Experimental Messerschmitts??

Good one mate!

I like it, Thank’s Jame’s, a very good point mate 😉 ,

I think quiet a bit of that went on :p , maybe even in different land’s during WW2 :rolleyes: .

Never forgot what happened to Weaties Welch(think that’s right), and what he did to the F-100 test program :rolleyes: , and production disaster’s latter of course 🙁 .

Shot himself right in the foot, on that one!!!! 😮

The 109 gear was attached to the fuselage for very good reasons.

The benefits were that the wings did not need the strengthening or undercarriage attachements to carry the gear; the hardware for which (in, say the Hurricane) would be about the same weight Al Williams comments on the wheels having. The ability to remove the 109’s wings while leaving the aircraft on its gear were also a benefit. Messerschmitt was a far better designer for production servicability and repair than RJ Mitchell, if you compare just the 109 and Spitfire.

It is quite possible Messerschmitt underestemate the issues of torque with the 109 setup, or ignored them (remember, many of his aircraft were favoured for political reasons as much for merit) or it was believed to be a reasonable compromise. The Luftwaffe expected to fight short wars whith highly trained and experienced pilots – better able to manage ‘hot’ aircraft.

In- or outward retracting, I think the gear is part of the ‘109’s character. If you had them any other way, it wouldn’t be a ‘109, I guess! :rolleyes:

THAT CRAPPY GEAR!!

G’ day Daz 😀 ,

Here’s a bit from, Major Al Williams, USMC, a mate of Ernst Udet’s, He was the FIRST American to fly a 109, a Bf-109D, on the 15 July 1938, Fieseler work’s at Kassel.

The Deal was Udet, got to fly Al’s extremely colourful NR 1050 ‘Gulfhawk’, a modified Grumman G22., Al got the 109 to find out just what it could do.

Here’s the bit that Al, has to say at about the ” GEAR PROBLEM ” :diablo:

” There’s was only one critical question I had about the Messerschmitt that I flew, and that concerned the retractable landing gear, The wheels were hinged to fold outwards, toward the wing tips, retracted. This placed additional weight in the wings several feet from the fuselage.
” I asked Udet about this and he informed me that this WOULD be changed, According to the new plan, the wheels would fold inwards. toward the center of the wing. and in retracted position would be neatly tucked directly under the fuselage, a desirable feature in regard to balance and maneuverability.

However, photographs I saw at a much latter date, did not show this change, but I still think this would be a definite improvement.

Daz, Al loved the plane, but NOT the gear, He was also MOST impressed with the 12 minute, in the field, FULL engine change, and ready to go again!!!, as NO one else in the whole world, could do this at the time,

DID anyone EVER!!!?????? :confused:

From ” Messerschmitt Bf 109 AT WAR “, by Armand van Ishoven.

So other than Merlin’s, or Jumo’s up front :eek:YUCK! , the GEAR was the only other thing that I have NEVER liked on the 109 😉 .

Interestingly enough, the WAR half-scale Bf109 plans show details for building the undercarriage inward- or outward-retracting!

That’s the ones! Interesting to see those fairings on the V31’s wings. Presume that was to cover up the retraction mechanism.

Hi Daz.
I think these are what you’ve seen. Pics from Harleyford’s 109.
Phil. 🙂

But obviously wasn’t adopted on production ‘109s as it would have been too costly and time consuming to make the changes on the production line – especially as Germany’s war was going downhill then.

I seem to recall there was another set-up with tricycle landing gear, as a test for the Me209 (or 309?), too.

That would have improved the safety record dramatically.. see other thread on the me 109 :rolleyes:

Haven’t heard of that before, sounds likely though. Sure would have been useful for landing on the ‘Graf Zeppelin’ if she was ever built.

It was the F model. Bf 109V31.