What was the first "Wet Wing" aircraft?

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Over on Britmodeller, someone started a thread curious about the first aircraft with true "wet wings", rather than just fuel tanks in the wings. Suggestions include one of the PR Spitfires, the DC-6 and Constellation, but a quick net search hasn't brought up any proof.

Also what was the first aircraft to have tanks in the wings? I would have thought something along the dH biplanes in the 1920's, with the centre upper wing section as a tank, but I'm not sure when wings got thick enough to make their volumn useable to fit tanks inside.

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18 years 3 months

Posts: 1,216

Hi Vultee

Does your username indicate some knowledge of that companies aviation products, because you probably already know that the Vultee BT-13/BT-15 has a wet wing, the function and issues of which are described in this Youtube clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRFcIzcQsUs
I have a nagging thought that something in the late 1920's had a wet wing, possibly a racer, cannot think what though.

Richard

Hi Vultee

Does your username indicate some knowledge of that companies aviation products............

Richard

My username came from an interest in the Vultee Vengeance following building a 1/6 scale R/C version seen below. Other than from Peter C. Smith's Vengeance book, I have little knowledge of the Vultee company.

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Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 1,707

Not the first example but I think the original Liberators ( a Vultee related product?) such as the LB-30s used by the RAF and BOAC had integral tankage /'wet wings' but later Liberators got rubberized self-sealing tanks

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19 years 1 month

Posts: 6,043

Not sure about the 'first' to have integral tanks but the PR Mk IV was the first Spitfire to have the 'Bowser' Wing which was integral tankage in the Leading Edge of the wing structure,the production PR IV carried 66 Gallons in each wing tank - giving this a/c an impressive range.

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16 years 2 months

Posts: 823

That sounds about right. Their patent applications for integral leading edge tanks were submitted in 1936 and 1937.

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15 years 2 months

Posts: 674

Have read about the Hudson having 'wet wings'. They were prone to catching fire if there was a undercarriage collapse or any sort of crash landing. I don't know if the earlier Lockheed twins had them?

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11 years 11 months

Posts: 641

The first wet wing aircraft? Langley's Aerodrome when it hit the Potomac. (sorry, I couldn't resist that)