Hi, I was struggling with that mission regarding weight+EGT as well. After some unsuccessful attempts I tried to "cheat" a bit and ordered ground crew to refuel and rearm and changed the loadout by chance. Got rid of the rockets and used 60 % fuel. I succeeded with the first attempt. Not nice and beautiful, cargo was broken, but I could continue and finished the mission.
Maybe that helps to tweak that mission or at least helps users to continue although my modification might be seen as cheating...
And great campaign so far! Thx for your continuous tuning.
CYA