From: Jim Webster (james.webster@iomartdsl.com)
Date: Fri May 26 2006 - 16:13:48 PDT
Speaking of fuel and flying military vehicles - there was an excellent
3 Vulcan bombers; 20 years past their sell-by-date; outfitted with
centre page spread today in the Daily Mail about the bombing raid on the
Port Stanley runway during the Argentine hoohah of a few years ago..
conventional bomb racks rescued from a scrapyard because the planes were
last used for the nuclear role; inertial navigation systems salvaged
from old British Airways VC-10 and with pocket calculators to check the
navigation set a record by flying a combat mission 4000m across water
and hitting the target.
12 Victor tankers (half the fleet) were in support using spares
scavenged from everywhere (one vital spare part for refuelling probes
had been sold off as decorative ashtrays!!!!) The whole fleet took off
but one Vulcan had to turn back after a window cracked and the
temperature inside plunged to -30.
Tanker 12 then refuelled all the other tankers and turned back... a
little later on Tanker 11 refuelled all the other tankers and turned
back.. then later Tanker 10 refuelled (and I am sure you get the
picture) till Tanker 1 was left who refuelled the Vulcan's. All the
tankers were then refuelled at Ascension and repeated the process until
Tanker 1 was in position waiting for the Vulcan's to return..
The argies were so sure that they were out of range that when the
Vulcan's appeared they just assumed it was a late AAF plane - 21
1,00-pounders across the airfield gave them the fright of their lives....
-- TTFN Jim'Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vicendarum!'
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