Originally Posted by
Herod
Nuuumannn; I'm led to believe that the splay on the undercarriage of the Me109 was for tactical reasons. The legs are actually attached to the fuselage. This means that once the wings are removed, the aircraft can be carried on the back of a lorry, or on a railway car. Not so easy with the Spitfire, which would have had to have some sort of supporting cradle. So I've been told by people who know about these things.
That is true, the Bf 109's undercarriage legs attached to the fuselage and the removal of the wings could be done with relative ease. The splaying out of the wheels is certainly a consequence of this, but whether it was done to facilitate such a thing is not known. It certainly made for a difficult time during taxiing, which was tricky in the type. It was tail heavy, so tended to 'lead' from the tail. Ground loops on rollout after landing were commonplace - combine that with a terrible view forward from the cockpit and it required careful handling on the ground.