pchRage Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 I did this test for the F-18 maybe a month ago (and threw in a quick comparison to the F-16). You can find that thread here: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=279839 Decided to focus solely on F-16 this time to attempt to answer same basic question.. cost of stores drag, pylons, etc. I used the exact same PG mission as before, only difference is 2 DCS updates since I last did this test. This time around, I wanted to know about each of the stores vs pylon.. ie as you dropped your tank(s), fired your 120s, and pylon remaining, what effect did it have on max speed. To keep the autopilot happy, i fired 2 at a time (6->4->2->0). Note: JETT = Jettison F-16 A/A Load-outs (HUD indicated kts /mach) (V2) 652/1.17 remove center, tank 4/6 pylons, 6x120c 792/1.43 remove center, JETT tank 4/6 pylons, 6x120c 805/1.46 remove center, JETT tank 4/6 pylons, JETT 2 of 6x120c 817/1.48 remove center, JETT tank 4/6 pylons, JETT 4 of 6x120c 828/1.50 remove center, JETT tank 4/6 pylons, JETT 6 of 6x120c 780/1.41 center tank, remove 4/6 pylons, 6x120c 806/1.46 JETT center tank, remove 4/6 pylons, 6x120c 816/1.48 JETT center tank, remove 4/6 pylons, JETT 2 of 6x120c 828/1.50 JETT center tank, remove 4/6 pylons, JETT 4 of 6x120c 839/1.52 JETT center tank, remove 4/6 pylons, JETT 6 of 6x120c I still feel the single tank is the best option given we are usually fighting with 100 miles of AO. The drop tank pylons only have a minor impact on speed (806/1.46 vs 792/1.43) once Jett'd. but even 14kts helps! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dundun92 Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 My usual strategy is to set the external fuel feed to WING FIRST, and drop the wing tanks as I get closer to bandits so I can get my speed up, and keep the CL tank. Wing tanks on the viper are quite draggy, but does give it quite a bit of extra fuel and range for when you have decently long transit times. Eagle Enthusiast, Fresco Fan. Patiently waiting for the F-15E. Clicky F-15C when? HP Z400 Workstation Intel Xeon W3680 (i7-980X) OC'd to 4.0 GHz, EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SSC Gaming, 24 GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB Crucial MX500 SSD. Thrustmaster T16000M FCS HOTAS, DIY opentrack head-tracking. I upload DCS videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-7L3Z5nJ-QUX5M7Dh1pGg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBackJack Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Going to be interesting when they make the wing tank pylons jettison as part of the tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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