Originally posted by Der
it wasn’t a Blue Steel hang up. It was a broken refuelling probe.
Hi der dont want to sound like an old fuss pot but the reason they had to land in Rio was as you quite rightly said a broken refueling probe but what they didnt know was they still had a ***blue steel*** (It was actually a Shrike) on board which didnt release hence the Brazil flag next to the 2 argie flags and missles. The aircraft and crew were impounded for a few days but they werent allowed to leave with the missle. It stayed in Brazil after some talks with the British government.
Email the museum and I am sure they will confirm this story.
Below is the museums statement of the Vulcan but email the museum about the missle hang up. I was told the story of this by a staff member.
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A third of Britain’s strategic nuclear deterrent, ‘the V-Force’ of the Fifties and Sixties, the Vulcan was the world’s first delta winged bomber when it first flew in 1952. Carrying an internal warload of 21,000lbs, the nuclear role was enhanced with the carriage of the Blue Steel air-launched missile from 1963 until 1967. Due for retirement in 1982 the Falkland’s War was an operational swan song for the Vulcan. Deployed in the suppression of enemy air defences role, XM597 is one of only two Vulcans to be used in anger, the other, XM607 dropped bombs on Port Stanley Airfield. XM597 made the headlines when, due to a fractured in-flight refuelling probe, the Vulcan diverted to Rio de Janeiro. After seven days internment the aircraft and crew were released. On the nose can be seen two mission markings and a Brazilian flag commemorating her unscheduled stopover. XM597 flew into East Fortune in 1984.
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