This is how we had to operate with the Pucará
Account taken from the book “With God in the Soul and a Falcon in the Heart”
Narrated by: Captain Grunert — Pucará pilot
Date: 1 May 1982
Place: Darwin
Flight: Captain Grunert, No. 1; Lieutenant Calderón, No. 2; Lieutenant Russo, No. 3; and Lieutenant Cimbaro, No. 4
Weather: calm wind, 3/8 Ac. As. — altocumulus and altostratus. Almost half the sky covered.
Take-off: night-time.
At approximately 05:00 hours we were woken by the Squadron Commander, Major “Toto” Navarro, who informed us that Puerto Argentino had been attacked at 04:40 hours and that we should prepare to take off at first light.
After the pre-flight briefing, we went to a small hut beside the runway to wait while the runway markers were put in place: two at the threshold, one on top of a half 200-litre drum, and another at the opposite threshold.
The flight that was to take off was designated, but since No. 1 and No. 2 were not ready, No. 3 and No. 4 were ordered to take off, in that order.
At the threshold we placed the two aircraft parallel to one another, in order to make use of as much ground as possible, since the field was very short and take-off was not safe. It was a semi-prepared strip laid out on a paddock, very soft and uneven.
While we were at the threshold, No. 1 and No. 2 were taxiing towards it.
During the take-off run, No. 3 put one of its undercarriage wheels into a hole, causing the pilot to lose control of the aircraft. It became completely airborne for approximately 15 seconds and then came down again on three points. By the time it reached the end of the runway, the aircraft was still 5 kilometres per hour below the speed needed for take-off. The departure was extremely rough, with the aircraft buffeting and its wheel striking the marker at the end of the strip.
At the end of the threshold, about 30 metres away, there was a wire fence covered with a kind of creeper roughly 1.5 metres high, which made the take-off even more critical.
Once airborne, No. 4 set course to the south, where we were to remain awaiting orders, while No. 1 and No. 2 were to carry out an offensive reconnaissance before rejoining in the southern sector of Cóndor Base, at Darwin.
No. 1 and No. 2 were unable to take off because No. 1 had an accident at the runway threshold. As a result, the only element available to carry out the mission was the section made up of No. 3 and No. 4.
After five minutes of waiting, the section headed towards the target: a British helicopter-borne landing — an attack with men transported by helicopters — near Puerto Argentino. The radar later informed us that the helicopters had disappeared. For that reason, and after overflying the area, we returned to our base of origin.
With fuel already down to the minimum, I contacted the tower and requested permission to enter the circuit. Permission was denied, and I was ordered to proceed to the alternative airfield, Calderón Naval Air Base, located on Isla Borbón.
Since my fuel gauge was almost at zero, I informed the tower and requested authorisation to land, but they repeated the previous instructions. On my third communication, I was ordered to reach the alternative by any means necessary, because Darwin had been under attack by enemy aircraft for the previous two hours.
The section reached Calderón with practically no fuel left, and No. 3 had to land with the nose wheel unlocked, since it had been twisted during take-off when it hit the hole. To make matters worse, this runway was even worse than the one at Cóndor Base: its surface was very soft and prone to flooding, something that would cause us serious problems in the future.
We were all eager to refuel and rearm, because the escape of our prey had left us full of frustration and with a strong desire to make them pay for the surprise attack of that early morning. But the days to come would more than give us the chance for a revenge we would never forget.
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