JTO,
Very happy to be corrected on the F3 tanks. Very interesting how the aircraft could achieve a HIGHER cruise ceiling with all that additional frontal area and weight - there must have been some significant interactions between the tanks and the airframe.
By the way, the worst drop tanks ever (to my knowledge) were the original 'pinion' wing tanks on the Buccaneer, which (I was told) actually decreased the range. The fix was to add an angled fairing between the top of the tank and the wing leading edge.
Best regards as ever to all those who take the time to read my efforts here on PPrune...
Engines