Falklands ' Most Daring mission. Documentary.

This was on UK TV on Sunday evening and it was an amazing documentary on a mission by the RAF to Fly a Vulcan bomber to bomb the runway on Port Stanley.

On 30 April 1982, the RAF launched a secret mission: to fly a Vulcan bomber to the Falkland Islands and bomb Port Stanley's runway, putting it out of action for Argentine fighter jets. The safety of the British Task Force depended on its success.

It was fascinating to me as, I was only 4 when the Falklends started, so can't reflect from the time but seeing the Vulcan at airshows was always a highlight and I have always loved the plane. I always thought they looked so technically advanced, but underneath the slick exterior was a pretty dated operating system and The bombs dropped were the same as those dropped by WW2 bombers.

The most interesting part of the documentary is the refueling process that was involved to get the Vulcans to their targets. It took 11 Victor Tankers to refuel just one Vulcan bomber for the mission.

With a plan stretched to the limit and the RAF's hopes riding on just one Vulcan, the mission was flown on a knife-edge: fraught with mechanical failures, unreliable navigation, electrical storms and lack of fuel.

Of the 21 bombs the Vulcan dropped, only one found its target. But it was enough to change the outcome of the war.

www.channel4.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

I saw this too. Great programme.

I know it's not cool or politically correct but seeing her at airshows always makes me smile. Great plane.

Thanks for posting woody, I had every intention of watching that programme but alas I got a bit carried away with things and ended up stopping out until daft o'clock in the morning.

I'll watch it sometime in the next day or two when I get a chance.

There's another interesting documentary being advertised on Military History called Falklands Combat Medics.
The guy who led the team is the only person ever to have been decorated by both sides of a military conflict, should be fascinating viewing.

Originally posted by khimbar
I saw this too. Great programme.

I know it's not cool or politically correct but seeing her at airshows always makes me smile. Great plane.

I'm actually quite anti war, but love a good a air show. One of my geeky guilty pleasures. Actually planning to go to a few this year.

I think it is in the Guinness Book Of Records for the longest distance bombing run ever.

Btw, that record would not have been achieved if America would have allowed us to bomb the Falklands from American soil.

Thanks the US government.

Originally posted by diddy1234
I think it is in the Guinness Book Of Records for the longest distance bombing run ever.

Btw, that record would not have been achieved if America would have allowed us to bomb the Falklands from American soil.

Thanks the US government.

Yet how many bombing missions did / have we allowed them to do from here. As a previous poster said i've always loved the Vulcan, in fact loved most planes from the spit and hurri onwards, lightining, harrier aaahhhh

I was fortunate enough to see the restored Vulcan flying at its very first air show two or three years ago (Lowestoft I think it was).

Everyone just went silent as it started its display followed by a deafening roar of the engines.

very loud. turns on a sixpence.

nice aircraft that.
Good use of German WWII swept wing data applied to that design.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


just my opinion - but what ` black buck ` did was install fear into the argentinians - and for that alone it was worth it

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by woodwardjnr

 

just my opinion - but what ` black buck ` did was install fear into the argentinians - and for that alone it was worth it

I agree, they only got one bomb of the 21 released to hit the runway, but the phycological effect was more important. It showed we had bombers capable of delivering big pay loads, all the way from the UK via the ascension islands.

vulcans and victors, the golden age of flying violence.
i watched the documentary a year or so ago. fantastic airframe and duration.
f.

Originally posted by diddy1234
Btw, that record would not have been achieved if America would have allowed us to bomb the Falklands from American soil.

Thanks the US government.

BTW, To what advantage? Did you actually test out this possibility? Ascension to Stanley is 8,000 miles. The closest you could get in the US would be Florida, and that would be about 6,000 miles. HOWEVER, the flight would take you over the soverign territory of several Central and South American countries, including Argentina itself, which was heavily armed by SAM missiles sold to them by--the UK! You'd have to cross Equador, Panama, Peru, and Chile. I doubt any of them would have given permission.

Not such a hot route, if you ask me, and potentially much more dangerous than an ocean flight. If you stuck with an ocean flight from Florida to avoid Chile and Argentina, the distance would be about the same as from Ascension. NO. I take that back. You couldn't do it from the US just over the ocean. It would be a lot longer than from ascension. Look at a map.

The US was caught between a rock and a hard place on that one, and it is my understanding that there was a lot of back-end support made available.

reply to post by woodwardjnr


if you pick up a book called Vulcan 607 by Roland White, he has documented the story, really an impressive story
Amazon Link

I met the author a few years back, campaigning for Vulcan to the Sky, quite a man, a bit excessive with his "love" for the airframe, but impassioned all the same.

She is a beautiful aircraft and has quite a story of development, a good book is empire of the clouds, Amazon Link

The lead test pilot was told off for a maneuver over the crowds, not because it was dangerous, but for it not being befitting of a bomber.

One of the bombers lost their inflight refueling probes and had to divert to Brazil, it was only released when the UK promised that it wouldn't be used again to bomb, i think fingers were crossed behind their backs there,

Wee Mad