The Dewoitine D.500 was an all-metal, open-

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

, fixed-

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

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 ...

designed and produced by French aircraft manufacturer

Dewoitine Constructions Aéronautiques Émile Dewoitine was a French aircraft manufacturer established in Toulouse by Émile Dewoitine in October 1920. The company's initial products were a range of metal parasol-wing fighters, which were largely ignored by ...

. Developed to meet a specification issued by the French Air Ministry in 1930, the D.500 was intended to be a more capable replacement to the Nieuport 62. Ordered 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 ...

during November 1933 and introduced in its initial model during 1935, the design was developed into several variants, most notably the D.510, which was re-engined with the more powerful

Hispano-Suiza 12Y The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was an aircraft engine produced by Hispano-Suiza for the French Air Force before the Second World War. The 12Y became the primary French 1,000 hp (750 kW) class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft ...

crs powerplant. It proved to be a relatively popular aircraft during the

Interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

; in France, in addition to the French Air Force's units, a specialised variant, the D.501, was also procured by the

French Naval Aviation French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: (contraction of ), or , or more simply ) is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is . Born as a fusion of aircraft carrier squadrons and the naval pat ...

for carrier operations. Beyond its use in France, the D.500 saw several export sales and evaluations by prospective major customers including the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The D.500/D.501 saw combat with several operators. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, it was surreptitiously supplied to the

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics () and Naval Aeron ...

; it was also flown by the

Republic of China Air Force The Republic of China Air Force ( Chinese, 中華民國空軍), or the ROCAF; known colloquially as the Taiwanese Air Force ( Chinese, 臺灣空軍) by Western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Air Force ...

against the invading Japanese during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. During the late 1930s, the type was largely superseded by a new generation of French fighter aircraft, these typically featured further innovations such as enclosed cockpits and retractable undercarriages, and included the design's direct successor, the Dewoitine D.520. Despite being largely obsolete, both D.500s and D.510s were operated by the French Air Force during the initial months of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the latter remaining in use up to the end of the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

and signing of the

Armistice of 22 June 1940 The Armistice of 22 June 1940, sometimes referred to as the Second Armistice at Compiègne, was an agreement signed at 18:36 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, France by officials of Nazi Germany and the French Third Republic. It became effective a ...

between France and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Development

The origin of the D.500 was the issuing of the ''C1'' specifications by the French Air Ministry during 1930. Several aviation companies investigated a response to C1, including French aircraft manufacturer

, headed 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. ...

. Dewoitine and his team designed a clean-sheet all-metal

interceptor and submitted their proposal, designated ''D.500'', to the Air Ministry. On 18 June 1932, the prototype made its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...

. During November 1933, an initial quantity of sixty aircraft was ordered from Dewoitine on behalf of the

, for whom the type was to serve as a replacement for the Nieuport 62. On 29 November 1934, the first production D.500 made its first flight. In service, those aircraft armed with a pair of twin nose-mounted machine guns were designated as D.500, while those with a single 20 mm

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

which fired through the propeller hub received the designation ''D.501''. Perhaps the most significant derivative of the type was the ''D.510'', the principle difference of which was the adoption of a more powerful Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs engine, capable of ; minor refinements included a slightly lengthened nose, an increase in fuel capacity and a refined undercarriage arrangement. The design was further developed into the more capable Dewoitine D.520, which had an enclosed cockpit and a retractable

, unlike its predecessor.

Design

The Dewoitine D.500 was an all-metal low-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

monoplane.NACA 1933 p. 1. It featured a sharp fuselage, complete with a

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

nose section that housed the aircraft's powerplant, a single

Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs The Hispano-Suiza 12X was an aircraft piston engine designed in France by Hispano-Suiza during the early 1930s. A 12-cylinder Vee, liquid-cooled design, the 12X was used on several aircraft types, some of them being used in limited numbers durin ...

V-12

liquid-cooled Liquid cooling refers to cooling by means of the convection or circulation of a liquid. Examples of liquid cooling technologies include: * Cooling by convection or circulation of coolant, including water cooling * Liquid cooling and ventilatio ...

piston engine A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more Reciprocating motion, reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a Circular motion, rotating motion. This article ...

capable of generating up to . Underneath the fuselage was a relatively large-volume

radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

, which was designed to present the smallest possible frontal area while still meeting the cooling requirements of the Hispano-Suiza engine.NACA 1933 pp. 1, 3. The cockpit of the D.500 was located directly above the

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...

of the wing. The pilot is provided with a vertically-adjustable chair, which can be raised in-flight to improve visibility for landing. The cockpit was equipped with

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

apparatus as well as a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

set for communication. The control stick was connected to the aircraft's ailerons via a rod transmission to horns present on the upper wing's surface.NACA 1933 p. 3. The control surfaces of the D.500 were relatively small as a result of the aircraft's high speed performance. The D.500 had an ovoid section

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

fuselage, the structure of which comprised five main and eight false bulkheads which were connected together by four

longeron In engineering, a longeron or stringer is a load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural fram ...

s and intermediate stringers; these stiffened the metal sheet covering, which was riveted onto the structure. The

sternpost A sternpost is the upright structural member or post at the aft end of a ship or a boat, to which are attached the transoms and the rearmost part of the stern. The sternpost may either be completely vertical or may be tilted or "raked" slight ...

was integral with the fuselage, while the engine bearer, comprising an oblique frame, was directly bolted to the attachment brackets of the

crankcase A crankcase is the housing in a reciprocating engine, piston engine that surrounds the crankshaft. In most modern engines, the crankcase is integrated into the engine block. Two-stroke engines typically use a crankcase-compression design, res ...

. The aircraft's adjustable stabiliser was hinged around its front spar while rigid struts connected to either side of the lower fuselage to provide transverse stiffness.NACA 1933 pp. 1-2. The fixed undercarriage had faired

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotation, rotating wheel and axle, wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In ...

less wheels, complete with

pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek 'wind, breath') is the use of gas or pressurized air in mechanical systems. Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located a ...

brake A brake is a machine, mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for Acceleration, slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of ...

s, mounted on a pair of V struts attached to the lower fuselage longerons. The undercarriage's vertical stresses are absorbed by an oleo-pneumatic strut bolted to the central wing's single spar and is integral with the fuselage.NACA 1933 p. 2. The D.500 had a low-mounted elliptical, all-metal cantilever wing, with an aspect ratio of 8.9. It had a relatively small chord and contained only a single spar, similar to the record-setting Dewoitine D.33. The wing's strength came from its box spar, which was formed from a pair of vertical webs of sheet metal that connect with the flanges, which are in turn riveted to the flat sheet rib arcs of the sheet covering.NACA 1933 pp. 2-3. The wing had a thickness of 0.3 m (11,81 in.) at the root, gradually tapering towards its rounded-off tips. Balanced

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement aroun ...

s extended throughout the span, except near the fuselage, where these were reduced to provide greater downward visibility for the pilot. The lower wing surface sat only 1.5 m (4.92 ft.) above the ground, which generated a beneficial ground effect to significantly reduce landing speeds. The aircraft's fuel tanks, which were located in the wing's center portion on either side of the axis of symmetry, could be separately isolated using a multi-way

stopcock A stopcock is a form of valve used to control the flow of a liquid or gas. The term is not precise and is applied to many different types of valve. The only consistent attribute is that the valve is designed to completely stop the flow when clo ...

Operational history

During July 1935, the initial models of the aircraft, the ''D.500'' and ''D.501'', were inducted into the ''Armée de l'Air''. During October 1936, the first examples of the more powerful ''D.510'' variant were also delivered. The type was operated as the primary fighter aircraft of the ''Armée de l'Air'', despite it soon being considered to be obsolete due to rapid advances in fighter technology being introduced during the late 1930s. The D.510s were retained in the mainline fighter role until their replacement by the more capable Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 during 1939. By September 1939, the month in which the

broke out between the European powers, the early D.500/501 models had been relegated to regional defense and training squadrons. At the start of the conflict, significant numbers of D.510s were still in operation with three ''Groupes de Chasse'' (Fighter Groups), two ''Escadrilles Régionale de Chasse'' (Regional Fighter Squadrons in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

), and two ''Escadrilles de Aéronautique Navale'' (Naval Aviation Squadrons). The type was normally tasked with the air defence of areas behind the front line, such as cities and industrial areas.Chant, Christopher
"First-generation ‘modern’ monoplane fighters – The French Dewoitine D.500 series."
''cmchant.com'', 15 March 2014. During November 1939, in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, a single ''escadrille'' of D.510s (ERC571) was activated despite these planes lacking cannon. During May 1940, this ''escadrille'' merged with ERC 573 to form GC III/4. This groupe was disbanded by the end of August 1940. At

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, one groupe designated GC I/6, remained in service until being replaced by Curtiss H-75s at the end of 1941. Fourteen D.501s (named D.501L), originally sold to

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and two D.510s ostensibly intended for the Emirate of Hedjaz, saw service with the Republican forces during the

, arriving some time during mid-1936. When the French government found out about the delivery of the D.510s, they demanded the return of the 12Y engines. As a result of this request, these aircraft were refitted with

Klimov M-100 The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was an aircraft engine produced by Hispano-Suiza for the French Air Force before the Second World War. The 12Y became the primary French 1,000 hp (750 kW) class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft, ...

s (a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-built copy of the 12Y) from a

Tupolev SB The Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB ( – ''Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik'' – high speed bomber) and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined three-seat monoplane bomber, first flown in 1934. The Tup ...

bomber. During the conflict, the two D.510s were assigned to the 71st Coastal Defense Group. Neither reportedly engaged any enemy fighters. During 1938, one aircraft was irreparably damaged while landing, while the other was destroyed on a runway during a bombing attack. In June 1938, the Nationalist Air Force of China established the 41st PS, French Volunteer Squadron at Wujiaba Airbase and Qingyunpu Airbase; French volunteer pilots participating in few combat engagements against the Japanese attacks while flying in both

Hawk III The Curtiss BF2C Goshawk (Model 67) was a United States 1930s naval biplane aircraft that saw limited success and was part of a long line of Hawk series airplanes made by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company for the American military, and for ...

s and the D.510s which they were demonstrating for Chinese procurement, but suffered only losses, including one pilot '' killed-in-action'' against the Japanese

A5M The Mitsubishi A5M, formal Japanese Navy designation , experimental Navy designation Mitsubishi Navy Experimental 9-''Shi'' Carrier Fighter, company designation Mitsubishi ''Ka''-14, was a WWII-era Japanese carrier-based fighter aircraft. The Typ ...

fighters that proved to be too difficult of an adversary, and led to the disbandment of the 41st PS by October 1938. The 18 D.510 fighters left in China were reassigned to Chinese Nationalist Air Force 17th Fighter Squadron, 5th Fighter Group, where they would be stationed in

Sichuan province Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...

and engaging the Imperial Japanese in primarily-defensive airwar campaign in the Battle of Chongqing-Chengdu. The French also dispatched two D.510 to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

for evaluation by the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

, but the Japanese found the A5M to be superior and did not place any orders. In course of the air battles over Chengdu and Chongqing, which were mostly fought using Soviet-made

Polikarpov I-15 The Polikarpov I-15 () was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (', "gull") because of its gulled upper wings,Gunston 1995, p. 299.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 10. it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet ...

and I-16 fighter aircraft, Capt.

Cen Zeliu Cen Zeliu (; 1912–1941), also Shum Tsak-lau ''(Cantonese),'' was born in Enping, Guangdong, China. He trained at the Guangdong provincial aviation academy as a fighter pilot, graduating in 1934, and was attached to the provincial warlord air ...

of the

Chinese Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

17th Fighter Squadron, 5th Fighter Group led seven Dewoitine D.510s fighters on 4 November 1939 in a level head-on attack against an incoming formation of IJANF

G3M The was a Japanese bomber and transport aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during World War II. The Yokosuka L3Y (Allied reporting name "Tina"), was a transport variant of the aircraft manufactured by the Yokosuk ...

bombers (Capt. Cen knowing from experience about the unreliability of the Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20mm autocannon under the

g-force The g-force or gravitational force equivalent is a Specific force, mass-specific force (force per unit mass), expressed in Unit of measurement, units of standard gravity (symbol ''g'' or ''g''0, not to be confused with "g", the symbol for ...

s of a diving attack, chose the level and direct head-on tactic); Capt. Cen pounding cannon shells into the lead bomber that happened to be occupied by the

's '' 13th Kōkūtai Commanding Officer'' Captain Kikushi Okuda, sending the CO's G3M crashing down in flames over Chengdu, along with three other G3M bombers destroyed in the Chengdu raid that day. With the death of Captain Okuda in the air battle over Chengdu under the cannon-fire of Capt. Cen's Dewoitine D.510, the IJN '' Kaigun-daisa (海軍大佐) Okuda'' became the highest-ranking IJN officer to be ''killed-in-action'' in the War of Resistance-World War II at that time.

Variants

''Sources: Green, Chant'' ;D.500.01 Dewoitine BA 112

:First prototype aircraft. ;D.500 :First production version with a

engine and was armed with 2 × 7.7 mm (.303 in)

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

s or 2 × 7.5 mm (.295 in)

Darne machine gun The Darne machine gun is a machine gun of French origin. Development The French gun-making company Darne, which became famous for its innovative shotguns, began making military weapons in 1915, when it was contracted by French government to man ...

s in the nose, provision for 2 × additional Darnes in the wings. 101 built. ;D.500V :D.500 built for Venezuela - 3 built. ;D.501 Dewoitine D501

Re-engined with a Hispano-Suiza 12Xcrs engine, it was armed with a Hispano-Suiza S7 cannon between the engine cylinder banks firing through the propeller hub and 2 × wing-mounted machine guns. 157 built. ;D.501L :D.501 built for Lithuania - 14 built. ;D.503 Dewoitine D

:The sole D.511 prototype fitted with a 12Xcrs engine with a circular radiator in the nose, it had the same armament as the D.501. Its first flight was on 15 April 1935, it was found to perform worse than the D.500. The aircraft was briefly the personal mount of

René Fonck Colonel René Paul Fonck (27 March 1894 – 18 June 1953) was a French aviator who ended the First World War as the top Triple Entente, Entente fighter Flying ace, ace and, when all succeeding aerial conflicts of the 20th and 21st centurie ...

. ;D.510 :Re-engined with a Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs and armed with a Hispano cannon and 2 ×

MAC 1934 The MAC 1934 is a machine gun of French origin. It is effectively the aircraft variant of the Reibel machine gun. History In 1934, the ''Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault'' ( Châtellerault weapons manufacturing company, often shortened to ...

machine guns in the wings. Its first flight was on 14 August 1934, 120 built. ;D.510A :D.510 built for Britain for evaluation - 1 built. ;D.510C :D.510 built for China - 24 built. ;D.510J :D.510 built for Japan for evaluation - 1 built. ;D.510R :D.510 built for Russia for evaluation - 1 built. ;D.510T :D.510 built for Turkey - 12 built but deliveries halted by embargo. ;D.511 :

Prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

with D.500 fuselage and tail, it had smaller wings, a

undercarriage and a 12Ycrs engine. One prototype was built in 1934 but never flown; it was converted to the D.503. ;AXD1 :The short designation for the single Dewoitine D.510J supplied to the

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The (IJNAS) was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired its first aircraft in ...

for evaluation in 1935. ;Dewoitine Navy Type D Carrier Fighter :Long service designation for the D.510J which was supplied to the IJNAS in 1935.

Operators

;

: *

- 24 D.510C ; *

98 x D.500, 130 x D.501 and 88 x D.510 *''

Aviation Navale French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: (contraction of ), or , or more simply ) is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is . Born as a fusion of aircraft carrier squadrons and the naval pat ...

'' 30 x D.501 ; *

Japanese Imperial Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

2 x D.510J designated as AXD ;: *

Lithuanian Air Force The Lithuanian Air Force or LAF (, abbreviated as ''LK KOP'') is the military aviation branch of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. It is formed from professional military servicemen and non-military personnel. Units are located at Zokniai Air Base ne ...

- 14 x D.501L ; * Polish Air Forces in exile in France ; *

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

1 x D.510R for evaluation ; *

. 7 x D.500 and 2 x D.510 in the Escuadrilla Internacional. ; *

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

- One x 510A for evaluation ; *

Venezuelan Air Force Bolivarian Military Aviation of Venezuela (), is a professional armed body designed to defend Venezuela's sovereignty and airspace. It is a service component of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela. Etymology The organization is al ...

- 3 D.500V

Specifications (D.510)

References

Citations

Bibliography

*
"The Dewoitine D.500 pursuit airplane (French) : an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane."
''

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...

'', 1 May 1933. NACA-AC-180, 93R19564. * * Leyvastre, Pierre. "The Day of the Dewoitine". ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', No. 1, n.d., pp. 17–19, 84–96. * * {{Authority control Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft 1930s French fighter aircraft D.500 Aircraft first flown in 1932 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear