if someone can show where combat pilots made a habit of taking off with less than a full load of fuel, into combat situations at times other than when refueling wasn't possible due to emergency scramble or lack of fuel...then sure, good idea.
Good reply! As a point of information, The standard pratice for fuel loads when like this: flight time to destination, flight time to alternate, plus :45 min reserve. As far as fighter aircraft, very seldom was aircraft loaded to 100%, unless it was a "ferry" flight somewhere. The fighter pilot, in addition to keeping the bird right side up, was the navigator, engineer, gunner, communicator and eyes in the sky. Sure, the guys in 51D's and 47's had 100% fuel, plus 2, 75 gallon drops when escorting allied aircraft deep into Germany. They had to consider the round trip flight time, "Z" pattern flying staying with the bombers, engageing German fighters, not to mention the terriable weather sometimes back in England. The same was true for the guys in the South Pacific, because again, the distances involoved in mission planning and etc. Can't speak for the Navy guys, maybe someone can, but it made no sense to have a 100% fuel load, if they were "combat air patrol" over fleet or land base. The reason for this is simple, all aircraft, as it burns fuel, the C.G. moves to the rear and the aircraft is more manuvable with a rear C.G. than a forward C.G. That is why most people in AH carry 25 or 50%, plus drops when flying on fighter sweeps or just plain ole "furballing".
As far as the post I made, I was just pointing out what the GV guys can do, which still makes no sense about the carton of vehicle supplies!
