Could use some help with this one gents. This drop tank has been sitting on my grandfather's farm for a very, very long time. This is all the back story I have and could use a little help in figuring out what type f plane it fell off of.
The back story; When I was a young, my grandfather told me that a pilot had to make an emergency landing at the Southbridge Municipal Airport, located in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Prior coming in for a landing, the pilot jettisoned this external fuel tank. It landed in my grandfather's field. It has been mostly forgotten over the years. Trying to remember back then, I believe my grandfather said the tank was from a WWII plane.
The only information I've been able to dig up was the Southbridge Airport was used in WWII as an emergency landing strip only and was not used by the USAAF. In 1942, the only reported crash of a military craft was a P47C, but that was in the Town of Sturbridge. That wreckage was located and this tank does not appear to have come from a Jug. I also don't know of any civilian aircraft that used external drop tanks at that time.
Now that I'm much, much older, and my grandfather is sadly no longer living, this topic came up when I was talking with my father (who know owns the property now). Some scrapper asked if he could have it. I told my father not to give it away till I did some research. Besides the value of the aluminum, I wanted to know if there was a back story to this. I've talked with local historians about the airport and have come up empty.
The dimensions of the tank are;
LENGTH: 11 Feet
WIDTH: 2 Feet
HEIGHT: 2 Feet
As you can see, there is still some of the original paint, but there are no panel serial numbers. The only visible markings appear to be a small stencil that I tried to photograph. It appears that they are instructions on how to attach the tank. Any help will be greatly appreciated. There is a serial number, but it appears to be for the clamps used to attach the tank.
Looks like these were where the tank was attached.
Forward view.
Rear view
Bottom of the tank. Release valves?