Bf 110 Question

If you take the average rate of fire as being about 800-1000 rounds per minute(it varies from gun to gun) and the Bf 109 had a three blade prop turning at about 2000rpm that’s 6000 blades a minute you have to get past those guns so you can bet it reduced the rate of fire by a huge ammount. IIRC even the first world war aircraft with only a 2 blader were losing something like 50% of their rate of fire.

So on some variants of the 109 the armament included 13 mm guns, fuselage mounted and firing through the propeller arc, as well a wing guns outside the prop arc and the spinner gun.
My question is re the fuselage guns, how were they inturrupted and how much did this reduce the firing rate.

Richard

Mike here is some more info. on the Me 110 VDM prop. From the archives of Flight Jan. 18 1940 it shows a photo of the VDM prop. with the description stating ‘ A VDM spinner (old English) permitting the use of an engine mounted shell gun (old English) makes an interesting foreground to this view of the pilot going aboard his Me 110’. The article states that one version of the Dornier Do 215 also has this system! How much credence can be attached to a wartime article is anybodies guess.
Ray

I’m glad I asked now as so much more info has come out than I was after. All the extra bits of information that have come out are of interest – to me anyway. Thanks folks.

And then a cannon was installed in F, G & K variants:cool:

Quite so…….

And then a cannon was installed in F, G & K variants:cool:

Originally this ‘hole’ was for a cannon, the idea was dropped on earler variants because of engine vibration. The ‘hole’ was later used as a cooling air inlet to a generator.

Best Wishes.
Robert.

Just to make it look mean, menacing and pugnacious!!;)

So the hole was for what? :confused:

To the best of my knowledge there were no engine mounted cannon firing through the spinner of the Me 109 E.

True, the F-1 was the first 109 variant to have the Motorkanone.

To the best of my knowledge there were no engine mounted cannon firing through the spinner of the Me 109 E.

Not as far as I know. IIRC there were some with that type spinner but no engine mounted cannon

The hole in the early 109 spinners was for a cannon, not cooling.

Really, I thought that was a myth…..I know some carried an engine-mounted cannon…

…but did every ‘spinner-with-a-hole’ mean that a cannon was carried?

I have a question which I hope someone can answer concerning the Bf110. Were the propeller spinners the same as those on the Bf109? If not, what was the reason for the hole in the front of the spinner? Sorry, that’s two questions but here’s hoping someone more knowledgable than I can provide some answers.
Cheers
Mike.

Spinners were only the same on very early models, later models like the 110G were quite different to those on the 109.

The hole in the early 109 spinners was for a cannon, not cooling:)

Many thanks for the info. I couldn’t understand any other point to them.

Yes, identical. My old friend, the late Peter Foote, had one from a Messerschmitt 110 from the aircraft downed on Povington Heath, 10 July 1940, that he intended to use on his Me 109 (W Nr 1190) which is now at Duxford. In the end, he didn’t. It passed to another friend who recently sold it to the Kent Battle of Britain, Hawkinge (where it now is)……don’t ask to photograph it, though!!:diablo: :diablo:

It was an inlet for air to cool the…..er…..can’t remember? 😮