Shortly after finishing this book I was inspired to research this enigmatic aircraft and sure enough it did not take long before I was watching a full blown TV reconstruction of this mission on YouTube! Hmmmm, anyway, I would recommend both (the book and the film) especially if you are interested in military aviation and this unique aircraft.
I enjoyed the story and in particular understanding the dire situation behind the scenes and the bravery of the RAF men involved. The bleak logistical situation behind the scenes is the one we never got to hear about at the time of the Falklands war. I think as a teenager I believed, like all my friends we could send such aircraft anywhere and achieve anything we wanted. Of course totally ignorant to what is involved in such an operation. This was unquestionably an above and beyond mission that saw aircraft take off well above their MTOW. Fuel calculations were pure guesswork because they were in such unknown territory ... and so it proved to be given the critically low situations they subsequently found themselves in.If I was forced to criticize it I would say it is a little on the large size (dimensional speaking and story wise). On a positive side though, the prose is written in an easy to read, free flowing style which is not at all tiring. For me personally, I found it educational which was the primary reason I bought it. Did it leave me in an emotional kind of awe like Sagitarious Rising? No, but in fairness it is a different type of book and so in this regard I would still congratulate the author for persevering to write the story in the first place (against the isolated opposition he faced) and just giving us a good read. 7/10 for me.
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