P51 belly tank racer kit EAB

GB SISSON said:
No affiliation/no knowledge... This came up on facebook marketplace when I was cruising ads. Everything mentioned in the ad comes with it in the asking price of 2900.00 . May be interesting to someone. ?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...y_reminder_xmat_cta&ref=messenger_thread_view
Click to expand...
471927675_1428710494756186_9027763383530860521_n.jpg
 
The first time I went to the salt flats, about 85 or so, I knew immediately, when I grow up I wanna be a big shot bonneville racer with a belly tank.

The next winter, I went to shop at all the aircraft junk yards in Tucson Az. Most had no idea what I wanted, WW2 stuff has been gone for decades there.

after a couple years of nothing for sale showing up, my sister had a wealthy boy friend in NYC, a car guy, knew what I wanted, and bought 2 tanks from the Canadian surplus.

One day, a new aluminum tank in its original wood crate arrived at my house. The second one went to NY, to be hung in his garage as "art"

They were brand new, beautiful tanks, but not quite right. After some investigating, I found the closest match, a 50's vintage Sikorsky helicopter.

They had the same seam down the middle, which you need to remove the top for service, but were a few inches narrower in the belly, and about 1 1/2 a foot shorter, and mainly, the tail did not have the same graceful swoop down to about 3". This tail slimmed down straight, ending at about 5"s. Very close, but not the real deal.

Next few years, I gathered up all needed to be a big shot tank racer, a halibrand rear end, a 37 tube axle, a brake assembly from a early ford van, they have the pedal mounted on the master cylinder, all the big shots used them in the 60's.

Then...life went on, and the project never got started. they both sold at my auction 2 years ago to a gentleman from Illinois I believe, he only drove up for those tanks, and bought nothing else!

Now the real p51 tanks were aluminum. Some steel ones were made, for I don't know,
Aluminum shortage? practice drops? Don't know. Then there are some that show up from time to time that are slightly smaller. Same shape, just smaller

The tank in this ad posted by GB, looks like one of the smaller units to me. Real ones are 14-15 feet, my tanks were 13. Also, its steel. A fine thing for someone, a little high price since its not really the real deal IMHO.
 
I know very little about the subject but tonight I started writing that it seemed odd it would be steel, but then I was getting in over my head again. About ten years ago I brought 5 aluminum belly tanks home form a local yard clean up. I still have 2 of them, the others I gave to friends. From Vietnam era. About 22' four fins on the back so they look like bombs. NAS Whidbey in stencils. I can see the base from my kitchen window.......Like Cas 'Skip' I have a far off plan. Mine is a catamaran with an 8ba amidships with an airplane pusher prop, and a solo B17 seat just ahead of it. And Mr Hoovie, thanks for once again stepping up to the plate.
 
Back in ‘52, my world changed. A new neighborhood, still in Oakland, no kids on my block now. What I did have was a large backyard, and found half buried under ivy behind the garage, one half of a belly tank. After extricating my prize, I spent many happy hours sitting in that tub pretending. One day it was an Indian canoe, another day it had wheels and a big hemi engine. I’d lay in it at night watching for shooting stars, and would have felt silly if anyone saw me climb in or out of my ½ belly tank. Nobody ever did, or maybe they did and snickered in private. It was still in the yard when I joined the Navy 7 years later, never to be seen again, nor that big-old house with the large yard and walnut trees, all leveled to make room for a large ugly apartment house on the site. I think of it sometimes, most often when I watch for shooting stars.
 
Thinking some more, I believe the tanks people want were off the twin boom P38 lightning. I'll try and find a pic.
 
Speaking of shooting stars, the tank in the photo looks like a tip tank from a P80. Many of the belly tanks used during WWII were a composite material or pressed steel so they could be cheaply manufactured. They were one time use items for the most part. I always wondered how many of them were laying around the European countryside after the war.

The P38 Lightning was the only tank large enough for a dry lakes speedster. They were pressed in two halves from deep draw automotive steel. They also had ribs spot welded inside. P38s were used in the ETO during the war but not as many as were used in the pacific campaigns. This is a good article.
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/lockheed-p-38-drop-tanks.47517/

The P80 was around immediately after the war and clear up into the Korean war but their tanks were a bit different since they hung from the bottom of the wing tips. They look a lot like the P38 tanks but there were different sizes too. The later jets also used belly tanks.
 
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There are so many reasons to stare intently into every detail of both of those photos. Just think of what it must have been like to return to the states after flying in/working on/just being around a machine such as a P38 and then go to work in a factory or office. They just had to build hot rods. Some of em skipped the jobs and just rode with the hells angels. 2 excellent photos!
 
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