Warbird Information Exchange

New guy here. I read something some time ago regarding the origin of the "Misawa" tanks used to extend the range of F-80s during the Korean War. This article said that the enlarged tank was originally created by cutting the standard 165- gallon tank in the middle and splicing in a 55-gallon drum. This sounds a bit far-fetched, but stranger things have been done by Americans intent on solving a problem.

Anybody know if this is true? If not. what's the real story of this mod?

Claymore

The common 55 gallon drum is steel and tip tanks are typically aluminum.

I don't know if this is the definitive "real" story, but what I've read about the standard 165 gallon tanks was that they were constructed of three sections: front, middle, & rear. I believe the modified "Misawa" tank simply used an additional middle section.

Gladly proven wrong!

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Thanks a bunch, guys. Thought that sounded like a tall tale. But then a lot of the stories about Paul Gunn and the stuff he conjured up sound like tall tales.

Read one not long ago about an F-80 pilot who took off and discovered one of his tip tanks wasn't feeding fuel. As the other tank fed fuel, the airplane was becoming unbalanced and increasingly harder to control. Pilot tried to jettison the tanks but the full one wouldn't come off. He returned to his base, but the tower wouldn't let him land with the full fuel tank hung up on the wing and suggested he eject. Instead, the pilot slid his canopy back, hauled out his .45, and shot a couple of holes in the offending tank, then maneuvered the aircraft so that most of the fuel drained out. He then landed without further incident, and was known afterward as the pilot who shot his own airplane up.

Is that another tall tale?

In theory would a couple of .45 calibre holes in the 'hung up' tank (or may be 4 x holes if there were 'exit wounds' as well?), make much of a difference with the volume of fuel that would leak through to redress the control imbalance? i.e. How long would it take for the hung up tank to drain before the main fuel tank emptied too?

Also I'm trying to think how difficult it would be to take aim at a tip tank with a 1911 while dealing with control imbalance problems. Depending on which tank hung up and which hand he was holding the pistol would mean either a difficult sight picture if held within the cockpit (across the body) or a better sight picture if held out in the slipstream. Either way - not an easy shot.

Anyone else got any ideas?

Barry

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Little Johnny : "When I grow up I want to be a pilot!"

Johnny's Mother : "Don't be silly Dear - you can't do both!"