| D.25 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Tandem two seatfighter aircraft Type of aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Dewoitine |
| First flight | 1926 |
| Number built | 5 |
| Developed from | Dewoitine D.21 |
TheDewoitine D.25 was a single-engine, two-seat,parasol-wingfighter aircraft built inFrance in the 1920s. The 1925 French two-seat fighter programme was cancelled before any orders were placed, but four examples were exported toArgentina.
The D.25 was atandem two-seat version of theDewoitine D.21 single-seat, parasol-wing fighter, developed to the 1925 C2 (2 seat Chasseur or fighter) programme from the Section Technique de l'Aéronautique (Technical Section of Aeronautics, STAé) for an aircraft capable of daytime and nighttime fighter duty and daytime reconnaissance.[1]
The chief structural difference between the two models, which shared the same span and length, was the D.25's second cockpit itself and thefuselage strengthening around it to allow a gun mounting. Though the two-seater was heavier, it had a less powerful engine: it used a 450 hp (336 kW)Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb water-cooled uprightW-12 instead of the similarly arranged 500 hp (373 kW)Hispano-Suiza 12Gb. Both the D.21 and D.25 had much in common with theDewoitine D.12 of 1924. For example, the D.25's parasol wing was similar to that of the D.12, with the same span, a constantchord inner panel, outer sections tapered on both theleading andtrailing edges but chiefly on the latter, ending in blunttips. It was braced to the lower fuselage by a parallel pair of long struts on each side. The D.12 and D.25 used the same Lorraine-Dietrich engine with a circular nose-mountedradiator immediately behind thepropeller.[1]
Flight testing of the D.25 began in 1926 but the STAé dropped the 1925 C2 programme. Dewoitine therefore sought to export it and in 1928 gained an order for four fromArgentina. These were armed with two pairs of fixed 7.9 mm (0.311 in)Madsen machine guns, one fixed and fitted withsynchronisation, firing forward through the propeller arc, and the other on a gun mounting in the rear cockpit. The construction of these machines was sub-contracted to theHanriot aircraft company.[1]
Data from Green and Swanborough p.177[1]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
