Inspired by this post, we realized there isn't much out there about the IJAAF & IJNAF drop tanks. So with the help of our good friend Devlin Chouinard we decided to begin this series gathering whatever material is available. We start with the Navy fighters.
The very first Navy fighter to be equipped with drop tanks was the Type 95 Carrier Fighter or Nakajima A4N. The drop tanks, of unknown capacity and material, but probably metal, could be emptied before an emergency alighting and then they could work as floats to keep the aircraft above water. Outboard of them, two 30kg or 60kg bombs could also be installed together with the tanks.
I could find nothing else about them. Feel free to chip in if you have something.
Here are some photos.
In the last photo above, the starboard bomb rack is also visible.
And artwork by Devlin Chouinard.
2 comments:
This should be most interesting. Thanks for starting.
I'll be looking forward to future articles on this topic. Thanks!
Best wishes,
Brendan
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