P-51 Drop tank?? Help please! :)

Drop tanks were also converted to use Napalm.
And also modded in the field to carry mail.

My 2 cents its a field mod for napalm.

Gents many thanks indeed for all your kind assistance – much appreciated!

Best regards

TT

The picture I posted is a P-51D of the 78th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group on Iwo Jima in March of 1945. They flew the P-51D until October 1946. They never flew the P-51 again. They were inactive from October 16th, 1946 until November 1952 when they became the 78th FIS flying the F-86. The picture shows a metal construction drop tank with a vertical seam in use during wartime.

The glue impregnated kraft paper tanks didn’t have large exposed seams like the metal ones due to the difference in design and construction materials. They were filled (108 gal.) just before takeoff and even if you had an early abort you could not land with them, they were 1 time use only. If brought back they would usually be jettisoned in a designated area prior to landing. On most missions they were usually dropped over enemy territory, and their purpose was to deny the enemy the much needed metal. Wartime production was estimated to be over 13,000 so that would save a great deal of metal and like the Mosquito it didn’t require skilled metal workers who were in high demand.

http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/38801.html

Hey! Copied and pasted!
Not authoritative but this is what gave me the P47 idea.

It’s a P-47 centreline, I’m pretty sure of it. The ones (on a P-51) in DC Page’s post are the wing-mounted much larger types. Totally different. That picture could be Korean War anyway.

The ’47’s carried the centrelines routinely as they had thirsty engines and were usually on longer range sorties

I thought these tanks were (reputedly) made of a sort of impregnated paper? Not surprising this was found lying about as they were jettisoned regularly and, effectively, disposable.

Anon.

P-51 tanks taper to a point in plan view: this one doesn’t. I’d say P-47 too.

Hi TT,

I’ve seen these before but don’t know any hard facts about them. I had always guessed that due to the large number of vendors during wartime that 1 company or 1 facility might have made them because they do seem to be rare, but that is just a guess. Here is a picture of a P-51D on Iwo Jima in 1945 that seems to have a similar drop tank with a vertical seam. I also have at least one other picture of a drop tank with a vertical seam, but haven’t found it yet. It was offered for sale online a few years ago as a “P-51 or P-38” drop tank, and it is more streamlined with flush fuel filler cap and the mounting points are recessed in an integral fairing. I think it’s probably a P-38 tank but not sure, and it was said to be about 11 feet long, which seems to be longer than your example.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]239040[/ATTACH]

P47

NOT a Mustang tank. It does look like one from a P-47 however.

Serpently is. That’s the fun of it! ( Mrs Meteor doesn’t get this!).

Thanks Mike, but it isn’t tapered like the early P-38 tanks which seem to be the same shape as the 47 ferry tank…will go and consult P-47 books now though! Bit of a mystery innit! 🙂

This is a bit of a shot in the dark, so forgive. I use a tablet and am not au fait with links’n’stuff but what about a 150 gallon tank from a P47? Think I’ve seen a picture of these with vertical seams. Filler cap in right place too.