Donivanp
Major
Question; paper drop tanks, were they used in the southwest pacific ie New Guinea, Dobodura, Nazdab etc…. The ranges were long and when the P-38's were pulled from the 475th they got the 47D's.
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Thanks. I've found them using Lockheed 75 gallon tanks and 65 gallon tanks.As far as I know, the "paper" drop tanks were only used in the ETO, and were manufactured in England.
I know the 348th Fighter Group in New Guinea used the metal tanks locally manufactured in Australia known as Brisbane tanks. Google that and you will find photos showing them, they are not similar to the P-38 Lightning tanks used by the 475th.Question; paper drop tanks, were they used in the southwest pacific ie New Guinea, Dobodura, Nazdab etc…. The ranges were long and when the P-38's were pulled from the 475th they got the 47D's.
Thanks. I've found them using Lockheed 75 gallon tanks and 65 gallon tanks.
Paper tanks have turned up here in Australia, indicating they could have also been used operationally.Question; paper drop tanks, were they used in the southwest pacific ie New Guinea, Dobodura, Nazdab etc…. The ranges were long and when the P-38's were pulled from the 475th they got the 47D's.
Care to elaborate?As an aside, the term "Brisbane tank" would appear to be a fictional creation, coined by barefoot historians and subsequently embraced uncritically by enthusiasts.
No wartime references to the term can be found in either the US or Australia. The first references appear late last century in published secondary sources, and are never accompanied by source citations.Care to elaborate?
Thank you.No wartime references to the term can be found in either the US or Australia. The first references appear late last century in published secondary sources, and are never accompanied by source citations.
Seems like that there was the Ford manufacturing plant in Brisbane.Moreover, no documentary evidence has ever emerged to show that these larger capacity tanks were ever manufactured in Brisbane. In his 1947 memoir George Kenney notes only that "I put the Ford Company of Australia to work making them," vide General Kenney reports : a personal history of the Pacific War / George C. Kenney
Ford Australia had factories then in all the eastern states. It produced metal drop tanks in its Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Geelong factories. Much of this work was also sub-contacted to companies such as Ansett Airloine Pty. Ltd, and Brooks Robinson Pty. Ltd.Thank you.
Seems like that there was the Ford manufacturing plant in Brisbane.
The 200gal 'croaking bullfrog' (Gabreski description) was indeed the four point attach point attach bolt Republic ferry tank. Operational service 28 July thru 23 August. The new keel/B-7 bomb/belly tank racks were installed on the C-2 thru D-4s in ETO. First US 75gal tank mission also flown on 8/23.I don't think there were 75 US gallon P-38 (Lockheed) tanks, either. There were the standard teardrop shaped USAAF 75 gal tanks, I believe made of steel. There were 150, 165, and 300 US gal tanks made for the P-38. The models rated for 1000 lb bombs underwing could've used the 150 and 165 gal versions, but I'm not sure about 300 gal. I vaguely remember something about it, but I may be thinking of something else. They also might have only been used for ferry flights. (similar to the P-80B that mounted those 300 gal tanks under its wingtips in place of the 165 gal tanks for the Trans-continental speed record flight)
I've never seen the P-47 mounting any of the Lockheed tanks on the belly shackle, and it might have been a clearance issue. There was also a 175 US gal (145.6 imp gal) belly tank used on the P-39 that might have fit under the P-47, but I haven't seen that in use. It's also possible the P-47 lacks the clearance needed to carry that under the belly.
That said, there were several 200 US gal (166.5 imp gal) belly tanks used on the P-47 (other than the conformal Ferry tank). I believe there were more than 3 different types of combat-usable 200 gal belly tanks, maybe more variations than that. There's the "flat" steel tank that wasn't available early on and ended up used more in the Pacific (and I think I've seen another flat/squarish 200 gal steel tank in use), and there's the 200 gal British made impregnated paper tank (a bigger version of the common 108 gal paper tanks). I'm not sure how early that was available, but would've been one around in the ETO.
And then there's one other large belly tank, that I presumed was 200 gal (as I've not seen anything bigger than that mentioned in planning or performance charts) that's depicted in one of the Pilot training manuals for the P-47B,C,D, and G.
Posted years ago in this thread:
It's a very long, banana shaped tank, circular in frontal cross section, and sized to fit just within the clearance limits of the P-47. It's clearly not the ferry tank and not conformal and also doesn't look like the British made paper tank. I'm not sure if it was ever used in service, but presumably it was either the USAAC's or Republic's own design.
Good research.I'm familiar with what the conformal ferry tank looks like (and its limited usability). Then there's the later-war "flat" steel belly tank and the other I was thinking of was a somewhat similar, but more tapered tub-shaped steel tank with built-in sway-brace style wings or brackets along the top of either side. The latter turns out to be the "Brisbane Tank" already mentioned above by Davecww1.
Flat tank:
View attachment 805044
Brisbane tank:
View attachment 805045
More good pics of both the flat and brisbane tanks here:
And more here:Drop Tank
During the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt’s initial deployment to the Pacific with the 348th Fighter Group in mid-1943, the issue of range became a challenge in operational employment given the vast dis…checksixblog.wordpress.com
View attachment 805046HyperScale Forums-P-47 Brisbane tanks
Some photos were posted here and I made a resin tank in 1/48 based on these photos. I have lost the file I made on them and so trying to find the photwww.tapatalk.com
View attachment 805047
But the two examples that (should) predate them are these two:
A British style 200 gal impregnated paper tank:
View attachment 805048
This would implicitly be ETO-specific and supplied by the British, but I don't think I've seen it in photos. (either that or it's just too hard to tell from the 108 or 110 gal paper tanks without a better sense of scale, given how much perspective can skew things)
Then again, I don't think I've seen a P-39 with its 175 US gal tank mounted either.
And the mystery tank pictured in the P-47B/C/D/G manual: see the attachment.