Constructions Aéronautiques Émile Dewoitine was a French aircraft manufacturer established in
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
by
Émile Dewoitine
Émile Dewoitine (26 September 1892 – 5 July 1979) was a French aviation industrialist.
Prewar industrial activities
Born in Crépy-en-Laonnais, Émile Dewoitine entered the aviation industry by working at Latécoère during World War I. ...
in October 1920. The company's initial products were a range of metal parasol-wing fighters, which were largely ignored by the
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 ...
but purchased in large quantities abroad and licence-built in Italy, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia. The company was liquidated in January 1927, with the only remaining active programme (the Dewoitine D.27, D.27) being transferred to Eidgenoessische Konstruktionswerkstaette, EKW in Switzerland.
The company was then re-established in Paris in March of the following year as Société Aéronautique Française (Avions Dewoitine) or SAF. After briefly continuing D.27 production, the reconstituted firm produced a range of fighters, the Dewoitine D.500, D.500 family, that became a mainstay of the
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 ...
during the 1930s.
It also developed important civilian airliners, such as the Dewoitine D.333, D.333 and its derivative the Dewoitine D.338, D.338, designed for pioneering routes to French Indochina (now Vietnam), and eventually Hong Kong.
The firm was nationalised in March 1937 into the short-lived SNCA du Midi, or SNCAM, and produced the Dewoitine D.520, D.520. This was France's best-performing fighter at the outbreak of war, though production delays meant too few were produced to pose any serious opposition to the Luftwaffe during the Battle of France.
The end of Dewoitine as an individual business entity came with its absorption into SNCASE in December 1940, by which time Émile Dewoitine had departed to establish Société Industrielle pour l'Aéronautique, SIPA. No further aircraft were produced under the Dewoitine name.
Aircraft
* Dewoitine D.1
* Dewoitine D.2 project
* Dewoitine D.3 project
* Dewoitine D.4 project
* Dewoitine D.5 project
* Dewoitine D.6 project
* Dewoitine D.7
* Dewoitine D.9
* Dewoitine D.10 project
* Dewoitine D.13 project
* Dewoitine D.14
* Dewoitine D.15
* Dewoitine D.17 project
* Dewoitine D.18 project
* Dewoitine D.19
* Dewoitine D.21
* Dewoitine D.22 project
* Dewoitine D.23 project
* Dewoitine D.24 project
* Dewoitine D.25
* Dewoitine D.26
* Dewoitine D.27
* Dewoitine D.28
* Dewoitine D.30
* Dewoitine D.33
* Dewoitine D.35
* Dewoitine D.332
* Dewoitine D.338
* Dewoitine D.371
* Dewoitine D.372
* Dewoitine D.420 project
* Dewoitine D.430
* Dewoitine D.440 project
* Dewoitine D.450 project
* Dewoitine D.470 project
* Dewoitine D.480
* Dewoitine D.481
* Dewoitine D.490 project
* Dewoitine D.500
* Dewoitine D.513
* Dewoitine D.520
* Dewoitine D.551
* Dewoitine D.560
* Dewoitine D.580 project
* Dewoitine D.590 project
* Dewoitine D.600 project
* Dewoitine D.640 project
* Dewoitine D.650 project
* Dewoitine D.660 project
* Dewoitine D.680 project
* Dewoitine D.710 project
* Dewoitine D.720
* Dewoitine D.750
* Dewoitine D.760 project
* Dewoitine D.770
* Dewoitine D.800 project
* Dewoitine D.810 project
* Dewoitine D.820 project
* Dewoitine D.860 project
* Dewoitine D.900 project
* Dewoitine HD.460 project
* Dewoitine HD.730
* Dewoitine P-1
References
*
{{Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France
Manufacturing companies established in 1920
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1929
French companies established in 1920
1929 disestablishments in France
Dewoitine aircraft,