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USN Super Hornets and External Tanks.

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
I’m curious what effects those CFTs will have on perf.
Compared to double bubble? Definitely better from a drag count point of view. They carry slightly less fuel than a normal drop tank. I'm no aero engineer, but from a flying qualities POV, they're going to be better than double bubble.
 

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
“The tanks are coming off...”

“Without the CL tank... the fuel numbers are the same”

“You’ll find out you can stay on station and bingo out with everyone else”...22294222962229722298
 

Python

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
In an E, if you don’t have a centerline, you’ll fire up the APU with a 14.2ish. With a centerline, 17.8ish. I’m pretty skeptical of reading that but perhaps I don’t have the full story.

I also don’t think a viper pilot heading into a slick rhino cockpit would think it was a “beast.” All relative I suppose, but for us it is a definite boost in performance.
 

A Day In The Life

Well-Known Member
pilot
We're just gonna end up flying around with a centerline + conformals, I can see it now. Let's start up 1+45 cycles in anticipation.

With IRST21 in the pipeline, I wouldn’t be surprised.

“The tanks are coming off...”

“Without the CL tank... the fuel numbers are the same”

“You’ll find out you can stay on station and bingo out with everyone else”...

I’m not sure where/how they ran their numbers but it’s not correct.
 

Farva01

BKR
pilot
An external tank buys you about 800-1000lbs over not having a tank for most flight profiles. VFA-136 did what a lot of squadrons do when they get back from deployment which is to completely slick off the entire jet (centerline and pylons). Its fun and a nice break from what you have to do flying around the boat.
A completely slick jet versus a single centerline with six pylons could have the same endurance depending on how you fly it. Slick jet gets up at altitude quicker where you can make some money on gas and flying at tactical speeds. A slick jet is fun to fly, but no pylons defeats the purpose of the aircraft, which is to carry ordnance. So its fine in theory, but not practicality.
 

wlawr005

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Was going to write the same thing as above. It's not the tanks that make the difference, it's the pylons....and the stuff you hang off of them. Maintenance phase crushing BFM....slick 'em off. Flying anything but that and you're gonna need the pylons ipso facto you're gonna need the tanks.
 
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