__NOTOC__ The Dewoitine D.19 was a

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

built in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1925 in response to a

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

solicitation.

Design and development

A development of the D.1, the D.19 shared the D.1's parasol-wing configuration, but featured an all-new wing of increased span, and had double the engine power. Although rejected by the French Air Force, a demonstration for the

Swiss government The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west ...

in August 1925 led to an order for three aircraft. An additional example was sold to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, incorporating the same changes requested by the Swiss. These included a change in the wing (changing back to become more similar to the D.1), and the replacement of the Lamblin radiators with a more conventional frontal radiator.

Operational history

While the first Swiss D.19 was entirely constructed by Dewoitine in France, the remaining two aircraft were supplied to be assembled by the Swiss factory

EKW ''Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte'' English: "Federal Constructions Works", short K+W, was a Swiss state-owned enterprise, with the aim of making the Swiss military independent of foreign sources for its equipment needs. It was establishe ...

. The aircraft were used for many years by the Swiss '' Fliegertruppe'' as trainers for fighter pilots, remaining in service until 1940. All three participated in the international aviation meet at

Dübendorf Dübendorf is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Uster (district), Uster in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zürich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. It is a suburb of Zürich in Switzerland with a population o ...

in 1927, with one of the D.19s winning the closed-circuit race.

Operators

; *

Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air and Space Component (, ) is the Air force, air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force (; ). It was founded in 1909 and is one of the world's oldest air services. ...

; *

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peaceti ...

; *Civil registration L-BYSA

Design and development

Operational history

Operators

Specifications (D.19 C.1)

References

Further reading