[WAD] Jettisoning Fuel Tanks Causes Plane to Show as having Full Tank if CFT were present

[DWReese]

As previously reported, a plane that Jettisons its Fuel Tanks will cause the plane to now show as having Full Tank instead of what they previously displayed. This only seems to happen if CFT were originally present.

A SAVE file was previously provided yesterday. I no longer have mine as I discarded it after reporting the issue. Hopefully you still have it somewhere, but I no longer see it.

[DWReese]

Using the new 71....

Here is the SAVE.

Wishbone 1 (Raam F-15I) has delivered its ordinance and is headed back to the base. The fuel in the Drop Tank has just run out. Fuel still exists in the CF tanks.

The PROBLEM: Take notice of the amount of fuel remaining. It's about two-thirds full. Now, manually JETTISON the empty tanks. Now look at the fuel gauge. It just went from two-thirds full to completely full.

This ONLY seems to occur if the plane has CFT.

Is that the way that it is supposed to work? Am I missing something? Is it a bug?

[michaelm75au]

This may be due to how external fuel is treated as one 'large' tank. With the fix to keep CFT, it is probably mucking up the calculations.

[michaelm75au]

Yes as suspected.
The total fuel remaining stays the same after the drop tanks are jettison.

The bar looks different because the total available fuel capacity has changed; the total available capacity has dropped due to the DT space being dropped.

[The bar shows the 'fuel remaining' / 'fuel storage capacity'. Dropping the tanks means the 'storage capacity' is less so the % increases.]

[DWReese]

Michael,

This may be due to how external fuel is treated as one 'large' tank. With the fix to keep CFT, it is probably mucking up the calculations.

This problem existed BEFORE that was fixed. I reported it BEFORE it was fixed. The FIX did not cause this.

The example shows that the drop tanks are empty when they are jettisoned. The fuel bar goes to full, from the two-thirds mark.

I don't believe that a fuel bar should go up. I don't know why the fuel gauge should have to move at all. To me, it should just to stay the same.

I don't believe that this is WAD.

[DWReese]

Michael,

I agree that the actual numbers appear to be accurate. But, I don't believe that the fuel bar should move from where it was (two-thirds) to now show as full. I do understand what you are saying. You are saying that the bar represents what percentage is available out of what the total was. So, if the total was 10 units (to make it easy), and it used 3.5 units, then the fuel gauge should show 6.5 remaining (which it does). And if you now dump the empty fuel tanks, then you are now at 6.5 units out of a possible 6.5, therefore it is listed as full.

I just find the concept odd, and very much misleading. It's almost as if it's saying. "If you want to see a full tank then dump your empty tanks." Seeing a full tank bar is much more comforting than seeing one that is two-thirds of the way full, right?

In any case, I would lobby for it to be changed, but the numbers are correct, so that is the actual important thing about this post.

[michaelm75au]

The bar is just a visual representation of how much fuel you have based on the amount of storage on the airframe at the time.
It would make no sense to keep the amount of storage space you DON'T have in that representation.

[DWReese]

It would make no sense to keep the amount of storage space you DON'T have in that representation.

Michael,

Either I'm not explaining my view properly, or I'm not understanding your point.

I am saying that, as a game player, I look at my plane. I know that the Drop tanks are empty. I know that the CFT are full. I know that the plane inside the plane has not been used and is, therefore, full. I know that I am not adding any fuel to the plane while in flight. I see the bar that says that I have two-thirds of my fuel remaining. I press the button to jettison my empty tanks, and just like that my fuel bar now displays that I am maxed out in fuel. It advances from two-thirds to full. It's the visual representation that I believe is misleading, and is odd.

I do understand how you arrived at your point. The plane is full, and the CFT are full, therefore the plane is now as full as it can be, and therefore the fuel bar is now all the way to the right. I do get it.

It just looks odd how a plane can go from visually seemingly having two-thirds of its fuel, and without ADDING any more fuel, suddenly appears to have more fuel than it had a few seconds ago.

You don't have to explain your point, because I do understand it. I'm just saying that it is a misleading and somewhat confusing representation.

Personally, I don't see any other way to do it, so I would have done exactly what was done. The numbers are what matters, therefore it is a WAD situation.

Thanks for taking the time to present the explanations.

[thewood1]

I actually think it would be more misleading to count two tanks that no longer exist towards total fuel capacity. If the tanks are jettisoned, they are removed from total capacity.

[michaelm75au]

Personally, I don't see any other way to do it, so I would have done exactly what was done. The numbers are what matters, therefore it is a WAD situation.

Thanks for taking the time to present the explanations.

That's okay. Just wanted to be clear on what the graphical representation was.

[boogabooga]

I actually think it would be more misleading to count two tanks that no longer exist towards total fuel capacity. If the tanks are jettisoned, they are removed from total capacity.

One could do it such that the green bar represents only the internal fuel such that when it starts to go down, you know that the external tanks are dry or missing.

[Faceplate]

I actually think it would be more misleading to count two tanks that no longer exist towards total fuel capacity. If the tanks are jettisoned, they are removed from total capacity.

One could do it such that the green bar represents only the internal fuel such that when it starts to go down, you know that the external tanks are dry or missing.

If we are creating work for the Stakhanovite developers, dividing the fuel bar into two portions when there are drop-tanks might clear all confusion. Label the left and right sections 'INT' and 'EXT', for example. Have the divider proportionate to the relative capacities. When jettisoned, have the divider remain in place, and add 'JETTISONED' or some other label to let people know why the fuel cannot be replenished beyond the dividing line. Something with no external tanks would jet no extra labelling, obviously.
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| --------------------------------------- INTERNAL --------------------------------------- |
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| -------------------- INTERNAL -------------------- || ---------- EXTERNAL ---------- |
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| -------------------- INTERNAL -------------------- || ---------- EXTERNAL ---------- |
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| -------------------- INTERNAL -------------------- || --- EXTERNAL JETTISONED ---|
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