The Dewoitine D.750 was a prototype

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

twin-engined

torpedo bomber A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the World War I, First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carryin ...

. It was designed prior to the outbreak 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 ...

to operate from the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, but only a single example was completed, with development ended by France's defeat by Germany in June 1940.

Design and development

In 1937, the French Air Ministry drew up a specification for a twin-engined

to operate from the

's two planned new aircraft carriers, the ''Joffre'' and ''Painlevé''. The Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Midi (SNCAM) submitted a design (which was developed by the design team formerly of Dewoitine), that became part of SNCAM when it was established in 1937.Green 1967, p. 23. SNCAM's design, the Dewoitine D.750 was a low-winged

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 ...

of all-metal

stressed skin In mechanical engineering, stressed skin is a rigid construction in which the skin or covering takes a portion of the structural load, intermediate between monocoque, in which the skin assumes all or most of the load, and a rigid frame, which has ...

construction, powered by two

Renault 12R The Renault 12R was an air-cooled inverted V12 aircraft engine developed by the French engineering company Renault in the 1930s. The design was based on mounting two 6Q six-cylinder engines on a single crankshaft. In production, the engine was r ...

air-cooled

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more c ...

s. It was fitted with a retractable

tailwheel undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

and a twin tail. The fuselage, of similar layout to the competing

SNCAO CAO.600 The SNCAO CAO.600 was a French prototype twin-engined torpedo-bomber of the Second World War. It was intended to operate from two new aircraft carriers of the French Navy, but only a single example had been completed and flown when the surrender ...

housed the crew of two or three required by the specification in separate cockpits. The bombardier/navigator sat in the nose, with the pilot sitting behind him, above and to the left of the navigator. The radio operator/gunner sat aft of the wing, operating

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 dorsal and ventral positions.Green 1967, pp. 23–24.

Operational history

Two prototypes of the D.750 were ordered by the French Air Ministry on 26 June 1939, the first example making its maiden flight on 6 May 1940 with SNCAM's chief

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

Marcel Doret Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

at the controls.Green 1967, p. 24. A few days later, however,

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 ...

invaded France and the Low countries, and the first prototype had not completed manufacturers tests before France surrendered on 25 June. This caused development of the D.750 to be abandoned, with the second prototype incomplete.

Specifications (D.750)

Notes

References

*Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Eight Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft''. London:Macdonald, 1967.

External links