I had a slightly different Drop Tank Effect.
Was in a KOTH a few weeks back....holding my own for a below average pilot. I won two duals and my next encounter was with a Squadie....we are fighting for a good 5 minutes...ok ...he is fighting...I am turning and looping to try to save my life! Every time he thinks he has a gun solution...I roll out of it.
We get up against the wall, ok...I lead him to the wall...I look at the ground as a wingman at times. If he hits it and I dont ... good for me ;-)
So we are looping around the corner of the shear cliff...then it dawns on me why this plane wont turn worth *****. I still have my drop tanks on...I look behind me....here comes my squadie about to dust my arnold.
He rolls over and starts to dive down on me....I ditch the drop tanks and roll hard to the right .... I hear boom ... then BOOM.
He saw the explosion and got fixated on its pretty colors....then he flew into the ground. We had a hell of laugh about it....".... Look pretty explosion.....BOOM."
Softail