Unusual Bf 109s

[Njaco]

Collected a few pics of unusual Bf 109s from the net for a while now and wanted to post. Some you may have seen before but others are unique. Unless noted by copyright, sources unknown.

 

[Njaco]

and some pics of Bf 109 trainers from thomas genth

 

[seesul]

I´ve never seen that one with wide gear before.

 

[Wayne Little]

Good stuff Chris!

 

[Gnomey]

I've never seen that one with wide gear before.

Me neither. Good stuff Chris, thanks for sharing.

 

[Thorlifter]

I hadn't either. Is it just me or is where the landing struts attach to the wing REALLY close to the front edge of the wing. I'm sure it has to do with where the reinforcing spars are.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool, thanks for posting.

 

[bobbysocks]

I hadn't either. Is it just me or is where the landing struts attach to the wing REALLY close to the front edge of the wing. I'm sure it has to do with where the reinforcing spars are.

yeah it is pretty close to the leading edge and appears to retract kind of diagonally back. i had to stare long and hard at that one to see if it was a photoshopped deal or not. looks real enough.

 

[BombTaxi]

I had read somewhere (probably on here), that experiments were made in fitting wider-track gear to the 109, to improve it's difficult ground handling characteristics. I had never seen s pic of one though.

Also, what is the one in the first pic? It appears to be on some kind of steam catapult?

 

[Airframes]

Great stuff Chris. I'd only ever seen 3-view drawings of the wide-track gear before. The one in the first pic appears to be a '109D, undergoing catapult-launch trials, for possible ship-board use, before the carrier Graf Zeppelin would be ready.

 

[BombTaxi]

I thought as much Terry. But surely the 109 would be of little use as a ship-borne a/c. It was much to short-legged to be an observation plane, not to mention the fact it was single-seat and could not be recovered. And I can't see the Germans having any need for a CAM-type aircraft to protect shipping either. Seems a bit pointless to me?

 

[imalko]

Great set of pictures there Chris. I did see the one of Bf 109 with wide undercarriage, but can't remember where. If you don't mind me hijacking your thread for a bit, I would like to contribute with few more photos of unusual Bf 109 (source HTmodel special):

 

[Matt308]

Great pics. So when is Airframes gonna build that trainer version. Seems right up your alley!!

 

[Airframes]

He He! I've been thinking about that for some time Matt. Also thought of doing the two-seat Buchon, used for filming in the BoB movie - much nicer canopies!!
EDIT: BT, I believe the idea was as a stop-gap, until the Graf Zeppelin came into service (which it didn't, as we know). The idea being it could operate within recovery range of a land base, where a conventional, land-based fighter, would lack the range for a round trip, similar to the original concept of the Hurricat. I'd need to check further, but I think it was also part of the overall trials, testing catapult launch requirements, including what might, or might not, be needed for the Graf Zeppelin.

 

[imalko]

I've been digging through some of my folders and finally found another picture and some info on the Bf 109 with wide landing gear (I knew I had it somewhere)... The aircraft is Bf 109 V31, originally a Bf 109F-1 airframe (Wr.Nr. 5642), used for testing the wide track main landing gear and semi-retractable ventral radiator (as intended for Me 309). Source of the pictures unknown.

 

[The Basket]

The Bf 109T would have operated as a naval fighter in exactly the same way as the Seafire.

I like the wide undercarriage...very Mustangy.

But like other 109 trials with bubble canopies...didn't go anywhere. Should have.

 

[Njaco]

Go for it Imalko!

and anybody else have pics, go ahead and post! I've had these floating around and decided they would make a great conversation piece.

 

[beaupower32]

 

[otftch]

Great Pics. Does anyone have a side view of that "V" tailed 109 ?
Ed

 

[ccheese]

You guys amaze me with what you can come up with !!

Good pic's, all..

Charles