Dewoitine D-520

The Dewoitine D-520 was a French fighter aircraft that entered services in the early part of 1940. The Dewoitine was driven by a Hispano-Suiza 12Y liquid cooled engine and its top speed was 535 km/h. The D-520 was the only French fighter, used in operational squadrons, that could keep up with the German planes at the time of the battle of France. The famous German Fighter ace Werner Mölders was shot down by a D-520 over France. Under the Vichy regime the Dewoitine fighters flew missions in north Africa and dogfighted P-40's, Hurricanes, Spitfires and US navy fighters. French pilots who had switched side also fought with the allies against axis forces in north Africa with their Dewoitines. The D-520 was used by many air forces; the Armée de l'Air (French air force), Armée de l'Air de l'Armistice (the French Vichy Air force), the Aéronvalle (French Navy air force), the Luftwaffe (German air force), the Regia Aeronautica (Italian air force) and the Bulgarian Air force. The Luftwaffe used D-520's as a fighter trainer in training facilities in France.

The 1/9th scale model of this great plane is made for a speed 500/600 size brushless motor powered by a 3s Lipo pack, capable of delivering at least 250 Watt. The fuselage is made around a box. The fuselage formers fit over this box. Then a couple of spruce spars are added and finally the planking is applied over the fuselage frame. The wing is made with ribs on a spar and is fully sheeted. All pieces feature tabs and locks. The prototype model was finished with 25g/m² glass cloth and resin.

Laser cut parts



Basic fuselage frame


Basic wing lay out

The prototype was built for the Ezone / Manzano Laser Scale Model Build-Off Competition and ended up 2e in the amateur military category. It is painted in the colours of Dewoitine D-520 n° 248 when it was stationed in Gabes, Tunisia in 1942 . It flew with the 4e Escadrille, Groupe de Chasse II/7. It was aircraft Number 4 of this fighter group and fought first in the battle of France and afterwards in Tunisia with the Vichy forces.

Model specifications

Wingspan: 1134 mm / 44.6"

Length: 892 mm / 35.1"

Prototype Weight: 1358 g / 47.9oz

Recommended power system:

Turnigy TR 35-36B 1300kv motor

40A speed controller with BEC

Flightpower 3s1p 2500mah

Aeronaut 8.5 x 5

Available from Manzano laser works@ $82.95

€ 15 (including € 4.5 international shipping)