Fly Past

86 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS

AVRO VULCAN

V

ulcans have taken part in many

overseas trips on ‘flag waving’

sorties or long-ranging exercises,

but the visit of XM597 to Galeas

Air Base, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on

June 2, 1982 was by far the most

momentous, hitting the headlines the

world over.

Vulcans, pooled under the aegis of

Waddington-based 44 Squadron,

Vulcans and Handley Page Victor

K.2 tankers gathered at Wideawake

airfield, Ascension Island, in May

1982 to take part in ultra-long

bombing raids as part of Operation

‘Corporate’, the liberation of the

Falklands Islands.

For Black Buck 4 – the raid of

28/29th May 28/29 – XM597 was

slotted as the ‘Primary’ with XM598

as the reserve. Argentinian radar sites

around Port Stanley were the target,

with both of the Vulcan’s underwing

pylons toting ‘twin-packs’ of AGM-

54A Shrike anti-radiation missiles.

The crew for XM597 comprised the

captain, Sqn Ldr Neil McDougall;

co-pilot Fg Off Chris Lackham;

radar nav plotter Flt Lt Dave Castle;

nav plotter Flt Lt Barry Smith; air

electronics officer (AEO) Flt Lt Rod

Trevaskus; and air-to-air refuelling

instructor (AARI) Flt Lt Brian

Gardner.

The AARI was from the Victor

tanker force and swapped with the

co-pilot when a top-up was due,

advising and guiding the captain as

Vulcan crews had long since stopped

training on in-flight refuelling (IFR).

Black Buck 4 aborted, however, when

a Victor K.2 went unserviceable while

the entire ‘circus’ was a long way

towards the tiny South Atlantic target.

The whole raid – same crews, same

aircraft – was rescheduled as Black

Buck 5 for the night of May 30/31.

Arrival in the target area was to

coincide with an HS Harrier strike

so that the Argentinians would be

forced to use their radar, enabling

Black Buck 5’s AEO to get a ‘fix’ so

that the Shrikes could do their work.

Three AGM-54As were launched,

but damage assessment could not be

undertaken.

VULCAN

AVRO

1918 2018

1957 TO 1984

Top right

Vulcan B.1 XH501, which

joined 617 Squadron at

Scampton in September

1958, seen during a

press presentation

in August 1960. It

was upgraded to B.1A

status with electronic

countermeasures gear

in an extended tail cone

in March 1961.

Right

Acquired by the

RAF Museum from

Scampton in January

1982, former 617

Squadron Vulcan B.2

XL318 was dismantled

and reassembled within

the Bomber Hall at

Hendon. The museum

has another B.2,

XM598, at Cosford.

RAF MUSEUM

http://www.rafmuseum.org

The same combo of crew and aircraft

assembled for the night of June 2/3 as

Black Buck 6, another four-up Shrike

mission – but this time with a low-

level profile followed by a sharp pull-

up in the hope of tempting the radar

stations to ‘illuminate’ the delta. Two

Shrikes were fired and it’s thought one

damaged the principal radar site.

WITHOUT A HOPE

The hook-up with the first of

several Victors after the raid ended

in disaster: the IFR probe fractured.

Without a hope of continuing to

the next tanker, XM597 set course

for Rio de Janeiro, the only possible

diversion airfield that didn’t involve

Argentina.

Naturally it would have been better

for the Brazilians if the aircraft were

not armed, so the remaining Shrikes

were jettisoned. One refused to go

and caused many diplomatic red faces

when Black Buck 6 landed at Galeas

with virtually dry tanks – probably

not enough for a ‘go-around’.

Crew and aircraft were ‘held’ for

a week then released – minus the

errant missile and on the strict

proviso that XM597 was not to be

used on operations again. For this

Vulcan the war was over! It arrived at

Ascension on June 10 and was back at

Waddington 72 hours later.

When the Black Buck raids were

staged, the Vulcan was in its twilight

years with the RAF, and on April 12,

1984 the V-bomber at the centre

of a diplomatic incident was ferried

north to its new home at the National

Museum of Flight Scotland at East

Fortune, east of Edinburgh.

MIGHTY DELTA

Knowledge of how delta wings

behaved was very basic when

the Vulcan was conceived and,

unsurprisingly, when the prototype

took its maiden flight on August 30,

1952 it was the largest aircraft to

employ that planform.

The design offered great speed,

a huge bomb bay with minimal

centre of gravity problems and – as

established in early flights – aerobatic

performance.

The first frontline unit to take on

the mighty delta was 83 Squadron at

Waddington in July 1957. As the first

of the 45 B.1s ordered were being

manufactured, Avro

was already