Question concerning fuel on operations

[Graham Boak]

With bombers, there was always a trade-off between payload and range, as few could carry the combination of maximum fuel and maximum weapons. So the amount of fuel carried would depend upon the target, and hence the weapon load.

I would expect fighters and fighter-bombers to be full at (almost) all times, because of the need for combat and/or loiter. An overload case for a fighter-bomber might be different - I don't know for sure that a Typhoon could take-off with its full fuel load when loaded with two 1000lb bombs, for example. One other possibility might be for the use of the 8th AF long range fighters over Normandy: the P-51 was required to empty its fuselage tank before taking part in manoeuvres, so for these (comparatively) short range operations they may not have used this tank.

[yogybär]

Guys, thanks for your input.

Originally Posted by Graham Boak

[...]the P-51 was required to empty its fuselage tank before taking part in manoeuvres, so for these (comparatively) short range operations they may not have used this tank.

Was it at all possible to empty this tank in flight? How big is its percentage of the overall fuel capacity of a P-51D?

Still more detailed example:
Afaik, a Ju87D had a max. range of 800km. On the Eastern Front, they often "only" flew 50km to the target and then back. So, for performance, economics etc. it woul dmake sense to only take off at 50% fuel or so even if 100% would have been no problem technically. Was this "semi-fuelling" done for tactical reaons?