Website is still under construction I see. I suppose they didn’t build Rome in a day, so I should expect a website in anything less.

I also whant to spend some time looking through the raf form 78s at Hendon, if i have got where they are kept right.

Ollie have you spoken to the RAF Museum about this? As far as I am aware you can’t just turn up expecting to look through the archives, you have to make an appointment.

One thing was over looked when the Whirlwind was designed, the ability to transfer fuel from one tank to another, this would have seriously hampered it’s use as an escort fighter. Also it’s relatively poor performance above 15,000 didn’t help.

Hptm Siegfried “Wumm” Schnell of 9./JG 2 claimed two Whirlwinds off of Cherbourg at 16.04 on 4 September 1941

I have extensively researched both McPhail and Woodward’s loss as well as two other Whirlwinds that came down in the general area of the Channel Islands. I know the relative locations though there are strong tidal influences which would effect where the aircraft finally came to rest. However I am reluctant to release the information over the net as these sites are effectively war graves and should not be intentionally disturbed.

One thing to remember is that the Whirlwind was constructed of a magnesium alloy, little of which would survive in a salt water environment. I have seen the remains of one prop from McPhails aircraft, which basically bears this out.

On a different tack, is the story about the Argentineans placing mounds of earth on the Port Stanley runway substantiated anywhere? I’ve not come across it before and I would have thought a mound of earth on a runway is as much of a hazard to a fast jet as is a bloody great hole! I’m genuinly interested to know.Rich

It maybe just conjecture, however I’ve read several different accounts of the raids, the official account is that on the first raid one bomb struck the runway effectively cutting it. The other claim is that the weapons missed. To disguise the fact and to discourage further attacks on the same target the Argentines placed mounds of earth to make it appear that the runway had been hit. Either way use of the runway was denied to the Skyhawk and Dagger types for the rest of the war, though Pucara’s and Aermacchi’s were still able to operate, as were, obviously, helicopters and possibly C130’s.

The raids were more of a political statement to show the UK’s intent, and more than likely, to try and force the Argentines hand in any negotiations.

Yes, what it explains is that I AM NOT INTERESTED IN THESE AIRCRAFT. And, why was it not effective in the Falklands? The mission was to drop bombs on Port Stanley airfield to put the airfield out of action, which, if you look at the pictures, it did. So, not effective? I would say you are talking b******s. Again.

Hate to rain on your parade, but no they didn’t. None of the Vulcan raids actually destroyed Stanley runway, nor did they deny the Argentians the use of the runway. Craters shown in the images taken of the airfield were in fact piles of earth placed there by the Argentines to make it look as though the runway was damaged. What the Black Raids did do, was to discourage the Argentine Air Force from keeping fast attack aircraft based at Stanley. However Pucara’s and Aermacchi’s continued to be based at Port Stanley and use the airfield.

On a different note, caught a glimpse of Hyperdrive on BBC2 this evening, anyone else notice that the serial number of the spaceship is XH558

Fairey Barracuda or A.W. Whitley – I don’t even know what they look like and I don’t particularly want to.

They only helped to take the war to an enemy hell bent on enslaving or destroying several European nations, during that 6 year period of minor upset in Europe.

During the Vulcan’s operational life it was only used in anger once, and that was to drop a couple of bombs on an Island in the South Atlantic to very little effect.

It wasn’t the first of the A Bombers to enter service, it wasn’t even the last, so why, even “hypothetically”, spend a huge amount of money bringing a very complex airframe back to life when, “hypothetically”, the money could be spent on much more significant and rarer airframes.

I can’t really believe that anyone in their right mind thinks that the UK’s punitive Nuclear capability actually discouraged the Soviet Union from doing the goose step across Europe.