Forum: F-16 Procedures

Man just thinking about that makes me cringe! I'm honestly shocked that there isn't an easy to use button dedicated to getting rid of the tanks should they need to be gotten rid of.

Think of it tactically though. If im in an emergency i need to get rid of all my weight. If Im buying a merge or doing a last ditch against a SAM....i need to get rid of all my weight. Otherwise when would you just dop tanks? Theres really no reason where timing would not permit you to take the 6.9 seconds to sel jett them from the mfd.

<SNIP>
One country's F-16s also have a selective emergency jettison feature which, if I remember correctly, allows emergency jettison of just the external wing tanks.

Not even lose of engine? Might have to dump weight real quick, right?

Think of it tactically though. If im in an emergency i need to get rid of all my weight. If Im buying a merge or doing a last ditch against a SAM....i need to get rid of all my weight. Otherwise when would you just dop tanks? Theres really no reason where timing would not permit you to take the 6.9 seconds to sel jett them from the mfd.

Ah, the "Easy button".

Since both a Viper tanks only selective jettison and the F-4 were brought up here…

You know the Phantom had a “tanks only” jettison red cover guarded hard switch ("easy button") on the left side of the front cockpit that was kind of back out of normal view.

Guess what was right next to it, also out of normal view…

Another obscure, rarely used black cover guarded hard switch that allowed you to air refuel “internal only” if for some odd reason you didn’t need the externals refueled.

One dark and stormy night I lead a night intercept training 4-ship that had an unusually late air refueling time so we did the intercepts first (club would still be open that way). The refueling track was also very close to home. “Self,” I said to myself, “why not have the flight refuel ‘internal only’ using the other "easy button" since we don’t need a bunch of gas.”

So on the way to the tanker, I said to the flight…”Flight, let’s refuel internal only.”

The next thing I heard over the radio was the backseater in the number four aircraft saying:

“There they go.”

Ya gotta be careful what you wish for.

OL

(ego disclaimer: He was referring to number three’s tanks, not mine)

On a combat mission, wouldn't you want to "clean it up" by dropping the empty tanks before engaging in a potential dogfight, but might want to keep the A-G ordinance? And maybe do it in a hurry if pressing business occurs?

One problem with Emergency Jett is the speed limit, only 200 kt. Obviously Emer Jett is intended for use right after takeoff or just before landing. Why such a low limit? The cost of certifying thousands of store configurations for Emer Jett at higher speeds was prohibitive. 200 kt was felt to be low enough so that aerodynamic effects on jettisoned stores would not cause store collisions if they all went at once. At higher speeds, take my word for it, almost anything could happen with Emer Jett.

However, in a bad situation, I would not hesitate to use Emer Jett at higher speeds.

With Sel Jett you can punch off the tanks at any speed. Certifying that capability was a fun task, especially at supersonic speeds.

While we're talking Phantoms (Get ready, I'm a bit of a Phantom Phanatic...) :

How tall can you be and still manage to fit in the front seat? The last time I sat in an F-4 I was looking over the top of the windscreen while seated...