h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Operation Black Buck - A87815893
Author: the_jon_m - bluesman of the parish - U204330

Split up the V-Force entry ... this is the 2nd bit

A dramatic story well worth being in the guide, I do have a few questions, if I may? I'd like to see a bit more drama in the entry.

The first sentence is 'From the 1950s, Britain's nuclear deterrent was in the hands of the RAF's V-Force' – I'm not sure about this very first sentence. The first sentence should introduce this article, and mentioning nuclear deterrent immediately implies that the mission was a nuclear attack, which isn't the case.
If it was me, I'd think about a brief introduction on Operation Black Buck, followed by a brief section (such as your current first paragraph) on the history of the V-Force. We can't assume that people reading this article have read the V-Force one, and so many will read this not knowing anything. In that you can mention that the V-Force had been Britain's nuclear deterrent.

There are a few things I'd like to see explained as not everyone reading this will have been alive at the time of the Falklands War or know anything about it.
Where is Ascension Island (ie, halfway between Brazil and Angola in the middle of the South Atlantic) and where is Port Stanley (the capital of the Falkland Islands).
'To train in air-to-air refuelling takes months normally, but the crews only had a few weeks while the task force was sailing south' – where were they training? It implies that they were on the task force, launching from the aircraft carriers, but were they actually training from bases within the UK, or from Ascension Island?
Why didn't anyone have a map of the South Atlantic?
Was anyone awarded a medal? You mention the crew, but who were the crew who completed the mission?
Did anyone die as a result of Operation Black Buck? If the aircraft flew 4,000 miles and successfully destroyed the runway tarmac (or whatever the runway was made from) with no-one getting hurt, that's worth mentioning. If it is a 21-bomb aircraft and one bomb destroyed the runway, what damage if any did the other 20 bombs cause?
Also, why would attacking mainland Argentina have taken more Victors than were available? Isn't most of Argentina closer to Ascension Island than the Falklands are, or do you mean a specific part of Argentina rather than, say, Buenos Aires?

Perhaps if the article was broken into sections, it would make it easier to read?

Hope you don't think I'm being overly fussy – I think this is a good entry which I feel with a bit of a polish could be a very good entry. I look forward to reading what you have to write next!

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There is an excellent book about this operation, though I can't remember what it's called - in any case it's a great story and this entry covers it very nicely,

The book is Rowland White's 'Vulcan 607' - and my guess is that Jon has just finished reading it

Here we go for this one... I agree with the first postings, the intro is a bit odd for a standalone entry.

"The Vulcan was the only RAF plane that had the range and payload to make an attack, but it would need refuelling. A lot of refuelling. And if one thing was known about Vulcans, you don’t refuel them in mid-air. Most of the equipment in the surviving aircraft for refuelling had been removed.

This phrase is a little condradictary... you're saying that you don't refuel them in mid air but that they originally had refuelling equipment - meaning you could refuel them in mid air...

How about, "The Vulcan was the only RAF plane with the range and payload for such an attack, however it would need a lot of refuelling, and by the 1980s the surviving Vulcan fleet had long since had their air-to-air refueling equipment removed."

Ascension island... Might be worth adding the fact that the airfield has a single runway, so any accident which caused this runway to close would essentially close the airfield and, depending on when in the mission the closure took place, leave incoming aircraft with nowhere within range to land, meaning they'd have to ditch at sea. As an aside it might also be worth explaining that the only reason a rock in the middle of nowhere had such a long runway is that the Americans extended it for use as one of the emergency landing strips for the space shuttle programme.

"The main Vulcan developed a leak"... Ok, you mention "couldn't pressurise" a bit later, but it's a bit vague at that point... I'd suggest something along the lines of:

"Shortly after takeoff the crew of the lead Vulcan, XM598, commanded by Squadron Leader John Reeve, discovered a leak from a cockpit window seal, meaning the aircraft could not retain cabin pressure and giving the crew the option of either continuing on, running out of oxygen and freezing to death or returning to base". This meant that suddenly, the reserve Vulcan, XM607, flown by Flight Lieutenant Martin Withers, who had been expecting to fly as far as the first refuelling point before returning, was suddenly faced with the long flight ahead.

If I were you I'd also include tail numbers and name a few of the crews in the entry, you could also include the medals they won for this mission.

Yep, this entry is a bit consise, as it was basically a section of the V-force entry that I moved to. Will alter

I'm presuming you *did* amend the introduction jon?

Are we all happy with this now, and can it be recommended?

Looks quite good to me, after Sub-editing the V Force

There are a few things that I think the_jon_m could do with clarifying, though.

"it was typical of a war that the best military minds thought Britain had little chance of winning."

I'm not clear about what this sentence is saying.

Whisky's point about the paragraph on refuelling the Vulcan doesn't seem to have been addressed.

"They didn’t even have a map of the South Atlantic, just using a Map of the North Atlantic turned upside down."

The mind boggles...

Bluebottle's point about the other 20 bombs hasn't been addressed, either.

The V Force Entry was edited at the beginning of April A87821256

Anything to say on the suggested raised? I'd like to see this moving forward!

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Good to see the_jon_m back in PR

I'd really like to see the outstanding questions answered, here in Peer Review if not in the Entry itself...

populous > populace

civil unrest aimed at the military junta that was fuelled by an economic crisis and human rights abuses > civil unrest aimed at the military junta because of an economic crisis and human rights abuses (as the junta was not fuelled by etc)

Better still perhaps, something like:

civil unrest against the military junta's economic mismanagement and human rights abuses

Margret > Margaret

the patriotic fervour that a successfully returning the islands to British would bring > the patriotic fervour that a successful restoration of the islands to Britain would bring

ship killing > ship-sinking, deadly, catastrophic or devastating?

Preping > Prepping

Tanker pilots who were used to refuelling flew on board to pilot the Vulcans during refuelling, however they were used to their Victor which had a refuelling probe directly above the cockpit, the probe on the Vulcan was at the end of the nose > Tanker pilots who were used to airborne refuelling flew on board to pilot the Vulcans during refuelling. However, they were used to the Victor, which had a refuelling probe directly above the cockpit, while the probe on the Vulcan was at the end of the nose.

computer, used to calculate the moment to drop the bombs, but it was driven by gears and cogs > ?? explanation needed

When the Victor, itself short on fuel pulled away > When the Victor, itself short on fuel, pulled away

The Vulcan crew, well aware that they didn’t have enough fuel to return to base headed back north > The Vulcan crew, well aware that they didn’t have enough fuel to return to base, headed back north

There were another 6 Black Buck missions planned > There were another six Black Buck missions planned

Still a very enjoyable entry which just needs a tweak or two – how is it coming along, jon m?

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Has the Jon M ed?

If we don't hear back from him in a week or two (and of course I hope we do), I'd like to propose the Flea Market.

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seconded

In fact, I'll wait 2 more weeks and then if we've not heard anything this, and Jon M's other entry, will be moved to the Flea Market.

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