Self-sealing fuel tank

Military aircraft built by the Glenn L. Martin Company used this self-sealing fuel tank.

Damaged fuel tanks could also rupture, destroying the airframe or critically affecting flight characteristics.

[2] German aircraft designers used layers of rubber laid over leather hide with a treated fiber inner surface for the self-sealing tanks on the Junkers Ju 88 early in the war.

Goodyear chemist James Merrill filed a patent in 1941 (published in 1947) for refining and testing his method for manufacturing self-sealing tanks using a two-layer system of rubber compounds encased in a metal outer shell or the wing lining of the aircraft.

[5] In 1942, he received a War Production Board citation and the Goodyear tanks were subsequently placed in service in Goodyear-produced Vought F4U Corsair fighters, as well as other aircraft.

These tanks were flexible containers, made of a laminated self-sealing material like vulcanized rubber and with as few seams as possible to minimize leak paths.

Most jet fighters and all U.S. military rotary wing aircraft use some type of self-sealing tanks.

Zodiac) (formerly Firestone), Meggitt (formerly Goodyear), Robertson Fuel Systems, GKN USA, FPT Industries, and Safran Aerosystems.

[11] A notable example of a non-military vehicle that uses self-sealing fuel tanks is the U.S. presidential state car, having used them since John F. Kennedy's SS-100-X.