BellBoard

On 29th April 1982 V-force Vulcan Bombers - XM598, XM607 and XM597 took off from RAF Waddington overloaded with fuel, bombs and an extra crew member. Flying in radio silence they met up with their five Victor in air refueling tankers. Having refueled XM598 and XM607 continued to Ascension Island landing after a nine hour flight.The following night XM607 with its attending Victor tankers successfully completed the BLACK BUCK 1 raid on Port Stanley Airfield on the Falklands - dropping 21 - 1000lb bombs on the airfield. Arriving back at Ascencion Island after a flight of over 6600 nautical miles and over 14 hours flying time - this was the longest bombing mission in history. XM607 took part in 3 of the 5 completed BLACK BUCK raids, and now in retirement proudly stands as gate guardian at RAF Waddington