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You wonder what would have happened to a steel drop tank hitting the water at +200 knots. Also what are the chances some random trawler gets hit with one? Probably ruin a good fishing trip.
Yep - and they made great hot rods after the war.Lockheed made steel drop tanks.
I think you're mistaken about the B-17 oil tanksOn the B-17, for example, the fuel tanks in the wing as well as the oil tanks were bladders made of rubber and were self-sealing. The same was for the B-29, F4U, P-51 and many more US aircraft. The auxiliary fuel tanks carried in the bomb bay of the B-17 and B-29 were aluminum. Wet wings were very rare as the sealing methods and materials available at the time were not adequate for the job. In addition, flexible structures made wet-wings even harder to seal. Case in point is the Vultee BT-13 which has a wet wing and is just about impossible to keep from leaking.
That photo looks like the oil tank in the schematic I posted! I stand to be corrected!Some US manufacturers used rubber tanks inside a metal shell. The P-40 fuselage tank is an example and I strongly suspect the B-17 oil tanks were the same - unfortunately I do not have time to check. In both cases this makes sense as inserting/dragging a bladder/covered metal tank in/out through the cockpit is almost certain to result in damage to the bladder/covered metal tank non metallic skin. In the case of the B-17 inboard oil tank you are again working in a difficult location with plenty of sharp edges. The other thing to remember is that today a bladder tank is made of thin material that folds up for removal or installation. The WW2 self sealing tanks were very thick and very rigid.
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The most charming aspect of the Skua was that it came with a large bag of corks of various sizes (conveniently color-coded!), so that the Wireless Telegraphist could plug holes in the fuel tank!thanks, should have googled more for photos, and I would have found pictures like this of a B-17 and Blackburn Skua tanks, but I was searching for text.
Charming indeed. The color coding is the best part. I can totally see that conversation play out.The most charming aspect of the Skua was that it came with a large bag of corks of various sizes (conveniently color-coded!), so that the Wireless Telegraphist could plug holes in the fuel tank!