Page 45 - Demo

45Notes on the BLACK BUCK II refuelling plan:1. The principle is to move optimum quantities of fuel as far as possibledown track while matching the tanker%u2019s disposable fuel with the void inthe receiver%u2019s tanks.2. The latitudes/longitudes on the right-hand side designate the start andfinish of each fuel transfer. Transfers 1S, 2S and 3S were amendmentsincorporated after the experience gained from BLACK BUCK I.3. The first fuel transfer to the Vulcan (A) was to test the Vulcan%u2019s fuelsystem before the reserve Vulcan and its associated tanker (B) returnedto Ascension.4. The reserve tanker (C) remained with Wave Two until thetanker/tanker transfers at refuel 1B were complete.5. At (D) there were two refuellings, 1C and 2S. The figure in box 1Cshows the tanker transferring 21,000 lbs to the Vulcan. At the end of thetransfer the Vulcan is full; the tanker has 35,000 lbs remaining and anestimated 14,000 lbs at the top of descent for the recovery to Ascension.At 2S, the tanker again transfers 21,000 lbs to the Vulcan; the Vulcan isfilled to full and the tanker has 79,000 lbs remaining.6. The small quantities of fuel transferred to the Vulcan and thetanker/tanker transfers at (E) and (F) applied the principle of makingmaximum use of the available fuel and maintained the Vulcan%u2019s abilityto recover to Ascension for as long as possible.7. The final tanker/tanker refuel (G) was planned so that any excess fuelin tanker Blue 6 was passed to the %u2018long slot%u2019 tanker before Blue 6 turnedfor Ascension.8. After the final tanker/Vulcan transfer (H) the tanker turned for the RVabeam Rio de Janeiro. The Vulcan (I) continued southwards, descendingto low level approximately 300 nautical miles north of Port Stanley.There was an audible sigh of relief when it arrived at the tankeroperations tent.To say that the Vulcan was refuelled seven times en-route to PortStanley does not convey the complexity of the task. The outboundformation consisted of eleven Victors, including two airborne reserves(R5 & B7), plus the primary Vulcan (R4) and its airborne reserve (R6).At 2300 hours, in radio silence, the aircraft took off at one minuteintervals, the last aircraft leaving the runway 12 minutes after the first.