Guy Alcala wrote:
snip
To cover the Mirage missions more quickly, on 1 May they dispatched either 10 or 12 sorties, each flight involving two a/c:
Fiera flight, Tablon, Limon, Dardo, Buitre* (Garcia-Cuerva/Perona, who'd also made up 'Limon'. *"F:TAW" says they were
Dardo, but also says that was one of the morning flights), and one other flight claimed but not identified in Mafe'
Huertas.
On further reading of Mafe' Huertas, the evidence for G-C and Perona being "Dardo" flight rather than "Buitre", as claimed in
"F:TAW", is stronger. On page 169, Huertas writes that Dardo launched at 1530, Buitre at 1553. He then says that "by 16:10
hrs, Buitre (Garcia-Cuerva and Perona -- their second sortie of the day) had reached the northern end of Pebble Island", which
is an impossiblity if Buitre's t/o time is correct, as Pebble Island is about 330-350nm from Rio Gallegos. No way they could
fly that distance in 17 minutes, but 40 minutes (which matches Dardo's t/o time) would work out nicely. On page 170, after
describing the shootdowns of G-C and Perona, he writes "Shortly after the dramatic end to 'Dardo' section, Buitre landed back at
Rio Gallegos without engaging the Sea Harriers", which also indicates that he switched the two a page earlier.
Guy
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