Black Buck

[ZeroAltitude]

Heard about "Operation Black Buck" only now.
Quite amazing - 1 bomber, 10 tankers, 18 refuelling operations, to deliver a blow that nobody really felt.
All that in 1982 during the Falklands war.
That must have been a logistics nightmare (and they seem to have come fairly close to botching it up by miscalculating one plane's fuel consumption or so)

[L1011]

If you can, obtain a copy of ''Vulcan 607'', by Rowland White, it's a great description of the first & subsequent Black buck missions.

[Procede]

Excellent book. €7.49, including delivery within Europe

[Robert Hilton]

Heard about "Operation Black Buck" only now.
Quite amazing - 1 bomber, 10 tankers, 18 refuelling operations, to deliver a blow that nobody really felt.
All that in 1982 during the Falklands war.
That must have been a logistics nightmare (and they seem to have come fairly close to botching it up by miscalculating one plane's fuel consumption or so)

11 tankers and two bombers (1 each as spare) and yes it was in fact a cock-up from the logistics point of view. Because all the aircraft flew in formation, neither Victor or Vulcan was flying at optimun cruise speed or altitude, therefore they used more fuel than they had planned. Plus they went through some pretty rough weather, even refuelling in a storm which took more time than usual and more fuel. Added to that, the probe on the last tanker broke off during the last IFR prod. It wasn't fully fuelled, so the last two tankers had to switch roles and the refuelling process was repeated. By the time Sqn Ldr Tuxford lined up to refuel the Vulcan for the last time, it was obvious that they didn't have enough fuel to fill the Vulcan up and get back themselves. After consulting the rest of the crew, Tuxford decided not to abort the mission but give all the required fuel to 607 and chance it on the way back, even though they would end up some 500 miles short without IFR. He was further hampered by the fact that he had to keep radio silence until the raid had been carried out, also when switching roles, they last two tankers had supposedly changed call-signs. Unfortunately both were using the same one which added to the confusion. Once the raid had been carried out, Tuxford called in an emergency and a tanker was scrambled in time.
It was indeed a long way to go to miss the runway 20 times, but to say it wasn't felt isn't strictly true. It showed that we could reach Argentina if we wished, which forced them to hold back some a/c and anti-aircraft as home defence. The raids were worth it just for that.

[ZeroAltitude]

Thanks for the replies.
I'm eagerly waiting for the book.

[David Hilditch]

Robert, I'm fairly sure that one bomb (and perhaps only one) hit the Port Stanley runway, but as you know runway craters are easily repaired. As you rightly say, the significance was in the demonstration effect - and Buenos Aires is a lot closer to Ascension than Port Stanley. There may also have been an element of interservice rivalry in pushing for the strike, given that it was clear the gig was mostly going to be a Navy-led show. That said, I understand that - with less fanfare - many Victor, Nimrod and C-130 reconnaissance and transport flights, as well as their supporting refueling flights, were also constantly operating at the limits of their endurance day after day.

[L1011]

Quite correct David, one bomb hit about a third of the way along.
Among the subsequent missions I believe there was also a successful strike against an AA radar ( Robert ? shrike ?)

[Robert Hilton]

Robert, I'm fairly sure that one bomb (and perhaps only one) hit the Port Stanley runway, but as you know runway craters are easily repaired.

Sorry David I was being obtuse, the Vulcan carried 21 1000 pounders hence the missing of the runway 20 times.

[Robert Hilton]

Quite correct David, one bomb hit about a third of the way along.
Among the subsequent missions I believe there was also a successful strike against an AA radar ( Robert ? shrike ?)

Indeed, and Shrike was the prefered medium. There was even a test fit of Shrike on a Victor back at Marham (XL190) using a locally manufactured pylon.
It wasn't incorporated, tankers were always in short supply.

[ZeroAltitude]

Given today's equipment (and seeing that the Vulcan has been replaced by Tornados) - would such an operation be feasible today?
Or would they have to revert to using harriers from carriers (the rhyme came naturally)?

[Robert Hilton]

ZA,
One major advantage today is the L1011 as a tanker. It uploads far more fuel than the victor ever could (307,000lb compared to the Victor's 126,000lb), so less tankers would be needed. The Tornado has long legs but I'm not sure about the engine oil level. The major argument for not using the Buccaneer for Black Buck missions was that they could not guarantee that the engines would have sufficient oil for the trip. The Victor and Vulcan on the other hand had been built with long missions in mind. On the whole I think it would be "Bionic Budgies" and carriers or nothing, in other words, nothing.

[ZeroAltitude]

Interesting aspects, Robert. Thanks.