Combat rapid assembly fuel tank

An expendable fuel tank for mounting to the pylon of an aircraft comprising, a housing having separate longitudinal sections, each of said sections having forward and aft ends, generally convex outer surfaces and generally concave inner surfaces and opposite edges, a generally flexible fuel retaining bladder cooperatively received between said sections of said housing, said bladder having upper and lower portions and being substantially impervious to fluid but having an opening through an upper portion thereof, strongback means, first connector means extending through said housing for connecting said housing to said strongback means, a first opening in said housing which is in alignment with said opening in said bladder, fuel dispensing means disposed within said bladder and mounted within said opening therein, second connector means for joining said opposite edges of said sections of said housing in substantially abutting relationship with respect to one another, a plurality of baffle members positioned between said housing sections and having opposite end portions for engaging said generally concave inner surfaces of said sections, means for supporting said baffle members relative to said sections of said housing, said opposite edges of said section of said housing include a plurality of spaced hinge joint means, each of said hinge joint means defining an opening therethrough, said second connector means for joining said opposite edges of said sections including at least one elongated rod means extending through aligned openings in said hinge joint means, said opposite edges of said sections also including inner and outer elongated flanges separated by an elongated groove, said hinge joint means being integrally formed with said inner flange so as to extend outwardly with respect to said groove and said outer flange so that said elongated rod means extends through said openings in said hinge joint means and below said outer flange, and fairing strip means receivable within said elongated groove so as to overly said hinge joint means and said connecting rod means when said sections are connected with respect to one another.

An expendable fuel tank for mounting to the pylon of an aircraft comprising, a housing having separate longitudinal sections, each of said sections having forward and aft ends, generally convex outer surfaces and generally concave inner surfaces and opposite edges, a generally flexible fuel retaining bladder cooperatively received between said sections of said housing, said bladder having upper and lower portions and being substantially impervious to fluid but having an opening through an upper portion thereof, strongback means, first connector means extending through said housing for connecting said housing to said strongback means, a first opening in said housing which is in alignment with said opening in said bladder, fuel dispensing means disposed within said bladder and mounted within said opening therein, second connector means for joining said opposite edges of said sections of said housing in substantially abutting relationship with respect to one another, a plurality of baffle members positioned between said housing sections and having opposite end portions for engaging said generally concave inner surfaces of said sections, means for supporting said baffle members relative to said sections of said housing said strongback means having upper and lower surfaces, a plurality of mounting means disposed along said upper surface thereof, said mounting means being adaptable to connect said strongback means to the aircraft, and ejection means carried by said strongback means for jetisoning said housing and said bladder from said strongback means, a brace plate means disposed between said bladder and said sections of said housing, an opening in said brace plate means which is in alignment with said first opening in said housing and said opening in said bladder, and a plurality of openings in said brace plate means through which said first connector means for connecting said housing to said strongback means extend.

An expendable fuel tank for mounting to the pylon of an aircraft comprising a housing having at least four longitudinally extending sections, each of said sections having forward and aft ends, each of said sections being generally similarly shaped so as to be nestable one within the other and having generally convex outer surfaces and generally concave inner surfaces and opposite edges, each of said edges of said sections including hinge joint means, elongated rod means for selectively joining the opposing hinge joint means carried by the opposing edges of adjacent housing sections so that said sections are connected continuously along said edges, a flexible fuel retaining bladder cooperatively received between said sections of said housing, said bladder having upper and lower portions and being substantially impervious to fluid but having an opening through a portion thereof, a fuel dispensing means disposed through the opening in said bladder and being secured in fluid tight relationship therewith, a brace plate means mounted within said housing, said brace plate means having a plurality of first openings therein, a plurality of second openings disposed through two of said housing sections, said second openings being in general alignment with said first openings in said brace plate means, a strongback means, pin means extending through said first openings in said brace plate means and said second openings in said two housing sections and receivable within said strongback means, said strongback means having means for selectively securing said pin means within said strongback means and having ejection means for releasing said pin means therefrom so as to allow the ejection of said housing from said strongback means.