Iconic Falklands’ veteran Vulcan opened Farnborough Air-show
Britain’s Farnborough International Air-show opened last week with a joint flypast of the Red Arrows and the world’s last airworthy Avro Vulcan bomber XH558 commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War.
A relic of the Cold War, the historic aircraft was the first of its kind to be delivered to the RAF, in July 1960, took part in the historic Black Buck bombing raid on Stanley Airport in 1982 and was the last Vulcan to leave RAF service in 1993.
The Operation Black Buck raids were staged from Ascension Island and since the Vulcan lacked the range to fly to the Falklands there were refueling several times. RAF tanker planes were mostly converted Handley Page Victor bombers with similar range, so they too had to be refueled in the air. A total of 11 tankers were required for two Vulcan, a huge logistical effort as all aircraft had to use the same strip.
The raids, at almost 15.000 kilometers and 16 hours for the return journey, were the longest-ranged bombing raids in history at that time.
Of the five Black Buck raids, three were against Stanley Airfield, with the other two anti-radar missions using Shrike anti radiation missile.
Now, the bomber named ‘The Spirit of Great Britain’ is a favourite with aviation enthusiasts everywhere and is the result of the work of a dedicated team determined to keep her in the air.
The engineering staff of the Vulcan Operating Company worked to return the Vulcan to flight, with the first test flight taking place on October 18, 2007.
On August 1, 2006 it was feared the project was in danger of being abandoned due to lack of finance but the target of raising the remaining £1.2m was achieved 30 days later, thanks to a high-profile publicity campaign orchestrated by the supporters club, Vulcan to the Sky Club.
Time had almost run out for XH558 when Sir Jack Hayward, a British philanthropist, donated £500,000, which topped up the £860,000 already raised by Vulcan to the Sky Club and friends.
Sir Jack Hayward was also a benefactor of the Falklands soon after the War when he donated funds towards the restoration of the hospital.
The funds were used for building the sheltered accommodation on Thatcher Drive which is named in his honour. (PN)._
Suggested Stories
-
Jun 19th 2013
Malvinas C24 Argentina petitioners: Maria Angelia Vernet and Alejandro Betts
-
Jun 19th 2013
India-Argentina pledge to improve trade; Timerman thanks Delhi support on Malvinas dispute
-
Jun 17th 2013
Falklands’ conflict depicted in opera ‘Allies’ based on Pinochet-Thatcher relationship
-
Jun 16th 2013
Falklands: Irish lawmakers support UN Resolution 2065 and dismiss recent referendum
14 comments Feed
Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.
However the Typhoon with afterburners steals the show. I just wish they were allowed to do a supersonic flypast
But her presents, still makes a puddle on the sidewalk, of Argies who see it .??
Do we have to tell you again the purpose of the raid ???????????
The result was that all the A.A.F.'s fighter aircraft were kept in Argentina in case a raid was made on the mainland. This effectively meant that they could not be deployed where they would have been most effective i.e the Falklands. Game, set and match to us !!
Read the account of it in “Black Buck”. No heroic jingoistic patter, just skilled determined airmen doing a job which was thought impossible by all leading air forces. Our country is rather good at that.
Yes, it was a stupid war. If I remember rightly, it was your lot that started it. Who knows, if it had not taken place and you had shown yourselves as good neighbours, your country may have had some form of confederation with the Falklands . Now ? Highly unlikely.
Your apology is accepted.
At last Marcos, you apologise for the stupid war, started by Argentina, finished by the UK.
Thank you.
It looked a pretty damned big hole to me - enough to deny Argentina the use of fast jets from The Falklands - the objective of the mission. Hercs and Pucaras were about the only things that could land there.
Yeah and despite having all those Sky Hawks and Etendard's they didn't shoot down any Harriers in air to air combat. 122 Supersonic jets against 42 Subsonic Harriers and we shot down 35 of them. How bloody fantastic. So Marcos have you got any other points to make?
As others have said it also caused the withdrawl of the FAA Mirage interceptors from the south to guard BA and other places and thus effectively “neutralized” the best air to air fighters the FAA had!
That bombing raid was ONE of the key stone turning points of the whole conflict. Others were:
Sinking of the ARA Belgrano- resultewd in the withdrawl and thus neutralisation of the Arg Nanvy.
Capture of GooseGreen by a smaller force of Paratroopers against a numerically superior and heavier armed Argentine force. resulted in the Arg Army realising it was likley to loose the ground war.
www.facebook.com/Britain1592
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!