Fuel fraction - the worst offender ?
Fuel contents, consumption, and endurance have always fascinated me for some reason, so perhaps I’m a failed navigator at heart, but when reading the pilot’s notes on any aircraft the fuel system always gets first look in. From the tank sequencing in a Venom FB4 to the quirky “never more than half full” fuel gauges in the MiG 15/17. But which of those early jets offered the smallest fuel fraction?
The Lightning always takes flak as being chronically short of fuel, but then I recall seeing that the early Hunter had something like 20 minutes of flying time on internals, the Harrier didn’t win many prizes of course, nor did the Starfighter, and the early F/A-18 was very unpopular for its short legs. There are of course many more.
So was there one type that you flew which always seemed to be on the verge of a fuel emergency, and were there any close scrapes you experienced ?