F-86 Sabre drop tank trivia question

[fritzthefox]

Ever wonder what ever happened to all those drop tanks that were jettisoned over the years? Here's an article I stumbled on that shines some light on that obscure little piece of history: http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/ht ... Tanks.html

Sadly, it was of no use to me in answering the question I was pursuing when I found it. I am trying to figure out if the Sabre jettisoned the attachment pylon along with the the 120-gallon combat tank or just jettisoned the tank itself? Anybody know?

It seems intuitive to me that the pylon would remain attached to the plane, but I saw a photo of a shipment of 120 gallon tanks with their pylons attached, which begs the question...why?

[mike furline]

If you scroll down thru the pics, "North American F-86F Sabre, NX186AM lost its starboard drop tank during the tail chase performance on Sunday", and the pylon is gone as well.
http://www.air-and-space.com/200705%20C ... ng%202.htm

[Sabremech]

The standard 120 gallon drop doesn't really have much of a pylon. It has attach hardware and basically a fairing giving it the shape of a pylon. There are also force ejection pylons that stay with the airplane. Typically they were used when the 200 gallon drops were installed. We have both types of tanks and pylons.
David
WHF Maint

[fritzthefox]

Thanks, guys! I love this community. Here's a sneak peek at Fritz the Fox's new ride from his latest cartoon, now in production: my way of saying thank you. You can see for yourself why I was curious about the drop tanks...