Dewoitine D.520 Manuals

[Baball]

Two manuals for the Dewoitine D.520. Found on Avialogs.com.

• D.520 Characteristics, 1940
• Description and Instructions for Use of the D.520 S Fighter Aircraft, 1940

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Many thanks!

 

[Griffon65]

Thank you!

 

[MiTasol]

Love those prewar rudder pedals - pre ww1 that is

 

[elbmc1969]

Thank you so much!

Do you have a direct link to the D.520 page?

 

[Baball]

While taking a look at the characteristics' manual of the D.520 I have noticed that the vertical stabiliser's airfoil is a NACA 23012 ! Does anyone know if an asymetrical airfoil was ever used for a vertical stab on another aircraft? I know some planes had their tail fin offset by a few degrees to compensate for torque but not of any that used asymetrical airfoils for such a purpose.

 

[VERSUCH]

Bf109 fin.

 

[MiTasol]

It was a fairly common practice but off the top of my head I cannot remember a single aircraft that did that. As a rough guide look at overhead photos (or accurate plan views) of high powered aircraft - if the fin is not offset then it was almost certainly an airfoil because flying around with a large amount of rudder trim creates a lot more drag than an airfoil or offset fin. This may have been intuitive to some designers and will have become obvious to others from pilot reports and air to air photos of their creations in flight to others.

 

[elbmc1969]

It was a fairly common practice but off the top of my head I cannot remember a single aircraft that did that.

I just do not understand why Marcel Block adopted such a bizarre alternative by mounting the engine of the MB.150 family at an angle ...

 

[MiTasol]

Also a common practice
The Cessna Caravan engine is a good example - down and offset to one side. There was a Canadian STC that fitted a -34 engine pointing straight ahead and modified the wing leading edge. Their advertising was a an aircraft on floats, prop feathered and happily cruising at almost the normal cruise speed.

 

[elbmc1969]

Also a common practice
The Cessna Caravan engine is a good example - down and offset to one side.

The thrust line is parallel to the axis of the aircraft, just offset, correct?

The MB.150-152 engine was mounted at a notable angle to the axis of the aircraft (pointing to the left).

 

[MiTasol]

No - the Caravan thrust line is down and to one side of centreline so it is off centreline in both axis.