Editing Dewoitine D.520 (section)

===Flight performance===
Although employing a modern design philosophy for its time, the D.520 was considered more difficult to fly than the older MS.406.<ref name="Gigli-Cervi">Gigli-Cervi, Alessandro. "D.520, la tecnica" (in Italian). ''Aerei nella Storia,'' W.Ward editions, Parma n.7/99, pp. 26–33.</ref><ref>Danel and Cuny 1966, pp. 256–257, 327.</ref> Captain [[Eric Brown (pilot)|Eric Brown]], commanding officer of the [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]]'s Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight, tested the D.520 at [[RAE Farnborough]], saying that "It was a nasty little brute. Looked beautiful but didn't fly beautifully. Once you get it on the ground, I was told not to leave the controls until it was in the hangar and the engine stopped. You could be taxiing toward the hangar and sit back when suddenly it would go in a right angle."<ref name="Thompson with Smith p. 239.">Thompson with Smith 2008, p. 239.</ref>

The handling changed according to the amount of fuel carried; using the fuselage tank alone, fuel consumption had no appreciable effect on handling because the tank was at the [[centre of gravity]], but with full wing tanks, directional control was compromised, especially in a dive. The flight controls were well harmonized and the aircraft was easy to control at high speed. The maximum dive speed tested was {{cvt|830|km/h}} with no buffeting and excellent stability both in the dive (depending on fuel load) and as a gun platform.