Cheers. I don't want to sound like a spotter, but if the tanks disrupted and slowed down (?) airflow over the wing topside, would that increase lift, getting you to altitude more efficiently? Why were they used if they chopped top speed (useful for an interceptor) - were they used if CAP was necessary if tension was heightened/loitering required? Was the Lightning ever used to loiter - what was the longest sortie and was it any good at it (it must have required frequent topping up?) or would the Phantom have been used for that instead?
(geek, I know)