Self-sealing fuel tanks

[Leaf]

...are they modelled in-game? They were already in use by '41/'42, right?

[Finkeren]

I'm pretty sure that at that time, only the British had self sealing tanks as standard on both fighters and bombers. The Germans used a rather heavy (and somewhat ineffective) rubber and leather coating on their tanks, but AFAIK they were only used on bombers. The really effective american designs were only in development, when the Pacific War began IIRC, so they wouldn't have been standard issue on lend-lease fighters.

 

Propably the only aircraft with effective self sealing tanks on the Eastern front in 1942 would've been Hurricanes.

[Y-29.Silky]

I'm pretty sure that at that time, only the British had self sealing tanks as standard on both fighters and bombers. The Germans used a rather heavy (and somewhat ineffective) rubber and leather coating on their tanks, but AFAIK they were only used on bombers. The really effective american designs were only in development, when the Pacific War began IIRC, so they wouldn't have been standard issue on lend-lease fighters.

 

Propably the only aircraft with effective self sealing tanks on the Eastern front in 1942 would've been Hurricanes.

The British used the same rubber tactic as the Germans at that time.

[Finkeren]

The British used the same rubber tactic as the Germans at that time.

 

You're right, I just checked it. The 'bladder' type system only came in use on the Spit Mk. IX in 1943.  

 

So no effective self sealing method existed on Eastern Front in 1942, that could protect against anything other than rifle caliber hits.

[FuriousMeow]

Even with self sealing fuel tanks, they almost never fully sealed - if they did at all.

[LizLemon]

Uhhhh....

 

"The Lavochkin LaGG-1 of 1940 had 10 mm seat armour and self-sealing fuel tanks with such a fire surpressing system. It was also installed in other Soviet fighters. A disadvantage was that the exhaust gases tended to react with the self-sealing material, and it was preferable to use the system only in combat zones."

 

http://www.oocities.org/capecanaveral/hangar/8217/fgun/fgun-ar.html

[Yakdriver]

absolutely!

 

Another feature of the Soviet fighters was that instead of a headrest with armour plate they had a slab of armoured glass installed behind the pilot's head, to improve the view towards the rear.

 

same page.

my LaGG does not have that! game's Rigged!

I would prefer a Russian source instead of an american postwar source for this, when both sides just "started to fall in love" with each other.
and a set of Plans.
more details.

and then some tests to see if the Fuel Cell worked as intended or if it was a hit and miss kind of thing.
 

[LizLemon]

Yeah that is the result of a quick Google search. Better sources are probably out there but I'm not sure where to find reliable info on early Soviet aircraft.

 

Regardless of that the 109 and 190 should have self sealing fuel tanks. Wouldn't be surprised if the soviets had it too in that time frame.

[Yakdriver]

+sorry man, that's all speculation.
did the tanks work as intended? against what kind of damage? was it well known that a 37mm shell outdid the selfsealing capacities of the tank? was 20mm the absolute limit or could multiple hits from 20mm be sustained and the holes sealed? after what kind of fuel loss [how fast did the sealing kick in?]

before giving a Thumbs up or Thumbs down considering the original question

...are they modelled in-game? They were already in use by '41/'42, right?

 

, we need more answers.
all else is wasting time, isnt it.

and when we have the history part done, we must hand over the question to the Devs, right?
[i do not remember the subject being treated in a DD...]
 

[Finkeren]

Is it posible, that the link Liz provided has simply confused the LaGG fire supressing system with actual self sealing tanks?

 

I mean I'd love to have SS tanks on my LaGG-3, but if the design had that from the very start, then it would've been a pioneer in that field, and I really think there'd be some mention about it, if the Soviets had been front runners in the development of self sealing fuel tanks.

[Finkeren]

did the tanks work as intended? against what kind of damage? was it well known that a 37mm shell outdid the selfsealing capacities of the tank? was 20mm the absolute limit or could multiple hits from 20mm be sustained and the holes sealed? after what kind of fuel loss [how fast did the sealing kick in?]

 

That at least can be answered with a clear 'it depends on the design of the protection system'.

 

If we're talking about the early rubber-leather coated tanks, then I think there's pretty much agreement, that it only offered somewhat effective protection against rifle caliber rounds (which was still by far the most common armament i aircraft in the late thirties. I think prior to 1939 the only single seat fighter in widespread service armed with cannon was the latest Polikarpov I-16)

[LizLemon]

The free chapter from exploding fuel tanks says the following. Paraphrased because I can't copy and paste from the pdf.

 

- soviets were some of the first to add inert gasses to fuel tanks

- lagg-3 had tanks wrapped in canvas and soaked in phenol-formaldehyde resin as well as inert gases

- 1939 prototype yak fighter is equipped with vulcanized rubber lined fuel tanks

- late model lagg-3 adopt the vulcanized rubber tanks

 

There is probably more about Soviet self sealing tanks in later chapters but I don't feel like buying the book.

 

It'd be nice to get some statements from the devs on this. Self sealing tanks were present in at least some of the bos aircraft we have and maybe the lagg-3 too.