Wouldn't it be cool if.....

[frank3]

You can find quite a few WW2 guncam clips where you can see German fighters with their drop tanks still on.
O guess it was quite possible that badly trained rookie pilots in late 44 simply forgot to drop them in the heat of the battle.

They might have been surprised by the enemy aswell, in any case it would be bad to still have it with you at the moment

[Denholm]

iunno bout the exploding part. it would take ONE round to make a tank explode...

A tank as in a fuel-tank? Not unless you're using incendiary rounds, and a lot of them. May I remind you, copper and lead don't spark.

[frank3]

Not unless you're using incendiary rounds, and a lot of them. May I remind you, copper and lead don't spark.

But perhaps the heat from the round itself might trigger any gasses to ignite?
Although I'm not sure if the bullet is still that hot at altitude and from a distance...

[dunnrite]

They did a deal on MythBusters a while back with a 007 theme.  They were trying to make a propane tank explode by shooting it.  They tried plain shells, hollow point, full metal jacket, and incendiary rounds.  Nothing would make the tank explode.  They came up with the idea that the shell passed through the tank so quickly, that the gasses inside didn't have time to ignite, even with the incendiary rounds.  But, not to be outdone, they did use a rpg (i believe) and that made a nice boom.

[LLogann]

It was the incendiary rounds actually that caused the "car gas tank" to catch fire.  AT that point it looked like swiss cheese, so there was no explosion.  It also needed 3 rounds.  That episode was on last night.  Oh and MythBuster's would not use an RPG....  As a grenade has nothing to do with the myth they were busting.

They did a deal on MythBusters a while back with a 007 theme.  They were trying to make a propane tank explode by shooting it.  They tried plain shells, hollow point, full metal jacket, and incendiary rounds.  Nothing would make the tank explode.  They came up with the idea that the shell passed through the tank so quickly, that the gasses inside didn't have time to ignite, even with the incendiary rounds.  But, not to be outdone, they did use a rpg (i believe) and that made a nice boom.

[dunnrite]

It was the incendiary rounds actually that caused the "car gas tank" to catch fire.  AT that point it looked like swiss cheese, so there was no explosion.  It also needed 3 rounds.  That episode was on last night.  Oh and MythBuster's would not use an RPG....  As a grenade has nothing to do with the myth they were busting.

Actually, they would just to make a boom at the end of the show.  You are thinking of a different episode. 

Edit. It was explosives. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4n--xOOoWE

[LLogann]

AH HA!!!  Not the same episode.  I'll go find it.  They used a small car's gas tank in the other one. 

Actually, they would just to make a boom at the end of the show.  You are thinking of a different episode. 

Edit. It was explosives. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4n--xOOoWE

[frank3]

Then again, cars use different fuel. The WWII birds would´ve used fuel with much more octane. Not sure if this causes it to be more flammable though.