"Corporate" rolls on
The first few days of April 1982 found all components of the Hercules Transport Wing moving into high gear but, as previously remarked, performing activities that were largely routine, albeit at a faster pace than was customary.

Eight Hercules were despatched down the UK-Ascension route on 3rd April, and two weeks later the daily average had passed 20, with an additional requirement for stores and personnel to be flown to Gibraltar, especially for the hospital ship Uganda, all the nurses and doctors for which were flown out in this way.

The airlift was also aided by about 20 sorties by Heavylift Belfast’s (late of No 53 Squadron, RAF) and a couple of Boeing 707 charters from British Air Tours, all to be handled by the UKMAMS team at Wideawake. No 38 Group's VC10s operated by No 10 Squadron from Brize Norton, were no less heavily engaged in the air transport task between the UK and Ascension Island.

Wing Commander Chris Swaithes, Officer Commanding at Lyneham of the Air Movement Squadron, soon realised that the detachment on Ascension was heavily overworked, and two more mobile teams were deployed. Meanwhile, it had quickly become apparent that the Wing's task was not going to end at Ascension Island. The Task Force, under Rear Admiral John Woodward, was going to need support all the way south from Ascension to the exclusion zone around the Falklands, and there was also the possible need to support, by Hercules, special military operations of a more clandestine nature.

Once they had passed Ascension Island, the Task Force ships would sail steadily out of range of the Hercules, which had the ability to carry a full payload for about six hours cruising at around 200 knots (370 km/h), and then return to base, with normal fuel reserves. Operating at the maximum permitted overload weight of 175,000 lb (79 380 kg) rather than the normal 155,000 lb (70 308 kg) would help only a little, and as a first step towards providing more range, the Engineering Wing at Lyneham devised and fitted in the space of five days, starting on 16 April - an auxiliary tank installation in the forward cabin.

The speed with which this installation was completed was helped by the fact that the RAF still had in store a number of auxiliary fuel tanks that had been produced for the Hawker Siddeley Andover C Mk 1's; these cylindrical tanks each have a capacity of 825 Imp gal (3750 litres), so a pair supplemented the Hercules' basic fuel capacity (in integral and external wing tanks) of some 63,000 lb (28 580 kg) by a further 13,200 lb (5 990 kg) or so enough for an extra 3-4 hrs endurance.

Some difficulties were experienced with venting of the auxiliary tanks until satisfactory valves were developed, but these were no more than typical teething problems that in the normal course of events would have been discovered and put right before the aircraft obtained formal release to the Service a formality that could not be enjoyed during "Operation Corporate".

Further to extend the Hercules' range, a four-tank installation was also developed, but without any increase in max take-off weight, this reduced the payload to about 25 per cent of its 43,000 lb (19 505 kg) maximum and was of only limited value for making high-priority drops at an extreme range from Ascension Island. The first air drop to the fleet in the South Atlantic was made from a standard Hercules on 21st April 1982, and the first long-range aircraft was deployed to Wideawake on 4th May. For convenience, the long range Hercules became known as LR2s and LR4s, according to the number of tanks fitted.

To allow the Hercules to accompany the Task Force all the way to the exclusion zone and to support subsequent land operations, it had become clear that an in-flight refuelling facility was essential. There were, effectively, no diversion airfields available, except perhaps in Brazil in the case of dire emergency; the requirement, therefore, was to allow the Hercules to fly from Ascension to the Falklands and return, whilst carrying sufficient fuel at all times to recover to Wideawake without further refuelling.

The LR2 configuration was such that the requirements of an Ascension - Falklands mission could be satisfied with two refuellings southbound but none on the return; the second refuelling, shortly before arrival over the Total Exclusion Zone, gave the Hercules enough fuel to continue to the dropping point (or, eventually, to Port Stanley) and return.