Sqn Ldr Neil McDougall DFC RAF
It is my very sad duty to report the death of Sqn Ldr Neil McDougal who passed away peacefully in his sleep last Wednesday at the age of 88. Neil had been a senior captain and QFI on the Vulcan at RAF Waddington in April 1982 when he was selected, along with his crew, to carry out Black Bucks 4, 5 and 6 to attack Argentinian radar sites on East Falkland with the AGM 45A Shrike Air-to-ground missile. As a senior Vulcan captain, Neil was the only Vulcan pilot who had previous knowledge and experience of air-to-air refuelling, a skill that he would need to put into practice many times over the 8 000 mile return sortie from Ascension Island. Neil and his crew were successful in damaging a Westinghouse TPS 43 search radar on Black Buck 5 and then destroying a Skyguard fire control radar on their following mission, Black Buck 6. Following Black Buck 5, Neil made history by captaining, which was at the time, the longest combat mission in the history of air warfare - some 16 hours, and 5 minutes longer than Black Buck 1.
For Black Buck 6 and following a successful emergency diversion into Rio de Janeiro International Airport with a snapped refuelling probe, Neil was awarded the DFC for his exemplary captaincy, leadership and outstanding flying skills in recovering his Vulcan safely despite flying for a length of time with no pressurisation, very little fuel remaining, and the unwanted attention of 2 Northrop F-5 Tigers of the Brazilian Air Force.
There may be a few ex-Vulcan colleagues and friends of Neil on this forum who may wish to attend his funeral. When the details of this are known I can reply by PM to anyone who would like to attend. Please PM me if you need more information.