I was asked to ferry an aircraft with a friend on the leg iceland to the UK in a Cessna 340.Having arrived there schedule problems with the aircraft meant I turned around and went back schedule due to lack of time and UK commitments.I have no ferry experience but was staggered by the size of the ferry tank and weight this aircraft was subject to.In the 340 there are two main tanks in the standard aircraft which sit out on the tips. They both hold 50 us gals apiece. The auxiliary tanks in the wings hold 20 us gals apiece and there is a locker tank which feeds the left side.This makes a total in the standard plane of 150 us gals.The ferry tank which took up most of the passenger compartment only allowed a small gap for the pilot to pull himself through into the cockpit and this huge tank held 200 us gals.The standard tanks amount to 900 ibs in weight and the 200 us gal tank amounts to 1200 ibs making a total of a staggering 2100 ibs of fuel.Add pilots luggage etc and the laod could easley be 2500 ibs which is way above grosse.When we as pilots load an aircraft mindful of the weight and balance sheets and tremble at the though of being 50 odd pounds over weight such loading makes a mockery of those weights.Engine out it is obvious that there would be no climb after takeoff but what happens engine out in the cruise at such weights especially over long sea crossings. Would the aircraft maintain altitude on one engine or descend into the sea below?Interesting in this forum are any aircraft for FS designed to carry ferry tanks with the resulting flight dynamics?Real world how do the FAA approve such overweight takeoffs and what is allowable.My ferry pilot friend didnt know ;-)Finally I am surprised that no one has made a ferry programme in FS9 with such tanked aircraft and all the weather and wind hazards of ferrying.Peterhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/121209.jpg

I once outfitted Alberto La Greca's ATR-42 model with an 850 gallon aux tank in the fwd cabin area for a ferry flight from Portland (KPDX) to Honolulu (PHNL).Full fuel put us at gross weight with only a pilot & copilot on board. We turned up the fuel controls just a bit for some extra horsepower so we could climb and maintain cruise at FL320 for a little better fuel economy. We flew with a cabin altitude of 18,000 ft. on oxygen the entire way. We made it, about 8 hrs later with only 12% total fuel remaining. Good thing we had a light tailwind, anything else and we'd have gotten wet :) .Jim

Hi Peter,There was a wonderful video series years ago called "Wonderful World of Flying," I think ABC originally did it. In episodes 14 and 15 there was a two part story of Phil Boyers Atlantic crossing in his Cessna 340 which he made many years ago. It went over the additional radio equipment and aux. fuel tanks required as well as the paperwork. I rented these in VHS format from my library and if you have difficulty finding them where you are they are back by popular demand in DVD here: http://www.wwof.com/cat/wwof/I still have dreams of purchasing a new TBM700 and co-piloting the ferry flight here to the US. If it ever happens I'll be sure to call you ;).Best wishes, Zane

PeterDave Bitzer and I have developed some ferry tanks for the C-47/DC-3. He's done his bit; we're just waiting for me to get my act together.When released, there will be versions for the default plane and the MAAM-SIM lady.The tanks will be configurable as per the real installation on C-47s that were ferried across the pond in WWII, i.e. the correct feed switching etc.This may be a very esoteric download, however! There are not many in FS who fly flights long enough to need them, I think! Certainly not in a DC-3! I suspect that most of the people who post pics of long-haul jet flights in the screenies forum set the thing on FMC>GPS>AP and go to bed while it gets there, don't you? :)Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cathayhk.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/maamlogo2.jpg[/a]

I have cheated on this before by just adding fuel capacity in the aircraft config. It may be crude but gets the job done.

I would imagine that in the real world you would remove items from the aircraft to not only make room for the ferry fuel tank, but to offset the weight. Once the aircraft arrives at it's destination it is time to put the aircraft back together. Remove the ferry tanks and put back seats, apolstry, etc.Plus there is always the manufactures recomendations, but the airplane will fly with as much weight as the engines and wings can carry. Careful of that turbulance and an overweight airplane. Might snap the wings right off...I once loaded a Piper Warrior with the CG too far back. That made for an interesting flight and landing.... Once in flight and trimed it was fine. It was the landing and take off that was pretty exciting...:DKev

Real world you get a permit to modify the aircraft and to be over gross weight. Remember that adding a ferry tank without doing the proper paperwork would violate the regs. You would be unairworthy due to the plane not conforming to the type certificate. My guess about what is allowable is up to the local FSDO and what the manufacturer will allow.