Dewoitine D.19

The Dewoitine D.19 was a fighter aircraft built in France in 1925 in response to a French Air Force solicitation.

Design and development

A development of the D.1, the D.19 shared the D.1's parasol-wing configuration, but featured an all-new wing of increased span, and had double the engine power. Although rejected by the French Air Force, a demonstration for the Swiss government in August 1925 led to an order for three aircraft. An additional example was sold to Belgium, incorporating the same changes requested by the Swiss. These included a change in the wing (changing back to become more similar to the D.1), and the replacement of the Lamblin radiators with a more conventional frontal radiator.

Operational history

While the first Swiss D.19 was entirely constructed by Dewoitine in France, the remaining two aircraft were supplied to be assembled by the Swiss factory EKW. The aircraft were used for many years by the Swiss Fliegertruppe as trainers for fighter pilots, remaining in service until 1940. All three participated in the international aviation meet at Dübendorf in 1927, with one of the D.19s winning the closed-circuit race.

Operators

 Belgium

• Belgian Air Force

  Switzerland

• Swiss Air Force

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 7.87 m (25 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 10.30 m (33 ft 10 in)
• Height: 3.40 m (11 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 20.0 m² (215 ft²)
• Empty weight: 980 kg (2,160 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,342 kg (2,960 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 12Jb inverted V-12 piston engine, 298 kW (400 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 267 km/h (166 mph)
• Range: 400 km (250 miles)
• Service ceiling: 8,500 m (27,900 ft)
• Rate of climb: 7.3 m/s (1,430 ft/min)

Armament

• 2 × fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm machine guns

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dewoitine.

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 323. 
• aviafrance.com