It was either ADI or WER boost. I'm leaning toward simple higher boost. They were 1,770 HP normal and 2,030 WER for a few minutes, however they got the "Emergency" rating.
Empty weight is not the same as basic weight. Basic weight is the weight that includes all fixed operating equipment, fixed furnishings, trapped fuel and oil, and water or other coolant in the radiator (if any), to which it is only necessary to add the variable or expendable load items, such as bombs, parachutes, and fuel for various missions. If basic weight typically adds about 1,000 pounds to a single engine Naval fighter aircraft, how much do you think it adds to a twin?
I might buy slightly under 16,000 for a Hornet, but not a Sea Hornet with arrester gear and Naval strangthening for carrier landings.
Figure the basic weight plus full internal fuel (432 Imperial gallons is 3,118 pounds, internal fuel [518.8 US gallons]), full armament (for the cannons only, I figure 450 pounds counting the cartridge band links), a pilot in a parachute and normal gear (200 pounds with parachute and charts, gun, water, food, etc. ... normal survival gear carried), radios and any other electronics that are not included in empty weight, and anything else required such as flares, etc.
Sure, you can FLY it under 16,000 pounds, but not at full capacity which was normal or even more for most combat missions. I do ALL calculations at full normal capacity, not max overload, since they flew that way or heavier almost all the time. You can calculate it anyway you like, but at least do it the same for both planes. Some people figure combat weight at basic plus pilot (in gear), plus 2/3 fuel, plus 2/3 ammo, plus radios and other gear. That's OK and even maybe desirable but the data aren't available for all planes, so I just use full internal capacity, without any external fuel to level the playing field.
If a bomber, I include a "typical" bomb load for the mission length, as gotten from references. For instance, the B-17 could lift a LOT of weight but, for London to Berlin and back, it "typically" carried 4,000 pounds. Sure there were 6,000 and 8,000 pound (maybe heavier) loads for shorter missions, but they weren't the norm.
So, under 16,000 pounds for a Sea Hornet? I think not if you use full internal capacity as I did for the Bearcat. It, too, gets lighter as the mission proceeds. For an airshow? Sure, you might fly the Hornet with no ammunition, 1/3 fuel, no survival gear or rations, flares, etc. and put dimunitive Eric Brown in it for a lightweight pilot to boot. You can do that with a Bearcat, too, but nobody did in combat service use. They loaded for a survivable mission, not a show. I bet they never launched at under 16,000 pounds for a real mission, especially if it happened to be a real combat mission, and they flew some of those. Probably had drop tanks and underwing bombs or rockets to boot. Mostly, I'd bet they launched at 18,000 - 19,500 pounds and came back to base at 15,500 pounds when they recovered.
The Bearcat usuaully launched at 10,000 - 12,500 pounds and probably recovered at 8,400 pounds or so.
