The one seater high-wing fighter monoplane Dewoitine D.1 was built for the French Service Technique de l'Aéronautique. It was the first aircraft that was drafted by the designer Emile Dewoitine; afterwards he founded his own company in 1920. The prototype took off for the first time in November of 1922.
Twenty-nine copies of the Dewoitine D.1 were constructed for France. As for foreign orders, 79 aircrafts went to Yugoslavia, two went to Switzerland and one order went to Japan. Of the D.1 aircrafts purchased by the Italian company Ansaldo, 112 were used as fighters by the Regia Aeronautica licensed under the name D.1ter, a portion of which were used until 1929. The French Marines purchased 30 D1.ter from Ansaldo. Half of these aircrafts were utilized on the aircraft carrier "Béarn". The further development of these aircrafts was the somewhat smaller Ansaldo AC2.
This stemmed high-wing monoplane used as a one-seater fighter plane possessed a fuselage constructed out of metal with an oval cross-section which was planked with sheet metal. The wings on each side were supported against the fuselage with two metal struts. The wing assembly was covered with material. The prototype D.1.01 was powered by a 300 PS (221 kW) strong Hispano-Suiza-in-line engine 8Fb with dual Lambert-radiators. Indeed, the paneled canopy platform of the prototype was replaced with the subsequent machine D.1 sheet metal framework so that the pilot could have a better view. The Italian constructed D1-ter had the radiators assembled on the frontal portion of the non-retractable undercarriage. It has a shorter wing span though a longer wing section.
