Sabrejet Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 (edited) As promised here is a revised 2023 run-down of the different types of drop tanks installed on various versions of the F-86 Sabre. Note that all tank capacities are quoted in US Gallons rather than Imperial units (1 Imperial gallon = 1.2 US gallons). Photos are USAF and NAA official, my own photos or those from JMG Gradidge and William Simone. First of all, an addition for the v.2.0 “2023” edition: for completeness I wanted to include the 206.5-gallon tank which was developed for the XP-86 and test flown aboard the #3 prototype on a number of occasions (in addition to being trial-fitted but not flown, on the #1 machine). The tank incorporated a faired pylon which covered the tank filler and this alone drew criticism at the XP-86 mockup review. A redesign was delayed until after flight testing had been carried out, and this soon proved that aileron vibration occurred at airspeeds above 0.7 Mach. Testing at higher speeds led to the tanks being ripped from the aircraft, and though a canted-down tank arrangement was proposed, a different solution was pursued for the F-86A programme. Canted modification: Next, the 206.5-gallon Ferry Tank, which was only supplied for the F-86A and limited manoeuvring somewhat. Thus it was rarely installed. Note the inboard and outboard sway braces, each attaching to the forward spar. The 206.5-gallon ferry tank is characterised by having a prominent flange about its centreline and also being equipped with horizontal tail fins with no anhedral (negative dihedral). This tank was fitted at Buttock Plane (BP) 99.5 (that is, 99.5 inches from the aircraft centreline). These are two early configurations, without the fins: And the definitive version: Black square on the upper half of the port-side (LH) tank above is the maker's plate. Next up is the 120-gallon 'banana' drop tank, which is probably the most common tank and seen on most F-86 versions as well as Canadair, CAC and FIAT examples. This tank could be fitted at Buttock Plane 99.5 on Sabres with single-pylon wings (F-86A, D, E, early F etc) but also at BP 72.5 and BP 118 on twin-store F-86s such as F-86H, late F-86F etc. The early version was equipped with plain anhedral fins at the aft end and when dropped, the tank took the pylon with it. Note also the outboard sway brace, common to all versions of this tank: Less-often seen and only common to F-86A, the 120-gallon tank was initially equipped with an inboard sway brace, which attached to the rear spar. These are shown below: More common was the version with no inboard sway brace, as seen on this Sabre 5: On twin-pylon F-86s, if fitted on the inboard BP 72.5 position, this tank usually also had a Ferry Beam adaptor inserted between the pylon and the wing lower surface, and a commensurately longer sway brace (shown with 200-gal tank outboard in first photo): Final version of the 120-gallon tank introduced what NAA referred to as "Stuka Fins" to the outer edge of each anhedral fin: These tanks were made by a number of subcontract companies but all were visually the same. Below an example of a maker's plate: Next tank is the 200-gallon version seen on later F-86F, F-86H and CAC Sabre 32 as well as Canadair Sabre 5 and 6. The first version of this tank (known initially as the NAA 200-gallon tank) also had a plain anhedral fin arrangement aft, but compared to the 120-gallon tank, the fins did not extend beyond the aft edge of the tank itself (compare with above). This tank was also more rounded in cross-section than the 120-gallon tank. This type of tank was fitted to the BP 99.5 and BP 118 stations only and all versions had just the outboard sway brace. Later versions of this tank also featured a type of "Stuka Fin", but of a different shape, and without without the vertical aft edge of the 120-gallon variant. This view also shows how the aft end of the tank/fin is different when compared to the 120-gallon: Mainly used in the Korean War, the 165-gallon 'Misawa' tank was more commonly used on the F-80 but also at times on the F-86E/F (and Canadair Sabre 2s used by the USAF in Korea). It had anhedral fins and a constant-diameter section which was unique to Sabre drop tanks, as well as a single outboard sway brace. It could be installed at BP 99.5 or BP 118, depending on wing standard: Final drop tank was a further 200-gallon type, and generally installed on F-86Fs later in USAF service (those with the "F-40" extended wing mod) as well as many F-86Fs supplied to overseas air forces such as Philippines, Japan, Ethiopia, Iran etc. This tank (known as the USAF Standard tank, being used on other types such as F-100 and even the HH-3E helicopter) had no fins and was installed with a pylon which ejected the tank: thus when the tank was dropped, the pylon stayed with the aircraft (in this way it was unique on F-86 installations). Because of this feature, there is a very noticeable gap between the tank and the pylon with this version, and remove-before-flight flags installed on the ground: All F-86s which used this tank also had a slim inboard sway brace installed (no outboard brace), which braced the pylon rather than the tank. It's difficult to see most of the time; the following is an Ethiopian AF F-86F with 120-gallon tank + ferry beam on BP 72.5 and the forced-ejection pylon (for 200-gal 'late' tank) at BP 118, with the inboard sway brace just visible at right. One final quirky one: the US Navy often fitted 120-gallon tanks onto its QF-86F drones at the 'outboard' location, using the forced-ejection pylon. This gave the unusual combination of the 120-gal tank (which was usually braced from tank to wing and with integral pylon), but this time without its integral pylon and unbraced (except for the pylon itself). Note the gap and usually seen on this combination, the lack of 'stuka' fins on the tank endplates. Hope these help! Edited January 6 by Sabrejet 2023 update finished! 6 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngstROM Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 Thanks very much for this useful reference! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 Thanks so much for the photos and text! Now the search begins through all my kits to see which are the best for each type. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 (edited) just what I was looking for! Many thanks! Interestingly all RAF sabres flew with 100 gallon tanks . But don't panic, this isn't another type of tank not listed above by Sabrejet, but something to do with the fact that 120 US Gallons Converts to 99.9 Imperial gallons, and the RAF of course used Imperial capacities! So if you see a reference to 100 gallon tanks that's what its about. Selwyn Edited August 12, 2017 by Selwyn 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReccePhreak Posted August 12, 2017 Share Posted August 12, 2017 GREAT INFO!!! Just in time for me to return to my IF-86D project. Larry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Edmundson Posted August 13, 2017 Share Posted August 13, 2017 (edited) All good info, it should be pointed out that while most tanks were mounted at Sta99.5, most kits out there have the wing pylon mounts further outboard. Sta 99.5 translates to 53mm from centreline in 1/48 and 35mm in 1/72. The only kits I have that get it right are the two 1/72 kits of the F-86D Airfix and Hasegawa. I believe the Revellogram 1/48 F-86D get it correct as well. cheers, Tony Edited August 13, 2017 by Tony Edmundson 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Brown Posted August 13, 2017 Share Posted August 13, 2017 Once again, thank you for taking the time to post all of this excellent information! Those 200-gal tanks in your last photos are the same ones that were carried by the F-100 on the inboard pylons, correct? If so, they are included in the very old Hasegawa 1/72 F-100D kit, resin ones are available in 1/48 from Fox 3 Studios, and they are included in the old Hasegawa 1/32 F-86F kit, in case anyone wants to put a set on their Sabre. I'm not aware of any other 1/48 sources besides Fox 3. Ben (no affiliation with Fox 3 Studios) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Scholer Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Not strictly a modeller's issue, but some of you may find the picture of this 1938 Nimbus with an F-86 drop tank sidecar is worth a look. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1735497785824499194#editor/target=post;postID=5802803557990993986;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Priceless stuff SJ Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpoud117 Posted May 22, 2022 Share Posted May 22, 2022 Hello @Sabrejet Looks like the links to the pictures are dead. Would you be able to re-upload them? it would be highly appreciated! 🙂 I'm trying to figure out what are my options on a 1/72 Fujimi Hard wing F-86 and this post seems to be just what I need. Thanks in advance for your help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 22, 2022 Share Posted May 22, 2022 15 minutes ago, cpoud117 said: Hello @Sabrejet Looks like the links to the pictures are dead. Would you be able to re-upload them? it would be highly appreciated! 🙂 I'm trying to figure out what are my options on a 1/72 Fujimi Hard wing F-86 and this post seems to be just what I need. Thanks in advance for your help. Same for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Hemsley Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 No joy here, either. It all comes back as a 404 error. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredag Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 (edited) Not relevant to the topic in a modelling sense, but this is an interesting side effect of drop tanks being used as such. https://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/B24/Drop_Tanks.html Edited June 1, 2022 by Fredag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve in Ottawa Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 I was just doing a bit of Sabre research and found all this good info, minus all the imagery. Any chance this can be revitalized for viewing them? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 25, 2023 Author Share Posted March 25, 2023 4 hours ago, Steve in Ottawa said: I was just doing a bit of Sabre research and found all this good info, minus all the imagery. Any chance this can be revitalized for viewing them? I'll get on it, probably incrementally.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 26, 2023 Author Share Posted March 26, 2023 NEW AND WITH ADDED VITAMINS!!!!! Apologies to @cpoud117, @Wez @Scott Hemsley and @Steve in Ottawa: links re-established plus a lot of new stuff added. I promise not to delete these now! probably. 2 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Thanks Sabrejet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Looking at the photos of the fins on the tanks, I've realised the trailing edges are actually very thick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve in Ottawa Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 Thank you, SJ, this is great stuff! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 Thanks for updating, the F86 certainly had multiple personality’s with wings, pylons and tanks! Great reference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 Outstanding 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Updated and tidied up a bit. Hope it helps. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now