Bf 109 Red Landing Gear Documentation

[D.B. Andrus]

Primary source for red painted upper 1/3 of landing gear legs on AM and ASM a/c:

 

Red legs

 

In practice the 1/3 application varied.

 

HTH,

Damian

[Sabrejet]

Not viewable unless you're part of that group. This may be a good thing because I've heard it's a bit of an echo chamber.

[thierry laurent]

So, in a nutshell, is there anything new...?

[CRAZY IVAN5]

14 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

Not viewable unless you're part of that group. This may be a good thing because I've heard it's a bit of an echo chamber.

[nmayhew]

19 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

Not viewable unless you're part of that group. This may be a good thing because I've heard it's a bit of an echo chamber.

 

You seem to be criticising somewhere that you haven't been to or seen with your own eyes - there is a huge amount of information over there and a lot of high quality research (they have a small modelling sub-forum too btw).

As with most clubs, there may be people who you don't always see eye to eye with, but that shouldn't detract from the content itself

 

4 hours ago, thierry laurent said:

So, in a nutshell, is there anything new...?

 

Well, I wasn't aware of whether red oleos were already documented and fully accepted, or just one of those things which if it is repeated enough times it becomes what people consider as fact, as opposed to fact itself.

the parallel i would draw would be profiles of aircraft which get repeated and copied sooo many times that they just seem to be accepted, and yet no-one can actually dig up the photo or supporting documentation that the profile was supposed to be based on (a pet peeve of mine)

 

apart from anything else, I find the idea of some late war 109s wearing 'red socks' quite appealing

 

[Out2gtcha]

I too have heard there is some really great deep dive info over there. Im not normally a "joiner" when it comes to many online sites so I cant see the link but I'm sure it's worth joining if you needed extensive information.

[thierry laurent]

I'm sure I have seen at least one original color picture of a late 109 with red legs. So I had no doubt they existed. However as far as I'm remembering correctly the explanation related to the type of fuel was challenged by some researchers and I'm not remembering if a conclusion was finally reached.

[mattlow]

 

Clearly existed. Though you might think putting a warning on the fuel filler port would be a more effective way to indicate a certain fuel type...

But what else could it denote?

Matt

PS - this is an AS aircraft (G-6 I think)

Edited December 10, 2025 by mattlow

[CRAZY IVAN5]

4 hours ago, thierry laurent said:

I'm sure I have seen at least one original color picture of a late 109 with red legs. So I had no doubt they existed. However as far as I'm remembering correctly the explanation related to the type of fuel was challenged by some researchers and I'm not remembering if a conclusion was finally reached.

Add to that is there somewhere that we "mortals" can access the info? I too would like a definitive on the subject. 

[Troy Molitor]

I always like that picture above.  Thanks for sharing that with us. 

 

I would think it would be for the re-fueler to easily identify which aircraft (which are usually hidden on the edges of the airfield or in under some trees nearby )to quickly identify which aircraft required the higher octane fuel requirements if they were only carrying a certain octane fuel in their trucks.  Easier than looking for a small fuel filler port perhaps?  I could be wrong.  

[Sabrejet]

5 hours ago, nmayhew said:

 

You seem to be criticising somewhere that you haven't been to or seen with your own eyes - there is a huge amount of information over there and a lot of high quality research (they have a small modelling sub-forum too btw).

 

Based on the critique of someone who undoubtedly has forgotten more than most folks on there will know. QED a colourized photo being provided as 'proof'. 

[mattlow]

15 hours ago, Sabrejet said:

 

Based on the critique of someone who undoubtedly has forgotten more than most folks on there will know. QED a colourized photo being provided as 'proof'. 

Not quite sure who you're talking about above, but that's irrelevant. what interests me is if you are saying this image I posted might be colourised. That is interesting. I thought this image predated the somewhat annoying trend to colourise original images (I don't ever recall seeing this one in greys). 

 

We do also have the Bf109G-6 with R2 camera package found and filmed by US forces at Fritzlar. This certainly isn't colourised. Interesting thing is though that this isn't a DB605AS or D engined machine. I suppose you could argue that it was produced alongside machines using the red legs and they just used what was available - but that would defeat the purpose of the leg colour. I can't tell what the fuel triangle says.. Could these very late G-6 recon machines have been 'hot rods' that did use the higher octane fuel?

 

 

Edited December 11, 2025 by mattlow

[denders]

9 hours ago, nmayhew said:

 

You seem to be criticising somewhere that you haven't been to or seen with your own eyes - there is a huge amount of information over there and a lot of high quality research (they have a small modelling sub-forum too btw).

As with most clubs, there may be people who you don't always see eye to eye with, but that shouldn't detract from the content itself

 

 

 

Well, unfortunately they don't appear to be accepting new registrations. There is not a link to register and if one adds "/register" to the home page url, the message does appear that they're not accepting new registrations. Kind of off-putting.

[Gazzas]

I have always wondered if these red legs 

1 hour ago, mattlow said:

Not quite sure who you're talking about above, but that's irrelevant. what interests me is if you are saying this image I posted might be colourised. That is interesting. I thought this image predated the somewhat annoying trend to colourise original images (I don't ever recall seeing this one in greys). 

 

We do also have the Bf109G-6 with R2 camera package found and filmed by US forces at Fritzlar. This certainly isn't colourised. Interesting thing is though that this isn't a BD605AS or D engined machine. I suppose you could argue that it was produced alongside machines using the red legs and they just used what was available - but that would defeat the purpose of the leg colour. I can't tell what the fuel triangle says.. Could these very late G-6 recon machines have been 'hot rods' that did use the higher octane fuel?

 

 

 

We're out of 02...   all we have left is this red oxide primer...

[CRAZY IVAN5]

7 minutes ago, denders said:

Well, unfortunately they don't appear to be accepting new registrations. There is not a link to register and if one adds "/register" to the home page url, the message does appear that they're not accepting new registrations. Kind of off-putting.

No ,they sure don't and I wanted to join, oh well.