Dewoitine D-520

Dewoitine D.520 plane analysis

A frenchman flying with the brits

Click here to see the Youtube video review with commentary&gameplay

Introduction:

A french premium plane in the British nation, the D520 is a premium fighter that offers what all other premiums do: higher incomes and bigger XP rewards than planes on it's same level.

As a fighting machine is an oddity: one of those planes that just by looking at their performance are underwhelming at the level they are at, but when flown in combat they show that performance, a lot of times, is not everything.

The D.520 main drawback,without a doubt, comes from it's level - after all this was the french contemporary of the Spitfire Mk.I, a 1940 fighter that it has to fight off much later opposition because of matchmaking and the level it has.
  

General description:

 

The Dewoitine D.520 is a low wing single engine fighter with a traditional configuration. It has a very charasteristic look thanks of the particular placement of the cockpit, which gives it the appearance of a racing plane of the late 30s era.

Lighweight, aerodinamically clean, but relatively low on engine power, the D.520 was not the fastest plane of it's era, nor the better climber, not the better turner. Yet it was a very competent balance between all those features and a highly regarded aircraft by those who flew it in combat.

Powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12Y-45 inline engine rated at (depending on versions) 875 to 920hp, and weighing 2800kg at takeoff the D.520 offers competitive performance for a 1940 fighter while not letting down in the maneouverability department. However, the power to weight ratio was far from sublime and the plane's acceleration and climbrate are unimpressive as a result.

Sporting a center mounted Hispano 20mm cannon and four wing mounted 7.5mm machineguns, the Dewoitine certainly doesn't lack in hitting power. While the 20mm cannon has only a very limited supply of ammunition, the 7.5mm come with a generous ammount of it, thus giving the plane long firing times and enables it to fire in prolonged bursts without fearing of running short of ammo soon.

The biggest strenght of the D.520 doesn't come from any single factor. It can't be singled as great or excellent in any single department and certainly it's lacking in performance. Is the mix of qualities that make this a neat little fighter - the combination of qualities that ends up in a competent fighting machine that ,even while too high a tier for what it is, is fun and easy to fly.

Maneouverability:

While the D.520 is pretty lightweight , at 2800kg under normal load, the wing area is relatively small and the wingloading is far from being low enough to make this a very good low speed turner. This doesn't mean the plane can't turn - it can and is decent at it, but certainly the D.520 is not a turnfighter in the sense of a Spitfire I.

Control surfaces are excellent - the plane is very well balanced. Any input you command the plane answers like a champion. Very good roller at any speed the plane can reach, stable in turns, stable while aiming. The plane just "feels" good.

 The mix of decent turning ability with excellent controls gives this plane a distinct feel of nimbleness. On the defensive is a very powerful plane and rolling scissors can be pulled almost effortessly.

Compounding to it's great controls and low wingloading is how nimble the plane feels. In no moment you get the feeling of sloppiness that other fighters get, or you feel gimped at all. It's not just that the plane maneouvers very well and controls very well , is that it gives a great "feeling" of controllability. Truly a joyful ride to bring into combat.

Performance:

Performance wise the D.520 is unimpressive - even for 1940 standards. Acceleration and climb are not good - the engine doesnt' deliver enough power for them to be anything worth mention. Speed wise the plane is also unimpressive.

As in all planes where acceleration and climb are lacking, climbing at the game start is highly desirable given that once combat begins there will be little chances to recover any lost energy during maneouvers.

The lack of speed is notable in situations of high speed chases or in situations where you're trying to run away from an pursuing enemy. In both of them the D.520 simply is lacking to compete with planes of it's level - most of them being more modern.

Performance is probably the single field where the D520 lacks the most. It's just not up there to the standards of other fighters of it's level...or even bombers.

Energy keeping and high speed performance:

 

This is a definite mixed bag on the D520. One one side of things the plane is excellent, on others, mediocre. Starting with the latter it must be mentioned that the D.520 dive speed limit is just bad, given that at 600kph your wings will already be on the verge of breaking off.

Such a handicap can't be taken easily: the plane simply can't boom and zoom in the traditional style given that the "boom" part should involve high terminal speeds the plane simply can't reach.

However, said that, the fighter has good energy retention capabilities during maneouvers and the excellent controls give it amazing maneouverability at most speeds. Initial turnnrate is great, rollrate is very good...a D520 maneouvering at high speeds is able to pull some incredible stunts at lighting speed - which is probably the plane's singlemost outstanding feature.

Even while the plane is very light it also has a decent zoom because of it's clean aerodynamics. Energy retention, while not as good as that of heavier fighters, is not bad at all in this little plane. Again - it's not stellar (not even close) but also is not bad.

Summing up, the D.520 is a highspeed fighter. You want to engage at high speed and use that high speed to outmaneouver your enemy quickly before you lose that edge - but even when you do so you still can rely in the plane's excellent controllability at low speeds to keep the fight up.

Firepower&Weapons: 

The Dewoitine features a mixed LMG/cannon battery. With one 20mm centerline cannon the plane packs a punch, and with the LMG weapons you have access to a very trusty support to shoot enemies down.

There's a certain drawback to this plane's battery and is the lack of ammunition for the 20mm cannon. 60 rounds don't last a lot so you really want to use them to effect. Once you're spent those rounds, however, you're far from defenceless, as the four light machineguns are more than enough to achieve kills, and have a very long lasting ammunition reserve.

Convergences are to be chosen using your main weapons in mind. And make no mistake - the main weapons in this plane are the machineguns. Your cannon won't last for long, so you want to choose a convergence where they are the most effective at. Ranges of 200 to 300m are highly effective as a result.

Ammo belt choice is down to preference, but I'd reccomend either universal for both LMGs and 20mms, or stealth, depending on your reliance on tracers to track the enemy.

The D.520 can mount no ground ordinance at all.

Tactics:

 

Tactics when using this plane should be centered around the plane's strongest asset: controllability. While not the best low speed turner the D.520 is not defenceless there by any means, and the nimbleness of the plane and it's great initial turnrate mean that it can do some great dogfighting at speeds between 300 and 550kph IAS.

The ideal tactic is always to engage with an energetic superiority, big enough to guarantee you have the "jump" on the enemy but not as big as to be forced to abort attacks because you're about to hit your limit speed while diving for your target. Limited hit-and-run tactics work very well as long as the energetic difference is not as big as to cause problems with that limited dive.

Once engaged the tactic is to keep the plane fast. Use the vertical to keep your speed up. Nose down maneouvers are very good in this plane. Low yoyos, split Ss, or close downwards spiral turning, they all work very well.

Is very important not to lose track on the good rollrate of this plane either. Both in the offensive with lag displacement rolls or on the defensive, with barrel roll and rolling scissors, the D.520 excels at keeping the enemy centered on his sights, and in keeping himself off the enemy's.

If forced on the defensive or subjected to an attack, use the maneouverability to do sharp avoidances. As stated before rolling scissors (particularily at high enough speeds) are very effective in this plane, making this a top class defensive move to use against attacking enemies.While flat-turning at slow speeds is not the best option in a D.520 it still can beat a lot of enemies in that turf aswell so dragging a fight to low speeds can be a very smart solution to beat an enemy in your six if you're running out of speed and altitude.

CONCLUSSION:

The D.520 is a very nimble little aircraft that in many ways is highly capable while the plane on itself seems certainly unimpressive. It's not an easy plane to get a lot of kills into, but it is a very easy plane to fly. Easy going controls ensure that, and good weapons give good chances to enter the scoreboard.

The main drawbacks of the D.520 come from it's limited dive speed and inability to chase down enemies or run away from a losing fight. Unlike other planes, the D.520 doesn't give you the chance to disengage against most enemies you'll be facing - once you're commited to a fight, you have to fight it to the end.

However unimpressive the climb and acceleration of this plane are, and how limited the top speed is, however, the plane more than makes up for it with sheer nimbleness. It is not that it -turns- great. Others do that better. But it's that good enough turn with that excellent roll and the particular high speed attributes of this planes that make it special and a competent fighter in close dogfighting.
If this plane was a level 4 fighter, as the Spitfire I is, there would be little reason not to like it a lot. However it's a level 6 and the opposition it usually faces (ranging from LaGG3s to Bf109Fs) is really strong. It can compete versus all of them and shoot down even the strongest of the enemies - but is not an easy task against planes that without excception outperform it.



For further information, and to see gameplay of the plane flown right, check out my Youtube analysis on the plane