Q&A · 53:37-53:50

Buccaneers hiding beneath a Vulcan

A remembered exercise story has Buccaneers using a low-flying Vulcan to mask their approach.

Question

Did two Buccaneers once hide beneath a low-flying Vulcan during an exercise in the United States?

Short answer

The story is familiar, and underside photographs apparently taken from a Buccaneer offer some support; the exercise is not reconstructed here.

Notes

A remembered story has two Blackburn Buccaneers hiding beneath a Vulcan during an American exercise. Photographs of the Vulcan's underside, apparently taken from a Buccaneer, offer some support. The episode fits the Buccaneer's low-level flying qualities and the inventive tactics practised by its crews, although the surviving discussion does not reconstruct the exercise in detail.