Dewoitine D.9

The Dewoitine D.9 was a French monoplane fighter built by Dewoitine and built under licence in Italy as the Ansaldo AC.3.^[1]

Design and development

The D.9 was a single-seat high-wing monoplane with a conventional landing gear and powered by a 320 hp (239 kW) Gnome-Rhône 9Ab Jupiter radial engine.^[1] First flown in 1924 it was not accepted by the French Army being ranked sixth in the 1923 single-seat fighter competition.^[1] A small number of production aircraft were sold for export to Belgium and Yugoslavia and three were built from parts by EKW for the Swiss Air Force.^[1] The biggest achievement of the type was an order to licence-build 150 aircraft for the Italian Regia Aeronautica, built by Ansaldo as the Ansaldo AC.3. The type served into the 1930s with the Italian forces.^[1]

Operators

Belgium

Belgian Air Force - two

Kingdom of Italy

Regia Aeronautica - 150 licence-built as the Ansaldo AC.3

Switzerland

Swiss Air Force, three licence-built by EKW

Yugoslavia

Yugoslav Royal Air Force - two

Specifications

Data from Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: one
Length: 7.30 m (23 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 12.80 m (42 ft 0 in)
Height: 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
Wing area: 25.00 m² (269.1 sq ft)
Empty weight: 945 kg (2,083 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 1,333 kg (2,939 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Gnome-Rhône 9Ab Jupiter radial piston engine, 420 kW (560 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 245 km/h (152 mph, 132 kn) at sea level
Range: 400 km (250 mi, 220 nmi)
Service ceiling: 8,500 m (27,900 ft)
Rate of climb: 8.75 m/s (1,722 ft/min)

Armament

Guns: 2 x 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine guns (synchronised, fuselage mounted)
2 x 7.7mm (0.303 in) Darne machine guns (wing mounted but not always fitted)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dewoitine D.9.

Notes

^ a b c d e f Orbis 1985, p. 1435

Bibliography

Duwelz, Yves (July 1997). "Courrier Lecteurs" [Readers Mail]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (52): 2. ISSN 1243-8650.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.