ORIGINAL: crsutton
The thing is, I doubt that the aircraft was used too often for a 3,000 mile recon flight. Probably most flights were of much shorter duration. Would they just not reduce the fuel load accordingly for such a recon trip making the plane much easier to get up off a carrier? I am just speculating but I seriously doubt that many flights (if any) were going off carriers with a full load. If operating near a land base it seems that it would make more sense to transfer the plane to that base (and then gas it up) if a very long range recon were needed.
You are correct but Leandros in this case was (or appeared to be) going to calculate the take off run of a fully loaded F4F-7 so as to confirm it was
possible for that aircraft with the same weight to operate from a USN fleet carrier.
The information needed is how these planes were actually used. We know what they were designed for but did very long range recon with these planes ever happen in practice?
I've never read of any F4F-7 being used for very long range operational missions and those units that used them appeared to carry little or no fuel
in the unprotected wing tanks. The F4F-7 were never used operationally from USN CVs. They were instead given to land-based USN and USMC aviation
units who then used them primarily for conventional photo-mapping missions alongside F4F-3Ps and F4F-4Ps, as well as for training and as a liason
aircraft. The F4F-7's career highlight was probably from Sep to Nov '42 when, as the only dedicated photo-recon aircraft type based at CACTUS, it
performed valuable photographic missions around Guadalcanal that allowed the Marine Division to produce its first detailed military maps covering
the local battle area.
This was the only sig line I could think of.
