Looking for Messerschmitt Bf 110 Info

[pstrany]

Hi;

I have a few questions about the Messerschmitt Bf 110 C through E.

First, I need to know if there is a external visual indicator for landing gear position, radiator cooler flap position, and/or flap position. This seems to have been a feature on some Messerschmitt products, and I'm trying to determine if the Bf 110 used indicators in the cockpit, or visual gauges, rods or other indicators located outside the cockpit.

I also need to know how the longitudinal trim system worked. What I know so far is that the Bf 110 was equipped with a variable incidence tailplane, and Flettner tabs on the elevators. Some sources cite a link between the tailplane incidence system and the landing flaps (putting flaps down would increase tailplane incidence) but exactly how all this stuff interacted is just not clear. Where the Flettner tabs completely independent of the trim system, for instance, or was there some connection there as well?

Any help greatly appreciated!!

Paul

[leonventer]

Hi Paul,

Do a google on "110 vultee analysis" and you'll find references to Report 260-28, a detailed analysis of a captured Bf 110C by Vultee Aircraft in 1942. It's available as a PDF document from several sources and contains answers to some of your questions, e.g. the linkage between the flaps and the horizontal tailplane.

Ron Mackay's "Messerschmitt Bf 110" (Crowood, 2000, ISBN=1-86126-313-9) is also useful with respect to design/technical details.

Regards,
Leon Venter

[pstrany]

Thanks for your reply.

I have both Mackay's book and the Vultee analysis (as well as a myriad of other publications and books, including John Vasco's excellent "Messerschmitt Bf 110 C,D, and E: an Illutrated Study".)

As to the Flettner or servo tabs, I see an illustration (must have missed this before) in Mr. Vasco's book that seems to clarify things - Pg. 55 (bottom) shows that a trim linkage (thank you John!) is incorporated into the Flettner tab system. However, I find it odd that Messerschmitt would use a variable incidence tailplane in the 109 as longtitudinal trim and then a year or so later revert back to trim tabs for longtitudinal trim in the 110 while still retaining the variable incidence tailplane for trim adjustment for the landing flap system only. A photo or illustration of the landing flap actuating system would be most welcome. I'm sure any explanation of this decision is long-forgotten.

While no mention is made of mechanical indicators for position of landing gear, flaps or radiator flaps in any sources I have consulted, it would not be unusual for Messerschmitt products to include these features. I know that there is a small rod of some kind that appears in photographs of the Bf 110 on top of the left engine nacelle about 2-3 feet aft of the wing leading edge sticking up that I have yet to find an explanation for. Could this be a mechanical indicator of some sort, and for what?

Certainly it would not be unusual for such small details to go unnoticed - the 109E had a mechanical indicator of the cooling flap position, which is very clearly illustrated in many photos, but rarely have I seen it recognized in print. The Flettner tab was fairly common in German aircraft of the era, but it is rarely acknowledged. I've seen hundreds of models of German aircraft with "positioned" control surfaces (either up, down, left or right) but I've never seen the Flettner tabs positioned appropriate to the deflection of the control surface. I've read hundreds of books on various German aircraft, but again, no mention of Flettner tabs (American reports, such as the Vultee report on the 110, do on occasion note them as "servo tabs".)

Another detail I'm looking for is the fairings placed over the hinges for the ailerons and flaps on the 110. The F in Berlin and the G in England seem to lack them (whether they were lost along the way or just not included by the time these aircraft were manufactured is unknown) but many pictures of the C, D, and E show what appear to be small fairings over these hinge points, but I can't seem to find clear pictures of them. Any such pictures (or suggestions on where to find same) would be most welcome.

Thanks agian......

Paul