In Sighard Hoerner's 1951 book,Aerodynamic Drag,he shows aerodynamic drag of some wing-tanks,belly-tanks,and bombs.
The lowest drag was achieved with:
*wing-tip tanks based upon streamline bodies
*wing tanks,under-slung in pylons
*Half-body tanks blended onto the wing or fuselage itself were a little higher.(Me 109 belly tank)
The fiberglass fairing for the ADF loop-antenna on this North American SNJ trainer would be very low drag (Cd 0.08) on its pylon 'roof' mount.The distance above the fuselage helps mitigate super-velocity effects encountered on a 'blended' body.The 'blending' of the pylon helps kill any hook-vortice interference drag.
If you 'morphed' the carrier into the roof,you might treat it like a solar racer canopy from MIT's Goro Tamai
