D.510C

This page is about the Chinese fighter D.510C. For the other version, see Pallier's D.510.

D.510C

D.510C

China

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.7	1.3	1.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Purchase:400

Show in game

Description

The D.510C , aka "地機" ("Dì jī": Dewoitine) to Chinese pilots, was the 24 D.510 series delivered to the Nationalist Revolutionary Air Force by 1938. During the visit of European countries after the accession of George VI in May 1937, Nationalist government seek for new fighters to supply the NRAF before the total outbreak of 2nd Sino-Japanese War, which France later approved the sales of 34 fighters to NRAF but only 24 of them could ever made it to China before the blockade of sea and land borders by Japanese forces. Piloted by European and Chinese pilots, D.510C only contributed very little to the resistance efforts for the NRAF before these aircrafts eventually replaced by Soviet and American fighters by 1941.

Introduced in Update "Danger Zone" as a tier I premium aircraft, D.510C was part of the composition for the early days of the Chinese Air Force and a variant of the French D.500 family, the D.510C offers high firepower at its tier thanks to its 20 mm autocannon and rather good turning radius. However, players do have to be aware of its poor protection all-round as well as its ammo count, as well as outdated powerplant when uptiered.

General info

Flight performance

Max speed

at 3 200 m394 km/h

Turn time13 s

Max altitude9 000 m

EngineHispano-Suiza 12Xbrs

TypeInline

Cooling systemWater

Take-off weight2 t

The overall flight performance of D.510C in Nationalist forces is identical to its French variants. Thanks to its all-metal airframe, the airframe itself can take some hits from smaller calibre ammo before being shot down; the monoplane design also makes it nimble enough to make sure heavy targets or those without sufficient protection from cannons will meet their end quickly. However, do remember that the top speed can be a problem as the engine might not be as powerful as some of its enemies like the Italian CR.42, let along when being uptiered. Keeping the pilot alive is also essential, as he is not protected in any means other than the windshield and engine plates in front of him with little protection whatsoever.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 3,200 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	382	374	9000	13.2	14.1	15.7	15.7	150
Upgraded	408	394		12.8	13.0	23.8	19.2

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	X	X	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
576	577	-	-	-	~14	~8

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 320	< 330	< 360	> 280

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear577 km/h

Although being the earliest French all-metal monoplane, the D.510C is rather unprotected as there's no cockpit glass to cover him and there is only a 3 mm steel plate between the engine block and the pilot; any penetrating shots from high-calibre ammo will quickly knock out the pilot.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB491

RB195

SB176

Crew training450

Experts3 000

Aces45

Research Aces220 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 20 / 30 / 90 %

2 × 100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Radiator Airframe Compressor Wings repair Engine Cover Engine injection	EFS	7_5mm_belt_pack mac39_new_gun hispano_belt_pack hispano_404_new_gun

Armaments

Offensive armament

Weapon 120 mm Hispano 404 cannon

Ammunition60 rounds

Fire rate700 shots/min

Weapon 22 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun

Ammunition600 rounds

Fire rate1 350 shots/min

The D.510C is armed with:

• 1 x 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon, nose-mounted (60 rpg)
• 2 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns, wing-mounted (300 rpg = 600 total)

Usage in battles

Like its French cousins, players can utilize the high firepower and good manoeuvrability of the D.510C to take down enemies at lower altitudes; your 20 mm cannon with 60 rounds will certainly make very short work of interwar fighters with very little protection, sometimes even bombers will fall victim of the autocannon given trigger-control is utilized. However, players do also have to be aware of the insufficient speed against later aircraft which could fly up to 500 km/h, as well as its overall unprotected airframe that any shots landed near the cockpit will have the chance to take down the pilot with ease. Unless going for last-ditch options, never head-on against anything that has more guns than D.510C or having run out of cannon shells. The 7.5 mm machine guns might sometimes shine during dogfights, but not when heading-on enemies.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Combined	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

• 20 mm nose-mounted autocannon is easy to aim and lethal against early planes like the He 51
• Low stall speed of ~180 km/h gives it nice low-speed handling
• Very responsive on the roll axis
• Turn radius is rather tight, can turnfight early monoplanes like the He 112

Cons:

• The 20 mm cannon has only 60 rounds which runs out extremely quickly
• Low survivability: there is almost no armour in its fragile airframe and wings
• Poor speed against early monoplanes like He 100 and P-400
• Telescopic gunsight is rather awkward in simulator battles
• Turning capacity is still worse than biplanes such as I-15

History

In the late 1930s during the expansion of the Nationalist Air Force and in view of the invasion from Japan, the Nationalist Government sought for supplementary fighters before US-built aircraft could be imported as the orders were delayed. During a visit to Europe in May 1937 (for the accession of George VI), France approved the sales of 34 D.510C along with around a dozen other French aircraft on credit; but by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, only 24 those D.510Cs had been delivered to the Nationalist forces and the remaining ones were either cancelled by the French Government or by the Governor of French Indochina. They were known as the "地機" ("Dì jī": Dewoitine) and made into service by late 1938 with pilots from Britain and France.

The records from Chinese sources remarked that French pilots feared the war and contributed few of the fights in the skies. Coupled with conflicts of payment and behaviour, most of the French pilots were fired by the Nationalists and all the D.510Cs were then taken over by Nationalist pilots instead. The earliest record of Nationalists piloting D.510Cs fought on 8 April 1938 during an interception of Japanese bombers; the later conclusion by one of the pilots, Hu Zhuangru (胡莊如, KIA during the war) "地機發炮，每次決不應超過三發，發射速度與震動均甚大，不易命中也 " (The Dewoitine shouldn't fire more than 3 rounds at a time, as it has rather high RPM and severe vibration that makes hitting targets difficult). The D.510Cs were then transferred to 17th Squadron and the only confirmed kill from Nationalist forces was from their captain 岑澤鎏 (Cen Zeliu, KIA in 1941) when he shot down a bomber with its commanding officers on 4th November 1939.

As the overall degrading performance of D.510C as well as heavy losses to the Japanese, they were soon phased out by the Nationalist forces by 1941, in favour of new Soviet aircraft.

The decal in game marks the No.4106 as in 1938 when it was stationed in Kunming (昆明).

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

China premium aircraft
Fighters	␗A6M2 · D.510C · H-81A-2 · Hawk III · ␗Ki-45 hei/tei · ␗Ki-84 ko
Jet fighters	Shenyang F-5 · J-7D
Strike aircraft	A-5C · ␗F-84G-31-RE