Dewoitine D.1 (series)

Monoplane Fighter

France | 1923

"The Dewoitine D.1 representing the first foray into fighter design for the French label - the series encompassing many variations during its lifetime."

Image from the Public Domain; D.12 pictured.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 09/21/2021 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Founded in October of 1920 by Emile Dewoitine of France, the Dewoitine concern would grow to become a notable builder of aircraft during the Interwar Period (the period "Between-the-Wars"). Its most notable product ultimately became the "D.520" (detailed elsewhere on this site) of January 1940, the fighter being built in around 900 examples and operated valiantly during the failed defense of France from the onslaught of German invasion. However, before this all-modern monoplane could be realized in time for war, the company would need to cut its teeth on other evolutionary types - the first entry of the series becoming the "D.1" of 1922.

The aircraft was drawn up to satisfy a new requirement by the French Service Technique de l'Aeronautique - the 1921 C.1 program.

The D.1 was given an all-metal structure with metal-skinning and sported a shoulder-mounted, braced fabric-covered monoplane wing form. It retained the proven and traditional "tail-dragger" undercarriage arrangement common to fighters of the time and the empennage comprised a single, small-area rudder with low-set horizontal planes. The engine was installed at the nose in the usual way to drive the two-bladed propeller. Of all-modern design for its time, the fighter certainly held promise.

For its combat role, the D.1 would carry armament of 2 x 7.7mm (0.303in) Vickers Machine Guns seated over the nose, the units synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

A first-flight involving the D.1.01 prototype form was recorded on November 18th, 1922 and marked the first fighter to emerge from the company. As built, the aircraft was given a running length of 24.7 feet with a wingspan of 37.8 feet, and height of 9 feet. Empty weight reached 1,810lb with a gross weight of 2,735lb. The 300 horsepower Hispano-Suiza 8Fb inline engine helped the aircraft reach speeds of 158 miles-per-hour, ranging out to 250 miles and reaching altitudes of 26,245 feet. Rate-of-climb was 1,475 feet-per-minute.

In testing, forward visibility was shown to be poor so a 4.76" pylon was set between the wing mainplanes and forward fuselage, providing a gap for the pilot to see through - this change produced the parasol (high-winged) D.1bis of 1923.

While the French Air Force did not move ahead with widespread adoption of the D.1, the French Navy took to the type and contracted for some thirty examples (D.1ter), some of which were featured on the aircraft carrier "Bearn" (detailed elsewhere on this site).

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Variants of the line beyond the D.1.01 prototype and D.1 pre-series aircraft included the D.1bis with pylon-raised mainplanes, the D.1ter with its wings on cabane (inverted Vee supports) struts, and the record-setting, one-off high-altitude D.8 fitting the Hispano-Suiza 8Fe 8-cylinder engine of 1921. The D.9 of 1924 followed with a Gnome-Rhone 9Ab "Jupiter IV" radial engine of 360 horsepower and larger-area wings - seeing limited production for foreign customers only. The D.12 of 1923 was concurrent to the D.9 and carried the Lorraine-Dietrich 12E W-12 engine of 450 horsepower. The D.19 of 1923 was similar in scope to the D.12 and differed in having the Hispano-Suiza 12Jb V-12 engine of 400 horsepower. Only two prototypes were built and these showcased in Belgium and Switzerland. EKW of Switzerland built two more to the specification and a total of seven D-19s eventually existed.

The export-minded D.21 appeared in the latter part of 1925 and represented the D.12 with a Hispano-Suiza 12Gb W-12 engine of 500 horsepower. These were then sold to Argentina, Paraguay, and Turkey in small numbers - though FMA of Argentina handled production of a further 30 units and took seven from EKW. Czechoslovakia added another 26 aircraft to the line as the Skoda D.1 with production by Skoda Works. A total of 100 D.21 aircraft were built.

The D.25 of 1925 was a twin-seat fighter based in the D.21 but carried the Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb W-12 engine. Hanriot handled production of four units and were shipped to Argentina when French interest in the type waned. The D.26 was a training-centric development with Hispano-Wright 9Q 9-cylinder air-cooled engine of 340 horsepower. Eleven were formed in Switzerland with kits provided by Dewoitine.

The D.27 became a dedicated fighter and was powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12Mc V-12 engine. This design found favor in Romania where 100 were operated and 97 of the lot were built locally by IAR. EKW built 65 of the 66 operated by the Swiss Air Force. Yugoslavia took on a stock of four while the French Navy trialed the type on carriers as the "D.53".

The fighter was produced locally in the Kingdom of Italy by Ansaldo as the "AC". This became a series beginning with the one-off AC.1 (the improved D.1bis) followed by the reworked AC.2 (based in the D.1ter). As many as 112 units were built for the Italian Air Force. One-hundred fifty AC.3 fighters were built from the D.9 design. The AC.4 of 1927, born from the AC.2 (D.1ter), was another one-off example but carried the local FIAT A.20 V-12 engine of 420 horsepower.

Japan trialed a single D.1bis demonstrator for a time.

Total production of the D.1 series (including all variants) ended with about 500 examples being completed.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the Dewoitine D.1.01 (prototype) Monoplane Fighter.

1 x Hispano-Suiza 8Fb liquid-cooled inline piston engine developing 300 horsepower driving two-bladed propeller at the nose.
Propulsion

158 mph
255 kph | 138 kts
Max Speed

26,247 ft
8,000 m | 5 miles
Service Ceiling

249 miles
400 km | 216 nm
Operational Range

1,475 ft/min
450 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the Dewoitine D.1.01 (prototype) Monoplane Fighter.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

24.6 ft
7.50 m
O/A Length

37.7 ft
(11.50 m)
O/A Width

9.0 ft
(2.75 m)
O/A Height

1,808 lb
(820 kg)
Empty Weight

2,734 lb
(1,240 kg)
MTOW

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the Dewoitine D.1 (series) Monoplane Fighter .

2 x 7.7mm (0.303in) Vickers Machine Guns over the nose synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the Dewoitine D.1 (series) family line.

D.1.01 - Initial prototype with Hispano-Suiza 8Fb V8 engine of 300 horsepower; parasol wing structure with wing-supported pylon.

D.1 - Fifteen pre-series aircraft.

D.1bis - Improved variant with pylon supported wing structure for improved pilot vision.

D.1ter - D.1 with cabane strut-supported wing mainplane.

D.8 - High-altitude variant with Hispano-Suiza 8Fe V8 engine of 360 horsepower; 1 examples.

D.9 - 1924 variant; D.1 fitted with Gnome-Rhone 9Ab Jupiter IV radial piston engine of 420 horsepower; 13 examples.

D.12 - Variant of 1923 with Lorraine-Dietrich 12E W-12 engine of 450 horsepower; 2 examples.

D.19 - Model of 1923; powered by Hispano-Suiza 12Jb V12 engine of 400 horsepower; 7 examples.

D.21 - Model of 1925; D.12 variant with Hispano-Suiza 12Gb W-12 engine of 500 horsepower; 100 examples.

D.25 - Model of 1925; twin-seat fighter development of the D.21; fitted with Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb W-12 engine; 4 examples.

D.26 - Trainer variant with Hispano-Suiza 9Q engine of 340 horsepower; 11 examples.

D.27 - Variant with Hispano-Suiza 12Mc V12 engine of 500 horsepower; mainly foreign operated but serving as D.53 with French Navy for deck testing.

Ansaldo AC.1 - Italian D.1bis; 1 example.

Ansaldo AC.2 - Italian D.1ter; 112 examples.

Ansaldo AC.3 - Italian D.9; 150 examples.

Ansaldo AC.4 - Italian AC.2 with FIAT A.20 V12 engine of 420 horsepower; 1 example.

Skoda D.1 - Skoda Works production of the D.21; 26 examples.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the Dewoitine D.1 (series). Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 500 Units
Contractor(s): Dewoitine - France; Ansaldo - Italy; Skoda Works - Czechoslovakia

[ Czechoslovakia (Skoda Works D.1); France; Kingdom of Italy (Ansaldo AC); Imperial Japan (demonstrator); Switzerland; Yugoslavia ]

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Image from the Public Domain; D.12 pictured.

Going Further...
The Dewoitine D.1 (series) Monoplane Fighter appears in the following collections:

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