Dump tank
Drop tanks are mostly used in military aviation to increase the range of aircraft .
The mostly cylindrical tanks , shaped roughly like bombs, are generally attached to external load carriers under the fuselage , the wings or at the tips of the wings and can be dropped in flight. There are also aircraft types that use additional tanks ( conformal fuel tanks ) specially adapted to the aircraft shape (e.g. the F-15C ), but which cannot be released. Drop tanks were introduced on fighter planes like the Messerschmitt Bf 109 in the 1930s to increase the range of the small machines. This was used, among other things, to be able to guide bomb planes to the target and back. The fighter-bombers of the G series built by Focke-Wulf had a range of around 1500 kilometers with two drop tanks when flying with economy power.
Drop tanks cannot be attached to every external load station and not in any configuration, as connections to the internal fuel system are required on the one hand, and the center of gravity must remain within the permissible limits for every filling level on the other .
The aircraft's fuel supply is switched in such a way that the fuel from the drop tanks is first transferred to the internal fuel tanks. Like any external load, external tanks influence the speed of an aircraft through their air resistance and the maneuverability of an aircraft through their weight and limited structural strength. They also increase the radar cross-section . Therefore, they can be resolved when necessary (e.g., aerial combat, emergency, etc.). To do this, they are usually separated using explosive bolts .
A rule of thumb is that only about half the content of a drop tank is available to increase range. The remaining fuel is used to overcome the higher drag of the aircraft with a drop tank.
Drop tanks can also be used to deploy chemical weapons .
Locations
Dump tanks sank in some Bavarian lakes during the Second World War. In the post-war period, it attracted rescue companies and former navy divers. At that time, the demand for scrap metal was high. Drop tanks from Soviet fighter planes were also found in Straussee , northeast of Berlin .
Trivia
- A drop tank even serves as the fuselage of a newly designed aircraft. The Speedbird MAL04 was presented at Airpower in Zeltweg in 2013 .
- The artist Axel Bleyer used a drop tank from the Aviation Museum in Hanover for an installation.
- During the Second World War, Odenwald farmers are said to have converted discarding tanks that they found into liquid manure containers.
- Drop tanks are also used to build high-speed vehicles. During the Bonneville Speed Week, which has been taking place on the Bonneville Salt Flats since 1949 , many of these creations, known as "Belly Tank Racers", can be viewed.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Messcherschmitt Bf 109 at Jagdgeschwader 27
- ^ Herbert Ringlstetter: Military aircraft: Type atlas fighter aircraft. 1939-1942. 1st edition. Geramond Verlag, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-95613-407-4 .
- ↑ F and G series. In: focke-wulf190.com. Retrieved August 18, 2015 .
- ↑ Under the care of the dictator . In: Der Spiegel . tape 32 , Aug. 6, 1990 ( online [accessed Aug. 18, 2015]).
- ^ Lino von Gartzen: The P-47 Thunderbold in Lake Starnberg. (No longer available online.) In: Flugzeug Classic. 2009, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on August 18, 2015 .
- ↑ Easydive24.de | The additional tanks in Straussee. In: easydive24.de. Retrieved August 18, 2015 .
- ↑ For his hobby he fought with the CIA. In: Small newspaper. Retrieved August 18, 2015 .
- ^ Badische Zeitung: Offenburg: The crazy blue over the Concorde grand piano - badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved August 18, 2015 .
- ↑ More crashes in the vicinity of the Überwald. In: Morr-Siedelsbrunn.de. Retrieved August 18, 2015 .
