Originally Posted by
albatross
For civil use could they not just render the tanks non-jettisonable in the air? They would however be easily installed / removed on the ground to meet mission requirements.
Joke : Once empty they would become an aid to floatation when you run out of fuel. Joke over
Observation….no one seems upset when we fly around unpopulated areas with large jettisonable sling-loads of fuel or dynamite. Perhaps they could be made manually jettisonable only ….precluding those pesky “electrical problems” that are blamed for so many load losses. “I swear my finger was nowhere near the button!” …..”Oh yeah? Why was your last transmission “Base..OOPS! Darn!”
Thing is, I think you'd want to retain the ability to jettison any external fuel tanks (or any external stores) quickly, just in case you need to improve OEI performance in a hurry. Just as you would with a sling-load.