Unknown part in impassable valley to identify

[Kurtl]

Gentlemen, I recently stumbled across a strange part of rusty metal. A local huntsman showed it to me. Due to it's location in an nearly impassable timbered valley I believe it has something to do with aircraft. There is no way that a car or tractor ever has been to that place. And it's nearly impossible that any kind of other human built machine of that size could have been brought to that place other then it's been dropped or crashed from the sky.
The part is made of sheet metal, maybe ferrous (due to the rust). There are some little rests of greenish and maybe white paintings on one side. Size is approximatle 2 x 0.5 meters but could be even more in the length. Acctually the size is hard to guess because it is pretty bad crushed and bendet around. One end of it is trapped underneath some old lumber and cannot be raised by easy means of equipment. 40 years ago when the huntsman first stumbled across it the painting still was in good condition and showed some camouflage green parts that made the hunter think of some military equipment.
There were some interesting details to discuss:
1.: a filter with a filler cap with an square like Allen key to open it.
2.: a little outlet fixed with a nut. On it we could read the number: "44B13847".
Please look at the pictures attached. It would be too interesting to find out what it once has been.
Thanks for your interest and help in identification.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

A fuel tank. The portion with the allen key is a filler, the screen to catch and forigen object that might be dropped into it. The other item looks like a venting system. Hard to say what type of aircraft its from and the part number doesn't seem to match any manufacturer's codexes from the Aviation Archaeological website. Tank does look ferrous can be checked with a magnet.

If you have a chance to go there again, I'd start looking for some more wreckage. If you start finding aluminum I think you're on to something! Good luck!

 

[Edgar Brooks]

It might be totally irrelevant, and a wild goose chase, but RAF 44--- part numbers pertain to balloons.

 

[Kurtl]

Thanks guys for your notes. Did the P-51 had ferrous fuel tanks?

 

[paganini08]

Gentlemen, I recently stumbled across a strange part of rusty metal. A local huntsman showed it to me. Due to it's location in an nearly impassable timbered valley I believe it has something to do with aircraft. There is no way that a car or tractor ever has been to that place. And it's nearly impossible that any kind of other human built machine of that size could have been brought to that place other then it's been dropped or crashed from the sky.
The part is made of sheet metal, maybe ferrous (due to the rust). There are some little rests of greenish and maybe white paintings on one side. Size is approximatle 2 x 0.5 meters but could be even more in the length. Acctually the size is hard to guess because it is pretty bad crushed and bendet around. One end of it is trapped underneath some old lumber and cannot be raised by easy means of equipment. 40 years ago when the huntsman first stumbled across it the painting still was in good condition and showed some camouflage green parts that made the hunter think of some military equipment.
There were some interesting details to discuss:
1.: a filter with a filler cap with an square like Allen key to open it.
2.: a little outlet fixed with a nut. On it we could read the number: "44B13847".
Please look at the pictures attached. It would be too interesting to find out what it once has been.
Thanks for your interest and help in identification.

 

[MiTasol]

Thanks guys for your notes. Did the P-51 had ferrous fuel tanks?

Internal tanks on the P-51 were not ferrous but the drop tanks on many aircraft were, including some P-51 drop tanks

The 44D part number is consistent with a drop tank component - see the red lines in the scans below - and explains why it is in a generally inaccessible location with no other wreckage in the area.