Landing gear Blenheim?

[MirHvH]

Hi all,

I have here a photograph of German soldiers with the landing gear of an airplane. Can anyone identify the airplane from which this came?
I *think* it is from a Blenheim Mark IV, as the war diary of the harbour commandant in the same town as where the picture was taken mentions the landing gear being pulled from the North Sea, after 4 Blenheims were shot down, but I am no expert and would like to have it confirmed, or denied

Kind regards,

Mir

 

[MiTasol]

The whole wing and undercarriage structure shown could only be from Blenheim, Beaufort and Beaufighter. I do not see anything that would narrow it down without consulting Beaufort manuals but if there were no Beauforts or Beaufighters lost in the area then you can safely conclude Blenheim. As far as I know no-one has a Blenheim/Bolingbroke manual.

At first glance the tyre is too big for Blenheim but camera angle and type of lens mean that this is not necessarily a valid observation.

 

[nuuumannn]

I think you might be right in that it is too big for Blenheim. This is a Boli, but the undercarriage was the same. The framework at the upper end of the gear differs from the Blenheim/Boli, in the latter attaching to tubular spar framework within the nacelle rather than the wall of the undercarriage bay as the original image. The drag strut attachment points on the Blenheim's legs are square and moulded within the leg, whereas in the image the drag struts attach to the inner face and are not so prominent.

DSC_0020

DSC_0023

DSC_0024

I'm thinking the leg is from either a Beaufort or Beaufighter. This is a Beaufort leg and there are similarities, particularly in the long stroke of the drag struts and associated framework.

DSC_0664

DSC_0666

This is a Beaufighter leg and it looks much like this, especially around the framework within the nacelle.

DSC_0074

DSC_0659

DSC_0660

There discrepancies, for example, in the image there is tubing on the front of the leg, which there is on the Beaufort, but not the Beaufighter. I wouldn't get too hung up on the wheel hubs, as I have seen images of Beauforts and Beaufighters with the same type of hubs.

 

[MiTasol]

Damn Nuuumannn - you just made me wake me up and made me realise what should have jumped out at me.

Definitely Beaufort/fighter as the Blenheim leg does not have the ground-lock pin holes that the larger aircraft did and they clearly show in the OP photo. A broken ground lock is shown in Nuuumannn's photo of the Beaufighter gear - that "blob" arrowed is where a roughly 12" long rod is attached with a red warning flag on the end.

 

[MirHvH]

Wow, thank you so much guys, really appreciate this!!