F6F

[ML52]

In the Hellcat should the wing tanks be used up before the aux or the other way around?

[Greebo]

In theory using the wing tanks first should slightly increase the roll rate, but as they are so close to the fuselage it doesn't make a great deal of difference really. On the early Corsairs the wing tanks are nearer the wing tips than the wing roots and so it is more important to use them up first.

[Puma44]

Also, burning out the externals and jettisoning them will reduce drag and improve performance.

[JOACH1M]

On the corsairs I always leave the wing tanks full as they always seem to never take damage like the main tank does.

[ML52]

On the corsairs I always leave the wing tanks full as they always seem to never take damage like the main tank does.

Doesn't that hurt the roll?

Thanks gentlemen for your answers.

[FLS]

Doesn't that hurt the roll?

Thanks gentlemen for your answers.

The fuel weight just adds inertia so it's a little slower to start and stop rolling. For a more precise answer try rolling one with and without fuel in the wing tanks.

[bozon]

In the hellcat the Aux tank is drained very fast. Most aux tanks in planes are placed in less than optimal locations when it comes to balance of the plane. The hellcat handles very bad for me when there is fuel in the Aux - but I just leave auto fuel selection and that means that when I have aux fuel the plane is just heavy with fuel. So, I can't tell if that is unbalancing effect of aux or just a heavy plane.

[Greebo]

The central tank had 60 US gallons and was sited below the pilot pretty much on the C of G. The wing tanks had 87.5 US gallons each and were also close to the C of G. Handling-wise it shouldn't really matter which you drain first unless you drain one wing tank only. I just use the game's automated tank switching but usually with 75% fuel and a drop tank.

[icepac]

For an equal fuel load, I would think you could pull harder before the wings snapped off if the majority of your fuel load was in them rather than the fuselage.

[colmbo]

For an equal fuel load, I would think you could pull harder before the wings snapped off if the majority of your fuel load was in them rather than the fuselage.

Which is one of the reasons that some aircraft have a restriction for a minimum amount of fuel in the wing.

[Greebo]

For an equal fuel load, I would think you could pull harder before the wings snapped off if the majority of your fuel load was in them rather than the fuselage.

As far as I can remember I have never pulled the wings off an F6F in God knows how many sorties and on a few of those I even forgot to lose the drop tank before pulling high Gs. Usually the first thing to let go is the horizontal tail, which was the same in RL.

[bozon]

As far as I can remember I have never pulled the wings off an F6F in God knows how many sorties and on a few of those I even forgot to lose the drop tank before pulling high Gs. Usually the first thing to let go is the horizontal tail, which was the same in RL.

Really? never? I snap my F6F wings all the time when pulling out of dives. 
I dont think that this is because they are weak as much as the high speeds the F6F can reach in a dive, while the elevator is still very responsive and the nose has a tendency to pull up.

[icepac]

Pulling out of  a high speed dive at 20k from 30k is different than pulling out at 8k.

The super high altitude dynamic is pretty different than what you find below 10k feet.

[Greebo]

Well that may be the reason as I rarely fly above 12K or so. Trying to get higher, faster cons to overshoot is my game.

[Devil 505]

When I was a noob and flying in mid-war, I took up a Hellcat to attack a base from a carrier. I snapped off both wings pulling out of the dive and then flew the closest airfield, over a sector away. Landed successfully too. Hell of an airplane.