Jus5 bemused about the climbing over CBs bit.
IIRC when the tankers all went off to war they looked at the best fit for the F3s to reach Cyprus unsupported. On paper the best fit was the 4 tank ferry fit and filling up from one of the few tankers left near the Channel before heading south. The only problem was they wouldn’t be able to clear the Alps without using burner.
The next best fit was with 3 tanks, 2 big and 1 small - but no one had ever done the clearance trials....
Getting airborne with full tanks was of negatory value, the take-off and climb burned all the xtra fuel, if not more, and you still had the drag. The optimum was to get airborne with empty tanks and RV with the tanker at cruise altitude before proceeding to CAP/en-route which could double the time on task.
The plan, in war of course, was to fly on external fuel, topping up the tanks as required. The tanks would then be dropped when committing to combat, entering the fight with full internal fuel. If you are carrying the extra fuel internally or in conformal tanks then you carry the weight of the additional fuel and tanks into the fight with you*....
*Clever Jets have a fuel dump where you can select to dump down to a selected weight where it stops. Unlike a certain jet where you had to remember to switch it off before the fuel emergency caption lit up.....
Last edited by ORAC; 7th Mar 2018 at 17:06.
Reason: Sp