Bf 110C-5 Details?

[pstrany]

Hi;

anybody have a photo (good or otherwise) of the external appearance of the opening for the vertical camera in a Messerschmitt Bf 110C-5 (or recon version.) From what I can gather from drawings, there was a square opening in the bottom of the fuselage, with a sliding panel that covered the opening when not in use (I ASSUME this went into a pocket in the front or rear of the opening when not in use.) I again ASSUME that there would have been a mount or collar on the actual camera lens? Lots of assuming here, I'd much rather have something just a little more concrete to go on......

Thanks for any help!!

Paul

[James Fullingim]

Paul,

Some of the latest drawings in several newer Bf 110 books show a fixed glass lower viewing window for the camera operator in back (aft) of the larger square camera opening. This is the only place the window could go due to the wing spar inside of the fuselage. One well publicized drawing of the Bf 110g model with the Rb 50/30 camera shows the plate forward of the opening with the inscription "Nicht Betreten" for "Do Not Walk." This line drawing of the Rb 50/30 in the Bf110g aircraft appears to be accurate and can be used as a good reference. One source of this is on page 208 in the Schiffer book "Messerschmitt Bf 110/Me 210/Me 410, An Illustrated History" by Heinz Mankau and Peter Petrick, ISBN 0-7643-1784-9.


There is one color photo at http://www.airrecce.co.uk/cameras/Luftwaffe_ww2_cameras.html that depicts the popular desert scene of the ground crew walking towards the Bf 110 with the Rb 50/30 camera in hand. This would appear to have a reflection of the ground onto the glass window on the bottom of the aircraft in the shade.

I am also searching for more definitive interior and exterior photos!
JF