Fuel selector question - why are the drop tanks on opposite sides from the main tanks?

[sjebens]

I know there is probably a simple explanation but I can't find one.

The left main tank selection is on the left side, and the right main tank is on the right side.

Why are the drop tanks reversed?

The left-hand drop tank is on the right side, and the right-hand drop tank is on the left side.

Edited February 12 by sjebens
Updated for clarity

[SMH]

Never even noticed that before! Didn't affect anything, I just always switch them every 10 minutes until they're depleted. Good to know though, thanks!

(Doesn't answer your question directly but some good drawings and photographs of the components can be found here: https://www.aircorpsaviation.com/repair-station-p-51-parker-fuel-selectors/ )

Edited February 12 by SMH

[Zabuzard]

Just a guess, but after you are done with a tank on the right side, you usually want to use a tank on the left next to ensure you are not creating a massive imbalance.

So perhaps that was their thought when placing the left-side options next to the right-side options and vice versa.

Edited February 13 by Zabuzard

[SMH]

5 hours ago, Zabuzard said:

Just a guess, but after you are done with a tank on the right side, you usually want to use a tank on the left next to ensure you are not creating a massive imbalance.

So perhaps that was their thought when placing the left-side options next to the right-side options and vice versa.

 

They'd still be right next to each other even if swapped to put L on the left and R on the right.

For some reason there's 90 degree angle attachments on each input to the valve, which makes the fuel lines running to them have to loop halfway around in some cases. It's probably just about making space for the fuel line runs.

(Another thing I didn't realize was there's also an electrical switch in that valve that turns off the fuel booster pumps for tanks not currently selected. I thought there was just one pump but no, there's one for each internal tank.)