'Falklands' Most Daring Raid'

[Mick Strigg]

I know that "Sharkey-Bashing" is an olympic sport as far as PPRuNers are concerned, but I did find the majority of his comments at Sharkey's World: Black Buck - The Truth of the Matter concise and correct.

Okay, who cares about the fuel costs, but his comments about the effect and consequences are spot-on; a point that was (deliberately?) missed by the programmes makers.

[PPRuNe Pop]

Falklands .......

I have not looked at all the pages but I was gutted I missed the prog on Channel 4. However, I thought I would see what I could discover - if it was available as a download.

IT IS! On BBC iPlayer. Click on 'other TV channels' and click on 4 and on the date Sun March 18th and enjoy a replay.

I am just about to watch it - now.

[TEEEJ]

Thanks for the reply, Reydelcastillo. Also thanks for posting the link to the images.

[PPRuNe Pop]

Absolutely great! Why oh why do the politicians act so stupidly after an example of courage and duty like that? What have we got now? Sweet FA fits the bill quite well I think.

If you missed it now you do catch up.

[TEEEJ]

Further information reference the arrestor gear. See following post.

Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums - View Single Post - Channel 4 Most daring raid. UK TV 8pm Sunday

I'm pretty sure I saw a CHAG (Chain arrester gear)laying alongside the runway, it wasn't ours. It was halfway down the runway after we extended it. I may of taken a photo of it. There were debris remains of what I now assume to be of the Argentine crater deception which was carefully laid out just before dawn and filled with water. It was removed after dusk to allow night flying of transports bringing in supplies and removing wounded.

I do know the Vulcan bomb crater settled and driving down the runway flat out in a Landrover it was appreciable. The runway was covered in AM2 matting which had to be removed for the crater to be repacked, this was done over night and was done under strict radio silence so as not to excite the Argies. I recovered a couple of chunks of Martin Withers bomb casing from said hole.

[TEEEJ]

From the excellent image link posted by Reydelcastillo.

See recce assessment of possible arrestor gear.



From

La Guerra de Malvinas: Post Merecido [Parte 11] - Taringa!

[orca]

It would need to be somewhere near the dotted circle above it to function as an arrestor gear wouldn't it?

[AR1]

Wasn't there some 'mis interpreted' photo recon from our part that suggested swept wing AC on Stanley airfeild? - I've seen the pictures somewhere with the annotation 'swept wing' - This may have been behind the airfield denial obsession that we had in the early weeks. I guess at some point the risk/return overcame that, notwithstanding our wanting to use it post conflict.

[Navaleye]

Interesting to see all these images again. I had a conversation with an Argentine Air Force officer on a cruise when I was lecturing on the conflict. He told me that they had no intention of placing fast jets on the airfield because it had no facility to operate them plus it was subject to nightly shelling by the navy.

The recon phito which so so upset Peter Squire is posted on this thread and the decoys circled!

[Fedaykin]

Because in the end Sharkey has rubbed up just one too many person light blue and dark! He is an Arch-bull$hitter and some of the stuff he has come up with often to people who clearly know better is cringe-worthy to say the least (Sea Harrier vs F16 usually). Those up on high have regarded him as somebody that national secrets are not safe with and his behaviour on many occasions have disgraced the honour of the Royal navy. He takes the dark vs light blue rivalry just a bit too seriously to say the least.

His temper tantrum over supposed slights by "Jealous RAF types who hadn't seen combat" unlike "brave warriors like himself" when he returned to the UK was an utter train-wreck that he proudly conveys in his book. That the VC-10 and base personnel were probably exhausted from maintaining the supply line to Ascension to worry about who he was is lost on him - how did he think all those Sidewinders among other things got down south?! That the base commander dealt with his tantrum in such a measured manor at the time is a testament to his patience.

Sharkey's comments (and lies) about Tornado operations during the Gulf War on his web site are frankly disgusting!

He has a constant theory (again in his book) that the RAF are trying to write the FAA out of the Falklands war and portray it as an RAF only exercise...utter bunkum! The contributions of the FAA, Sea Harrier and the carriers are well known to the public as anybody who reads the newpapers with their many articles about the Falklands war and how the Islands are under threat due to the loss of the Harrier (actually not true due to the minor issues of MPA, Typhoon and the Argentine armed forces having all the capability of a wet paper bag).

OK this is a rant but if you wonder why Sharkey gets some stick it is mainly down to himself and his insufferable ego and behaviour. People remember the bad things he has said about people who are often his better.

[BEagle]

At Deci in 1983 (I think) we were having a quiet beer outside the Pig & Tape listening to the gallant Sharkey bragging about how he'd met some Paras who, he alleged, had discovered a barn full of American mercenaries fighting for the Argentines - and who, he told us, had then promptly shot them all dead.

This story surfaces occasionally but, rather like the 'Shackleton making the approach on a carrier causing aircraft to be pushed over the side' tale, is always an "I met someone who said he'd heard....." bull$hit tale.

Aggressive naval fighter pilot, certainly. And all credit to him for that. But his anti-RAF whining is reminiscent of a petulant adolescent.

As for breaking radio silence during OP BLACK BUCK 1 when the crew were on their bomb run........quelle tosseure!

[glojo]

More footage

[Tankertrashnav]

you wonder why Sharkey gets some stick it is mainly down to himself and his insufferable ego and behaviour.

Confession time here - not awfully sure who this bloke is - I'll have to have a trawl through the various threads and educate myself.

I feel like a bloke in a Bateman cartoon now

[airsound]

I fear, TTN, that your ignorance of the Great White Sharkey may be mutual

airsound

[Fareastdriver]

Try this website. I lasted three minutes; you may last longer.

http://http://www.sharkeysworld.com/...l/1.%20Welcome

[Tankertrashnav]

I'm absolutely sure that the gentleman concerned has never heard of me - as I said, I thought I'd better "come out" as everyone else knew all about him and his views


Thanks Fareastdriver - yes I had a bit of a read, but the background noise of an axe being ground was very off-putting so I gave up.

[Courtney Mil]

I really do think that Ward writes well. But, for me, his creadibility is utterly destroyed by the continual anti-RAF rant that completely turns off his readers and, so, stops me reading. I suspect that the only people that read Sharkey's World (whatever planet that may be on) are those that share his view. Therefore, it does no harm because he is only preaching to his own choir.

I don't recall ever doing him any harm. Why is is stabbing at me?

[spekesoftly]

Originally Posted by JFZ90

I remember reading somewhere that he broke radio silence in his shar to say hello to bb1 - was this true? I think it was in his book, not 607.

It does also get a mention in RW's book, Vulcan 607, on page 321.

Twenty minutes after getting airborne, he pressed the RT transmission button to welcome the Vulcan to the Falklands. "Morning!" he offered cheerily, but heard nothing from the bomber in reply. They weren't playing, so he left them to it.

[orca]

Let's not let a decent 15 pager go down the pan because of what you do or don't think about one chap and what he has to say these days. This thread has been great.

Sharkey's book relates a story of hearing 800 NAS pilots chatting on CAP I seem to recall. He himself transmits on strike primary (or whatever it was called those days) for absolutely no reason, Sheffield was transmitting on SatCom I think which stopped her seeing the 'Handbrake' (as we called it) from the Super-E. And back to an earlier point, no attempt seems to have been made until BB with Shrike, to take down Argentinian radars.

This all seems incredibly slack to me - did we just not appreciate EW / ESM etc or have times just changed?

Sharkey also mentions that we knew the Argentine strike frequencies...did we exploit this at all? (801 pilots transmitting in pigeon-Spanish deosn't really count!)

My copy of Vulcan 607 is a couple of thousand miles away - did they do it all comm out, or was the position of the last bracket sufficiently distant from the FI to allow U/VHF use?

[cosmiccomet]

Orca, the Argentine attack flights didn't transmitted in any HF/VHF/UHF frequency from TO to the target.