These pods carry more than fuel......

[dy031101]

I have always thought of the idea to integrate targetting sensors and/or other items into non-jettisonable fuel tanks is a pretty clever upgrade for combat aircraft of third generation or older, which don't tend to have a lot of hardpoints to spare.

Sargent Fletcher LITE pod as well as Mirage/Kfir/Cheetah fuel tanks featuring hardpoints or rocket launchers are amongst the most notable items in my mind.

I'd assume that it sounds easy to model these items in plastics- in the case of Sargent Fletcher LITE, take a Litening pod and a fuel tank, cut out the appropriate parts, and glue them together?

Oh speaking of pods, I can't get the big wingtip weapons/fuel pods of the F-89H off my mind but don't find F-89 that asthetic-pleasing, either...... I want to match the pods with another aircraft type's fuselage to for an asthetically-pleasing package...... would anyone make a suggestion?  Thanks in advance.

[GTX]

There is also this proposal for the Super Hornet:



Regards,

Greg

[Weaver]

Oh speaking of pods, I can't get the big wingtip weapons/fuel pods of the F-89H off my mind but don't find F-89 that asthetic-pleasing, either...... I want to match the pods with another aircraft type's fuselage to for an asthetically-pleasing package...... would anyone make a suggestion?  Thanks in advance.

Starfighter? Always short of pylon space. Might need to make the wing look a bit stronger though: how about cutting it span-wise and inserting a section to increase the chord? Shouldn't be too hard....

[dy031101]

Starfighter? Always short of pylon space.

I tried.

Might need to make the wing look a bit stronger though: how about cutting it span-wise and inserting a section to increase the chord? Shouldn't be too hard....

Might need to scale-up the entire Starfighter part of the combo, too......  

elmayerle mentioned that the F-104 was actually scaled-down from an older design...... couldn't seem to locate that one in the ASP book that I bought though...... 

[deathjester]

I think the F104 took a lot of features from the Douglas X3 Stilleto - same wings/ tailplane arrangement.
  As to the pods, why not put them on a B-58 Hustler to create a super interceptor!!?

[elmayerle]

Might need to scale-up the entire Starfighter part of the combo, too......  

elmayerle mentioned that the F-104 was actually scaled-down from an older design...... couldn't seem to locate that one in the ASP book that I bought though...... 

Unfortunately, Tony didn't have room for everything and this was one of them.  Those pods would be interesting on the wingtips of several Lockheed design studies, though I'm not sure how well those comparatively blunt pods would work with the more highly supersonic designs.

[PR19_Kit]

The big F-89H pods, with the retractable Falcons, would look pretty good on the tips of a CF-100 Canuck I reckon. The CF-100's wingtip pods always looked a tad undersize to me, as if they'd got the scale wrong on the plans.

Of course any pods would look good on a Canberra............

[dy031101]

What if...... we take the F-15B/D and give it a wing platform similar to the Ye-155R prototype (the one with wingtip fuel tanks) and put a streamlined version of the pod on each wingtip?  

Or the North American WS.300A......

[dy031101]

As a variant to the LITE sensor/fuel combo tank, perhaps replacing the Litening sensors with RecceLite systems would be useful, too?

And the movie Hot Shots! always got me thinking...... I remember that there is a scene where the good guys' jets (forgot the name) attempted to fight enemy aircraft with the under-wing weapons pods...... I don't remember if the weapons fired are unguided rockets or guided missiles, but even if those are just rockets, what say we take it one step further and modify the noses of those auxilliary tanks with Stinger AAM tubes?

[jcf]

A combined rocket-pod/fuel tank was proposed and mocked-up by EE for the Lightning.

Jon

[GTX]

Another view of the Super Hornet combined Tank/IRST proposal:



Regards,

Greg

[Mossie]

A combined rocket-pod/fuel tank was proposed and mocked-up by EE for the Lightning.

Jon

That's the Matra JL-100.  It went into production & was carried by Saudi & Kuwaiti Lighnings as well as the Mirage III & 5.  There was the CEM-1 as well, a palette was placed in the fuel tank that contained practice bomblets.

More in this thread:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,24530.0/highlight,matra.html

[rickshaw]

Wouldn't it be terribly expensive to drop such a combined tank/weapon system?  Considering the drag penalties for such a method of carrying a weapon/fuel tank, don't you end up with an expensive way of slowing your aircraft?

[dy031101]

Wouldn't it be terribly expensive to drop such a combined tank/weapon system?

IIRC, such combo systems are often carried under hardpoints where stores are actually non-jettisonable.

[Mossie]

Many rocket pod designs were considered disposeable, or at least to have a short lifespan.  I would imagine it would be jettisoned only if required by a mission emergency?  IIRC that's how many rocket pods are used, you keep hold of them to base, but if there's a SAM up your arse, you get rid quickly.  The JL-100's design has never been repeated to my knowledge, so this may have been seen to be a problem?

I personally worry more about mixing 18 high explosive rockets with 250 litres of fuel!  Although I guess if one or more fizzes of accidently, the hole in your wing is going to put a dampner your day anyway...