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43refuelling fail. For the recovery, a Nimrod was launched fromWideawake to provide assistance for the join-up at the RV. The Nimrodwas followed by a wave of four tankers to position two %u2018topped-up%u2019Victors at the RV, the second as a backup should there be a last minutehitch with the primary tanker%u2019s refuelling equipment. This procedureformed the basis for the recovery of all Vulcan and Nimrod missions.BLACK BUCK I and the subsequent Vulcan missions are welldocumented, as are the early problems associated with the Vulcan%u2019suncertain fuel consumption, the primary Vulcan%u2019s failure to pressuriseand the consequences of the broken probe at the final tanker/tankerrefuelling, resulting in both Victors flying further south than planned.However little has been written about the plans for these uniqueoperations. The planning for the Victor MRR missions was relativelystraightforward compared to the challenge of devising an air-to-airrefuelling plan to fly the Vulcan, with its full bomb load, to Port Stanleyand then recover it to Ascension. Today, in all probability a computerprogramme would be used for the intricate calculations but in 1982 theplan was worked, as one of the planners explained with a wry smile, withan electronic pocket calculator bought for %u00a34.95 in Swaffham market!The %u2018number crunching%u2019 for such a complex plan was an achievement initself and the challenge was then how best to present the mass ofinformation to the aircrew. Although tanker crews were assigned aspecific role in the formation, it was critical that every crew had all thenecessary information readily available to switch to another positionshould a tanker become unserviceable for any reason. It was immediatelyclear that the accepted AAR Brief, presented in a %u2018book%u2019 form, was notpractical. The solution was a stroke of brilliance, the %u2018spaghetti%u2019 diagramas it became affectionately known.The diagram for BLACK BUCK II is reproduced at Figure 1. Itpresents the mass of information on a single sheet of paper permitting acrew to see exactly what was required at any stage of the mission in anyformation position. With hindsight the diagram might appear to be anobvious solution but, at the time, it was a major innovation. In additionto the refuelling plan every crew had to carry a fistful of flight plans andother briefing material; all of which presented a major productionproblem. An urgent request for a copying machine was sent to RAFMarham, the tanker main base; a local purchase was made and thecopying machine was flown to Ascension on the next outbound aircraft.