-109Е in speed and vertical maneuver, but was superior in turn, or in acceleration in diving, or in throttle response at low altitudes (choose the right one).

[Snakebyte]

The French were so frightened before the war that when they smelled fried, they were forced to ask the USSR to sell them M-105 engines.

[Alexey RA]

Quote: Snakebyte

The French were so frightened before the war that when they smelled fried, they were forced to ask the USSR to sell them M-105 engines.

More precisely, the French asked to sell them Hispano engines. At that time, the series was M-103A.

The M-105A engine can be considered a transitional stage to the M-103. Despite the fact that it was considered a modification of the M-103, it differed quite significantly from the latter. The M-103 and M-103A motors were not interchangeable in the cylinder-piston group. The new inner diameter of the cylinder, equal to 148 mm, became the norm for all subsequent piston engines of V.Ya. Klimov. The M-103A managed to get a takeoff power of 1000 hp. According to the Air Force Research Institute, this motor was roughly equivalent to the French Hispano-Suiza 12Y51 in its characteristics.

Perhaps it was the M-103A that the French military had in mind when in May 1939 they asked the Soviet government about the possibility of supplying Hispano engines.

And the M-105 was brought to mind only by mid-1940.

[abc_alex]

They had reasons to save. With an ally such as the Britons does not lose the war - an impossible task. The French expected that in case of war the British Air Force would be transferred to the mainland, which was actually stipulated in the joint action plans. It was assumed that the French provide war on earth, the British in the sea and air. But the British threw an ally twice, first removing restrictions from the German fleet, and then not transferring aircraft. As a result, in the mid-30s, the French faced a dilemma: fleet or aviation? It was necessary to immediately increase the number of ships and make many new aircraft. And the money was not so much. Therefore, they saved.

[fighter angel]

Comment. On the bottom photo in the article - "Moran-Saulnier - 406"!

[Tuzik]

I read it with interest. In the film, fighters of the Second World War, there were only two words about him.

[fighter angel]

If you are interested, read Kornyukhin's "50 Best Fighters of WWII". There is a whole article about Dewuatin-520, briefly, in essence, without water, with examples of hostilities and with illustrations.

[zombee]

The group reliably shot down 10 German aircraft (Hs-126-3, He-111-1, Do-217-2) reliably! Do-217! despite the fact that they were released into the series in November 40th))

[rayruav]

I’m not sure about the range of 1500 km (where the data came from), but otherwise the ms-406 was a much better machine that successfully fought in the Finnish air force, but in general it reminds me of a dispute between yak and la for ms-406

[fighter angel]

The most effective ace fighter in France (if you do not take into account the pilots of the Normandie-Niemen) Pierre Le Glloan flew on the Dewuatin-520 "white 6". For its graceful silhouette, the car was called "Miss France".

[TokarevT]

In the last photo that completes the article, for some reason, not the D520, but the MS406 !? An accident?

[Freedim]

All the same, there are a lot of borrowings in European aviation .. The nose part is similar to the Yak-9, the center section of the Spitfire, the rear part of the MiG-3, the LaGG-3 flashlight .. The wing is like the Messer's "Gustav" .. Something from Hurricane is there. In general, a very beautiful aircraft. I'm even surprised that the French managed to create not just another cuttlefish.

[Viktor Sergeev]

Quite a slow cuttlefish, even for 1941, which she could do in 1943 I can't even imagine.