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You also expel all that burnt fuel reducing weight was you fly. Some aircraft even redistribute fuel between tanks to control stability and performance. [0] [0

by knolan 9y ago

You also expel all that burnt fuel reducing weight was you fly. Some aircraft even redistribute fuel between tanks to control stability and performance. [0] [0] https://www.amevoice.com/blog/1058/airbus-a340-fuel-system-distribution-briefing/ https://www.amevoice.com/blog/1058/airbus-a340-fuel-system-d...

skookumchuck 9y ago
> Some aircraft even redistribute fuel between tanks to control stability and performance. Aircraft have been doing that forever. Carefully managing the fuel flow from which tank has always been a task for the pilot.
skookumchuck 9y ago
A large gas tank was added behind the pilot's seat in the P-51 to extend its range. But it unbalanced the airplane, and made it difficult to fly. Pilots always drained it first. The Luftwaffe never figured out that they could have trashed the P-51s if they caught them early enough. These days, that tank has been replaced by a passenger seat so you can get a joyride on a P51.
- Merad 9y ago
  Actually the aux tank wasn't added to the Mustang purely for range. A big factor was helping to balance out the heavier Merlin engine. Pilots would typically leave about 1/3 of the tank to keep ideal balance and have an emergency fuel reserve. Typically by the time they had taken off and made the climb to altitude they had burned enough fuel from the aux tank (about half) to be in reasonable "fighting trim". Would've been pretty audacious for the Luftwaffe to try intercepting them that early in the mission, well within the range of every other USAAF and RAF fighter.
  - skookumchuck 9y ago
    Interesting. I was told this by a former P51 pilot. He also said sometimes lone Ju-88s would sneak in at low altitude and pick off B-17s taking off or landing when they thought they were safe.
    - Merad 9y ago
      I’m sure the Ju-88 thing probably happened. IIRC there were at least a couple instances of caputured B-17s trying to slip into formations and shoot at damaged bombers, and there were definitely a few cases of captured allied fighters being used on bombers.

by knolan 9y ago

skookumchuck 9y ago

> Some aircraft even redistribute fuel between tanks to control stability and performance. Aircraft have been doing that forever. Carefully managing the fuel flow from which tank has always been a task for the pilot.

skookumchuck 9y ago

A large gas tank was added behind the pilot's seat in the P-51 to extend its range. But it unbalanced the airplane, and made it difficult to fly. Pilots always drained it first. The Luftwaffe never figured out that they could have trashed the P-51s if they caught them early enough. These days, that tank has been replaced by a passenger seat so you can get a joyride on a P51.

Merad 9y ago
Actually the aux tank wasn't added to the Mustang purely for range. A big factor was helping to balance out the heavier Merlin engine. Pilots would typically leave about 1/3 of the tank to keep ideal balance and have an emergency fuel reserve. Typically by the time they had taken off and made the climb to altitude they had burned enough fuel from the aux tank (about half) to be in reasonable "fighting trim". Would've been pretty audacious for the Luftwaffe to try intercepting them that early in the mission, well within the range of every other USAAF and RAF fighter.
- skookumchuck 9y ago
  Interesting. I was told this by a former P51 pilot. He also said sometimes lone Ju-88s would sneak in at low altitude and pick off B-17s taking off or landing when they thought they were safe.
  - Merad 9y ago
    I’m sure the Ju-88 thing probably happened. IIRC there were at least a couple instances of caputured B-17s trying to slip into formations and shoot at damaged bombers, and there were definitely a few cases of captured allied fighters being used on bombers.