It is 1982. The Argies have come over all funny and decided to invade the Falkland Islands. The Queen is not a happy bunny.

In an attempt to get in on the action and not let the pongos and the fish heads have all the fun, the RAF resolved to enter the fray with a bang, as it were.

A cunning plan was devised to carry out low level strikes against key installations in and around Port Stanley using the last heavy bomber still operational in the RAF inventory - the Supermarine Vengeful B.1 and flying out of Ascension Island.

A selection of ageing Supermarine Vengeful B.1s were selected and the aircrews given a very brief refresher course on air to air refueling and precision conventional bombing.

Operation Black Buck was underway!

Both of these dark arts were not considered as part of Vengeful aircrew operations, as they were originally intended to;

(a) operate in the European theater in the event of a Soviet aggression where the time to target was always well within the range of the Vengeful
(b) be utilised in tactical nuclear strikes - with a 20KT thermonuclear device it really doesn't matter if you drop 12 feet or so to the left of your intended target...

The Grips of 101 squadron were then handed the task of installing a slew of new systems to these ageing beasts, including; makeshift under wing pylons, countermeasure systems, inertial guidance systems and a reinstating of the mid air refueling system. They didn't re instate the flaps...

The result of much blood, sweat, tears, swearing and several trips to the NAFFI for tea and biscuits was the Supermarine Vengeful B.1 (Special).

The munitions to be used in this operation was something of a mixed bag - a 2,500 lbs air brake retarded general purpose job, based on the Yanks Mk.84 and specifically designed for release at low altitudes to crater and render useless the runway at Stanley.

Each bomber was to carry four of these, two under each wing (they wouldn't fit in the bomb bay), in addition to a full bomb load in the fore bay and a 5,000 lbs "cookie" (a Purple Helmet tactical thermonuclear weapon with a conventional warhead fitted) in the aft bay. Making for an operational war load of 18,500 lbs of explosive fun.

Please cry for me Argentina, as it were...

Controls.

AG1 + VTOL down open bomb bay
AG2 - Drop under wing munitions - the retarding system is tied to the throttle - the more throttle you have, the more the bombs retard. If you close throttle, the bombs will act like regular iron bombs, you will lose airspeed, height and probably your no claims bonus, as you will be caught in the blast.
AG3 - Landing Gear doors - allow the geat to retract using the GEAR command. Once retracted, activate AG3 to close the gear doors. NOTE! AG3 should be active when deploying the landing gear, unless you want a thick ear from your ground crew.
AG4 - Deploy drag chute (upon landing)
AG5 - Positoning lights. + VTOL down to deploy refueling probe
AG6 - release munitions in aft bay
AG7 - resease munitions in fore bay
AG8 - toggle stability control.

Tally ho!