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F-86 Sabre Drop Tanks: Type Review


Sabrejet

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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.
 

001

 

Canted modification:

 

003

 

002

 

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:

 

001a tank

 

001b tank

 

And the definitive version:

 

001c tank (1)

 

001c tank (2)

 

001c tank (3)

 

001c tank (4)

 

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:

 

002d

 

002c

 

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:

 

002a

 

002b

 

More common was the version with no inboard sway brace, as seen on this Sabre 5:

 

002h

 

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):

 

002g

 

005i

 

Final version of the 120-gallon tank introduced what NAA referred to as "Stuka Fins" to the outer edge of each anhedral fin:

 

002e

 

002i

 

These tanks were made by a number of subcontract companies but all were visually the same. Below an example of a maker's plate:

 

002f

 

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.

 

003a

 

003b

 

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:

 

003c

 

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:

 

004c

 

004a

 

004b

 

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:

 

005h

 

005a

 

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.

 

 

Image1

 

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.

 

006 (3)

 

006 (1)

 

Hope these help! 

Edited by Sabrejet
2023 update finished!
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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 by Selwyn
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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 by Tony Edmundson
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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)

 

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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 years later...

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.

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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

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  • 9 months later...
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.... :)

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