Fuel Tank Fires?

[Squire]

Be that as it may, self sealing tanks were designed to not light up and burn like a torch, in other words, all WW2 ac tanks did not catch fire like a G4M2 Betty and become a roman candle, and a huge flame plume would not continue if the tank was empty. This only makes sense. You dont have a fire with no more fuel.

They didnt make self sealing tanks because it sounded cool, there was a reason for it.

[Midnight]

Fuel and Air mixtures have an LEL (lower explosion limit) and UEL (upper explosion limit) - If the mix of fuel vapor and oxygen in the air are within the correct percentages, then even a small spark can cause an explosion.

Without looking up exact figures, fuel will burn over quite a wide range of mixtures. A full tank has a low percentage of O2, so a fire is more probable, a near empty tank has a higher percentage of O2, so an explosion is more probable.

One must also take into consideration the altitude. The higher up, the less O2, so the fuel / air mix will be different in a fuel tank at sea level verses at 20,000 feet.

Anyway - AFAIK, AH already simulates the "self sealing" tanks that some planes have. It's just that once you finally see a fuel leak or fire, there has been enough damage to prevent the self-sealing tank from sealing up again. - In other words, if a zero takes a single .50 in the wing tank, it should be leaking. A P-51D, getting a single .50 in the wing tank will be self-sealed and have no problem.