Eli5-What happens with drop tanks,debris and spent ammo casings in an aerial battle?

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Example:1944:20 000feet over Germany,a few hundred B17 s and escort fighters are attacked by say 50 Luftwaffe aircraft. Drop tanks are dropped,most aircraft miss their shots,expended ammo casings is raining down,aircraft are shot up etc. What happens?

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

They crash into the ground.
Usually for a warzone it’s one of the least dangerous things to fall out of the air that day.
IE it’s not literally a bomb or flaming burning plane wreckage.
Typically in peace time they don’t allow planes to drop their drop tanks. And they only shoot the guns in places designated to practice shooting.

There are claims that in [Vietnam they turned some drop tanks into canoes](https://www.flyingmag.com/pilots-places/pilots-adventures-more/unusual-river-boats-plying-vietnamese-waters/)
This is probably not the case, as the drop tank would likely be smashed from the long fall, probably they took some drop tanks from an abandoned storage place.

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