A5M droptank?

[Nodeo-Franvier]

I just read Saburo Sakai biography and he mentioned jetssoning fuel tank.
Could anyone tell memore about it?
And if the Japanese navy got drop tank in 1938 why didn't other nations have them as well?

 

[fubar57]

From a Japanese book. Might take a while to translate

 

[tomo pauk]

I just read Saburo Sakai biography and he mentioned jetssoning fuel tank.
Could anyone tell memore about it?
And if the Japanese navy got drop tank in 1938 why didn't other nations have them as well?

Welcome to the forum.
Care to elaborate the last sentence, especially the claim that other nations didn't have drop tanks in 1938?

 

[Nodeo-Franvier]

Welcome to the forum.
Care to elaborate the last sentence, especially the claim that other nations didn't have drop tanks in 1938?

I thought the British and Germans didn't have a working one during BoB.

 

[Admiral Beez]

There are several Claude pics showing the drop tank.

 

[tomo pauk]

I thought the British and Germans didn't have a working one during BoB.

Americans and Germans were using drop tanks before ww2.

 

[Nodeo-Franvier]

Americans and Germans were using drop tanks before ww2.

The only German drop tank i know of during BoB is the pregnant belly type on Bf 110.
If the Germans got drop tank like the one A5M have they would have done a lot better during BoB.

 

[Shinpachi]

Yes. As long as I know, it was a common knowledge in the prewar Japan that Japanese invented the drop tank as well as Germans discovered the nuclear fission of uranium 235 in the 1930s..

 

[Snautzer01]

There are several Claude pics showing the drop tank.

View attachment 588374

View attachment 588375

Is it a drop tank ore aux. tank? Would it be released in flight?

 

[Juha3]

The only German drop tank i know of during BoB is the pregnant belly type on Bf 110.
If the Germans got drop tank like the one A5M have they would have done a lot better during BoB.

E.g. He 51s could use drop tanks, so Germans had them but 109E did not have necessary plumbing at the time of BoB. It was designed as an interceptor and 110 was the fighter for LR jobs.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Is it a drop tank ore aux. tank? Would it be released in flight?

I would think all such tanks on fighters were drop tanks. Having even an empty aux tank dangling between your legs would be very detrimental to the A5M's performance.

 

[Snautzer01]

I would think all such tanks on fighters were drop tanks. Having even an empty aux tank dangling between your legs would be very detrimental to the A5M's performance.

I did not say anything about fighting with an aux. tank. I want to know if that one was droppable or not. Because as you know there is a big difference. Namely a weapon or not.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I did not say anything about fighting with an aux. tank. I want to know if that one was droppable or not. Because as you know there is a big difference. Namely a weapon or not.

If it's not droppable [sic] then by default the A5M must fight with the aux. tank on. It's a fighter, not a fuel tanker, so if that tank cannot be jettisoned, it's coming along for the fight.

If we can trust Wikipedia..... Mitsubishi A5M - Wikipedia

"The Mitsubishi team continued to improve the A5M, working through versions until the final A5M4, which carried an external underside drop tank to provide fuel for extended range."

I wonder how the jettison system worked. Did the pilot have to close fuel systems first?

 

[Snautzer01]

Thus no drop tank. Just a range extender. I think a drop tank is a offensive weapon. Drop it and you have the fighter with a certain combat range. This under the claude is in my opinion to get from one place to another.

 

[fubar57]

Is it a drop tank ore aux. tank? Would it be released in flight?

From "Mitsubishi A5M Claude": Mushroom Model Magazine Special. "....A5M4 Model 24....Apart from the changed engine, it also featured attachments for a 160 litre drop tank that replaced the small (tear-drop shaped) tank,...."

 

[Shinpachi]

It was called "落下式増槽 (rakka-shiki zousou = droppable additional tank)" in its full naming.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Thus no drop tank. Just a range extender. I think a drop tank is a offensive weapon.

What? Only if it's filled with napalm. I think something is being lost in translation here.

 

[SaparotRob]

It was called "落下式増槽 (rakka-shiki zousou = droppable additional tank)" in its full naming.

Was the "rakka-Shiki zousou the 160 liter drop tank or the smaller original tank?

 

[Snautzer01]

From "Mitsubishi A5M Claude": Mushroom Model Magazine Special. "....A5M4 Model 24....Apart from the changed engine, it also featured attachments for a 160 litre drop tank that replaced the small (tear-drop shaped) tank,...."

But could it be dropped in flight? That is the point. The term drop tank is used sometimes wrongly. It looks like a drop tank but cant be dropped at will. I believe that on this board there was a answer that said p-47 had aux tanks to get around the us. Not droppable. But in books.....you see what i am

What? Only if it's filled with napalm. I think something is being lost in translation here.

Dont be daft.

 

[ThomasP]

In my notes I have the 160L (35.2 Impgal, 42.3 USgal) drop tank as the early, smaller one. The later, larger drop tank held 210L (46.2 Impgal, 55.5 USgal).