spa10000

Hello all. I got some pictures of an unknown tanker in use with Italian Air Force in the early Fifties for fuel servicing to the Republic F-84G fighter-bombers. It should most probably be related to USAF than USAAF, albeit I'm not sure. It was for sure no local production since the overall styling is completely different and we used no semitrailers at that age (see the second picture for an example). The tractor is an Autocar U-7144-T but 'till now I have found no clues about the semitrailer's manufacturer and precise model. The pictures date back to 1955 and the trailers seem already worn and weathered, but the 1953 edition of TM 9-2800-1 contains nothing resembling this shape. I'd exclude the F-2A model, due to the shape of the tail behind the single axle. Any hint? T.I.A. Luca

I'm 45 y.o. from Milan, Italy. I like softskin WW2 and NATO army vehicles, and airfield ground equipment. Due to a low budget, until now I have reflected this interest just into growing my knowledge and building scale models. Luca.