The design of the Bf-109 was pure genius in that, besides being a great plane, first flying in 1935, and carrying Germany through the war until 1945, it was easy to maintain and cheap to build.
The landing gear arrangement was chose for simplicity - The gears are attached to the firewall, which also supports the unique "A" shaped engine bearing, and which also supports the wing spars. Essentially, the focus of the plane is a single firewall plate, everything else being cantilevered off of that. A Spitfire for instance, looks "messier" in this regard.
The wings were designed to be able to be removed in the field in a few minutes without extra equipment to support the plane. After the E, Bf-109s stopped carrying wing guns, and this un-complicated the wings further. The engine plumbing was well organized, and the cowling had quick-release latches and could be completely removed in a a few minutes as well.
The 109 was almost no compound curves and very few components, so production is fast, cheap, and easy. The controls are well thought out on later variants, with throttle, flap control, trim control, landing gear control all on the left side so the pilot doesn't have to take his right hand off the stick - ever. In the Spitfire, the pilot has to switch hands to do work.
Quote:
|
Btw, the spitfire gear is much narrower.
|
Very true, but the Bf-109 had the wheels canted in a weird way that gave them the tendency to swing unless both were planted firmly on the ground. Landing on one wheel (which is normal in a crosswind) would cause it to go out from under you, and result in a ground-loop.
Why were the wheels mounted this way? I'm not sure. But, I assume it was to save space.