Vickers VC10
Encyclopedia
The Vickers VC10 is a long-range British
airliner
designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd, and first flown in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance routes with a high subsonic speed and also be capable of hot and high
operations from African airports. The initial concept of the VC10 was to provide a jet-powered airliner that could comfortably make use of the shorter runways commonly in use at the time. The performance of the VC10 was such that it achieved the fastest crossing of the Atlantic - London to New York by a jet airliner, a record still held to date for a sub-sonic airliner
; only the supersonic
Concorde
remains faster.
The VC-10 is often compared to the larger Soviet Ilyushin
Il-62, both aircraft having a rear-engined quad layout, the two types being the only airliners with such a configuration. As of June 2010, 13 VC10s remain in service as aerial refuelling and transport aircraft with the Royal Air Force.
. Design and manufacture of transport aircraft had been abandoned in order to concentrate on production of combat aircraft with Britain's transport aircraft needs being met by the provision of US aircraft through Lend-Lease
. In 1943 the Brabazon Committee
introduced command economy-style principles into the industry, specifying a number of different types of airliners that would be required for the post-War
years, though it assumed that US dominance in transport aircraft would translate into leadership in long range airliners and conceded in principle that the industry might have to cede the long-range market to US makers.
During the 1950s the government required the industry to consolidate: in consequence only two engine makers were left by 1959: Rolls-Royce
and Bristol Siddeley
. In 1960, the British Aircraft Corporation
(BAC) encompassed Vickers
, Bristol
, and English Electric
's aviation interests, Hawker Siddeley built on de Havilland
's heavy aircraft experience, and Westland
consolidated helicopter manufacture. In 1977 BAC and Hawker Siddeley (by then also including Avro
) were nationalised and merged to form British Aerospace
.
(BOAC) long-range and British European Airways
(BEA) short and medium-range airlines. These were subject to public interest as well as commercial advantage, thus BOAC served British Empire
destinations across Southern Asia and Africa, many of them in remote and less-developed areas, commercially unattractive but politically, strategically and socially important.
As had been the case for its interwar
predecessor, Imperial Airways
, BOAC was expected to operate British-designed and built, or at least British-powered, aircraft, their procurement bills being met by the Ministry of Supply
. Several aircraft commissioned had been unsafe (Comet I
), delayed (Britannia
) or uncompetitively priced (Canadair North Star
, Hermes
) - or had all of these defects combined. This had strained relations between airlines and aircraft makers.
In 1951 the Ministry of Supply asked Vickers-Armstrongs to consider a military troop/freight development of the Valiant
V-bomber with trans-Atlantic
range as a successor to the de Havilland Comet
. The concept interested BOAC, who entered into discussion with Vickers and the RAF. In October 1952 Vickers were contracted to build a prototype which they designated the Type 1000 (V.1000), followed in June 1954 by a production order for six aircraft for the RAF.
The planned civil airliner was known as the VC7 (the seventh Vickers civil design). The development period was extended as the company had to meet RAF requirement for short take-off and a self-loading capability. Work started on the prototype but by 1955 the increased weight of the aircraft required a more powerful engine. Then the government cancelled the RAF order in the 1955 round of defence cuts. Vickers and the Ministry of Supply hoped that BOAC would still be interested in the VC7 but they were reluctant to support the production of another British aircraft following delays in the Britannia
programme and the crashes involving the de Havilland Comet
.
s. These, however, were oversized and underpowered for BOAC's medium-range Empire (MRE) African and Asian routes, which involved destinations with "hot and high" airports that reduced aircraft performance, notably between Karachi
and Singapore
, and could not lift a full load from high-altitude airports like Kano or Nairobi
.
Several companies proposed a suitable replacement. De Havilland
offered the DH.118, a development of the Comet 5 project while Handley Page proposed the HP.97, based on their V-bomber, the Victor
. After carefully considering the routes Vickers offered the VC10.
The VC10 was a new design but used some production ideas and techniques, as well as the Conway engines, developed for the V.1000 and VC7. It had a generous wing equipped with wide chord
Fowler flaps and full span leading edge slats
for good take-off and climb performance and its rear engines gave an efficient clean wing and reduced cabin noise. The engines were also further from the runway surface than an underwing design - of importance considering the nature of the African runways. Technology from the V.1000 and later Vanguard
programmes included structural parts milled from solid blocks rather than assembled from sheet metal. The entire airframe was to be coated against corrosion. Planned flight-deck technology was extremely advanced, with a quadruplicated automatic flight control system (a "super autopilot") intended to enable fully automatic zero-visibility landings. Capacity was up to 135 passengers in a two-class configuration. Vickers designer Sir George Edwards
is said to have stated that this plane was the sole viable option unless he were to reinvent the 707 and, despite misgivings on operating cost, BOAC ordered 25 aircraft.
Vickers calculated that it would need to sell 80 VC10s at about £1.75 million each to break even so, apart from BOAC's 25 another 55 remained to be sold. Vickers offered a smaller version (the VC11) to BEA
for routes like those to Athens
and Beirut
but this was rejected in favour of the Hawker Siddeley Trident
.
. On 14 January 1958 BOAC increased its order to 35, with options for a further 20 aircraft, all with smaller 109-seat interiors and more first-class seating so, as orders from BOAC alone now allowed break-even, the use of the Vanguard jigs was abandoned and new production jigs made.
BOAC had calculated that the Boeing 707 cost £4.10 per passenger-mile while the VC10 would cost £4.24. This information was leaked, reputedly with the loss of several foreign orders. The difference brought calls to cancel the order in favour of the 707. The VC10 was rescued by the British government and in order to offer more economy Vickers began work on the Super 200 development of the VC10 with more powerful Conway engines and a 28 feet (8.1 m) longer fuselage offering up to 212 seats, 23 more than the Boeing 707-320 series.
By January 1960 Vickers was experiencing financial difficulties and was concerned that it would not be able to deliver the 35 VC10s without making a loss. It offered to sell ten Super 200s to BOAC at £2.7 million each only to find that BOAC was unconvinced it had a role for the already ordered 35 VC10s and doubted the airline's ability to fill all 200 seats. The government intervened again on Vickers' behalf with an order for Super 200s, placed on 23 June 1960. The Super 200 extension was cut down to 13 ft (3.9 m) for the final Super VC10 (Type 1150), the original design retrospectively becoming the Standard VC10 (Type 1100).
As allowed in its contracts with Vickers, in May 1961 BOAC amended its order to 15 Standard and 35 Super VC10s, eight of the Supers having a new combi
configuration with a large cargo door and stronger floor: in December the order was reduced again to 12 Standards. By the time deliveries were ready to begin in 1964 airline growth had slowed and BOAC wanted to cut its order to seven Supers. In May the government intervened, placing an order for VC10s to operate as military transports to absorb over-production.
This lengthy, well-publicised trouble did much to erode market confidence in the type. BOAC chairman Gerald d'Erlanger and managing director Sir Basil Smallpeice resigned, defending the opinion that the national airline was a profit-making company, not a sponsor of indigenous aircraft designs (Smallpeice was later an ardent supporter of the Margaret Thatcher
premiership). BOAC's incoming chairman Sir Giles Guthrie was also anti-VC10: he proposed that the Vickers programme should be shelved in favour of more 707 orders.
The prototype Standard, G-ARTA, rolled out of the Weybridge
factory on 15 April 1962. On 29 June, after two months of ground, engine and taxi tests, it flew to Wisley for further testing. By the end of the year two more had been flown to Wisley. A serious problem with drag appeared: to cure it Küchemann
wingtips and "beaver tail" engine nacelle
fairings were added and tested. Along with a reworking of the basal rudder segment (its scythe shape replaced by an angular design with an endplate for greater control effectiveness), this lengthened testing. The certification programme included visits to Nairobi
, Khartoum
, Rome, Kano
, Aden
, Salisbury
(Harare) and Beirut
. A VC10 flew across the Atlantic to Montreal
on 8 February 1964.
By this point seven of the original 12 Standards were complete and the production line was preparing for the Supers. A Certificate of Airworthiness was awarded on 23 April 1964 and the plane was introduced to regular passenger service between London and Lagos
on 29 April. By the end of 1964 all the production requirements had been fulfilled, Vickers (by this point part of the BAC
) retaining the prototype.
Super VC10s made a first flight on 7 May 1964. Although the Super was ostensibly a minor development of the Standard with an extra fuel-tank in the fin, testing was prolonged by the need to move each engine pair 11 in (27 cm) outboard as well as up and giving them a 3 degree twist. This major redesign was needed to resolve tailplane buffeting and fatigue issues due to thrust reverser operation. The two inboard engines could have thrust reversers installed at last, matching the 707. (Military VC10s also had this engine arrangement.)
There was 3.0% more wing area with the leading edge extension reducing aspect ratio and wing root thickness/chord ratios. These changes improved low speed lift and reduced high Mach drag respectively.
Later VC10 design developments included testing a large main-deck freight-door and fitting new wing leading edges featuring a part-drooped, four-per-cent chord extension over the inboard two thirds and a drooped, extended-chord wing-tip that allowed more economical high-altitude flying. (This mimicked the 1961 aerodynamics of the similar-looking but significantly different Il-62
.) Further developments proposed included freighter versions, one with front-loading like the C-124 Globemaster II
. Efforts focused on getting a BOAC order for a 250-seat "VC10 Superb", a move away from the VC10's initial MRE role into the area targeted by the DC-8 Super Sixties
. The VC10 would have needed an entirely new double-deck fuselage, which raised emergency escape concerns, and the design failed to attract orders.
Ghana Airways
ordered three VC10s in January 1961: two to be fitted with a cargo door, known as Type 1102s. The first (registered 9G-ABO) was delivered in November 1964 and the second (9G-ABP) in May 1965: the third was cancelled. Ghana Airways leased 9G-ABP to Tayaran Assharq Alawsat (Middle East Airlines
; MEA), destroyed at Beirut
during an Israeli raid in December 1968. The other, 9G-ABO, was retired from service in 1980. MEA also leased the prototype aircraft that Vickers had kept until 1965, leased from Freddie (later Sir) Laker's charter airline.
British United Airways
(BUA), ordered two combi versions (Type 1103) in 1964, receiving them in October that year. When BOAC ceased VC10 operations to South America BUA took them over, purchasing Ghana Airways' cancelled third aircraft in July 1965 (G-ATDJ, a Type 1103). The prototype aircraft (G-ARTA) was purchased from Vickers/BAC and converted from Type 1101 to Type 1109 in 1968. It was initially leased to Middle East Airlines but returned to British Caledonian (as BUA had become) in 1969. G-ARTA was damaged beyond economical repair in a landing accident at Gatwick in 1972 and the others were sold in 1973-74. G-ASIW saw further service with Air Malawi, being retired in 1979. G-ASIX was sold to the Sultan of Oman as VIP transport and was preserved at Brooklands upon its retirement in 1987. G-ATDJ went to the Royal Aircraft Establishment for equipment tests and was retired in 1980.
Nigeria Airways
had planned to buy two VC10s but had to cancel the order for financial reasons; it leased BOAC G-ARVA from 1969, but it was destroyed in a landing accident at Lagos in November that year.
The final VC10 was the one of five Type 1154 Super VC10 built for East African Airways
between 1966 and 1970 (registered 5X-UVA, 5H-MMT, 5Y-ADA, 5X-UVJ and 5H-MOG). Of these, 5X-UVA was destroyed in a take-off accident at Addis Ababa in 1972, and the other four were retired in 1977 and returned to BAC, subsequently being purchased by the RAF. After 5H-MOG was delivered in February 1970, the production line closed, 54 airframes having been built. The 707 and Douglas DC-8
, with their superior operating economics, had encouraged many of the world's smaller airports to extend their runways thus eliminating the VC10's main advantage.
Marketing overtures were made elsewhere, particularly in Mexico, Argentina
, Lebanon
, Thailand
, Czechoslovakia
, and Romania
, often fronted by British politicians. In reminiscences some of these figures have claimed that BOAC staff actively sabotage
d VC10 marketing by leaking
confidential documents relating to the type's fuel consumption.) The final serious enquiry for VC10s came from Chinese state airline Zhōngguó Mínyòng (CAAC
) in 1971. It was confirmed in 1972 but by then the production equipment had been broken up. Czechoslovakia, Romania and China eventually purchased the Ilyushin Il-62 (for Czech Airlines
, TAROM
and CAAC, respectively).
BOAC's successor British Airways
began retiring its Super VC10s from Atlantic flights in 1974, mainly due to the 1973 oil crisis, and using them to displace standard VC10s. Ten of the eleven surviving standard models were retired in 1974-75. Of these, five were leased to Tayaran AlKhalij (Gulf Air
) until 1977-78 then purchased by the RAF. One was leased to the Government of Qatar for VIP transport until 1981 when it was purchased by the RAF as an instructional airframe. Another went to the Government of the United Arab Emirates for similar purposes until retirement in 1981 and preservation at Hermeskeil, Germany. The other three were traded in to Boeing as part payment on new aircraft and Boeing scrapped them at Heathrow. The last standard VC10 in British Airways service, G-ARVM, was retained as a stand-by for the Super VC10 fleet until 1979. It was then preserved at RAF Cosford as part of the British Airways Museum collection. Its condition deteriorated (BA having withdrawn funding of the collection) and it was reduced to a fuselage in 2006 before being moved to the Brooklands Museum in order to create space for the new National Cold War Exhibition.
Retirement of the BA Super VC10 fleet began in April 1980 with use continuing on less-travelled routes until 1981. After failing to sell them to other operators British Airways sold 14 of the 15 survivors to the RAF in May that year (the exception, G-ASGC, went for preservation at Duxford). This ended the type's airline service history.
The VC10 served its intended market for a mere decade and a half. Fully written down and amortised by the 1970s, it could have continued in airline service much longer despite its high fuel consumption but high noise levels on departure and approach sealed its fate. Hush-kitting
the Conways was considered in the late 1970s but rejected on grounds of cost.
with Vickers in September 1961 for five VC10s. The order was increased by an additional six in August 1962, with a further three aircraft cancelled by BOAC added in July 1964. The military version (Type 1106) was a combination of the Standard combi airframe with the more powerful engines and fin fuel tank of the Super VC10. It also had a detachable in-flight refuelling nose probe and an auxiliary power unit
in the tailcone. Another difference from the civil specification was that all the passenger seats faced backwards for safety reasons.
The first RAF machine (designated
VC10 C Mk. 1, often abbreviated to VC10 C1), was delivered for testing on 26 November 1965, with deliveries to No. 10 Squadron
beginning in December 1966 and ending in August 1968. The VC10s were named after Victoria Cross
(VC) medal holders, displaying the VC holder's name above the forward passenger door. VC10 C1 aircraft were supplied to the RAF in specific configuration of a forward freight door (as per the K3), the "super" VC10 wing (as per the K3 and K4) and the fin fuel tank.
One aircraft (XR809) was leased to Rolls-Royce for flight testing of the RB211 turbofan between 1969 and 1975. On return to the RAF it was found that the airframe had become distorted, due to the increase in power from the RB211 fitted to one side of the fuselage over the Conways fitted to the other side. It considered uneconomical to repair and was instead used for SAS training, before being scrapped.
In late 1977, studies were started into converting redundant commercial VC10s into air-to-air refuelling tankers, with the RAF placing a contract with British Aerospace
to convert five former BOAC (that had been operated by Gulf Air) Standard VC10s and four former East African Airways Super VC10s as air-to-air refuelling tankers. These were designated VC10 K2 and VC10 K3 respectively. During conversion, extra fuel tanks were installed in what was previously the passenger cabin. These increased the theoretical maximum fuel load to 85 tons/77 tonnes (K2) and 90 tons/82 tonnes (K3); the fin fuel tank of the Super VC10 making the difference. In practice, the fuel load would be capped by the maximum take-off weight before the tanks are completely full. Both variants had refuelling pods mounted under the wings and a centreline refuelling point, known as a Hose Drum Unit (HDU), was installed in the rear freight bay. An in-flight refuelling probe was fitted on the nose, allowing fuel to be taken from the VC10, Victor or TriStar tankers.
Conversion to K2, K3 and K4 tanker role of the previous civil aircraft took place at BAE Systems
Filton
site. Because the K3s had a forward freight door this facilitated the insertion of five upper fuselage tanks in the main fuselage of the aircraft. In the case of the K2s, there was no forward freight door and it was required to dismantle a large section of the fuselage roof structure for the insertion of the five upper fuselage tanks. This proved to a mammoth task. In the K2 and K3 conversions extensive floor reinforcement was required to accommodate the additional weight of the five tanks and fuel load. K2 and K3 aircraft were classed as three point tankers, consisting of two wing mounted HDU and one centre fuselage HDU.
in the lower surface of the wings. This was attributed mainly to the storage method used prior to conversion, whereby the wing tanks were defuelled but then filled with water, in order to add ballast to the aircraft during storage. This led to an extensive wing plank corrosion rectification and in some cases plank replacement during subsequent major services. For the K4 conversions, as with the K2 aircraft, there was no facility of a forward freight door. For this reason it was decided that there would be no internal refuelling tanks fitted to the K4s. The K4 has identical refuelling equipment to the K2 and K3, but does not have any extra fuel tanks in the fuselage. Its fuel capacity remains at 80 tons (70 tonnes), the same as a Super VC10.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 13 surviving C1s were also equipped with wing-mounted refuelling pods (HDUs) and re-designated as VC10 C1K dual-rôle two-point tanker/transports. Again, no extra tanks were provided and the fuel load remains at 80 tons (70 tonnes). The C1s did not therefore require the strengthened flooring. The conversions were undertaken by FR Aviation Limited based at Hurn Airport, near Bournemouth. The in-flight refuelling probe was a feature of the original RAF aircraft, but it was removed for a period during the 1970s and 1980s due to lack of use. The probe was refitted sometime before the tanker conversions took place.
Another one-time BOAC Standard VC10 was acquired as an instructional airframe/spare parts in 1981, having previously been leased to the Government of Qatar
. A former BUA/British Caledonian
aircraft was acquired by the MoD in 1974 and served with the Royal Aircraft Establishment
(RAE) at Bedford
. After retirement the fuselage was retained at RAF Brize Norton as an instructional aid for the Air Movements School.
In 1982 VC10 C1s were part of the airbridge between RAF Brize Norton and Wideawake Airfield on Ascension Island
during Operation Corporate
, the campaign to retake the Falkland Islands. In 1991 9 K2s and K3s deployed to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman as part of Operation Granby
, the UK's contribution to the campaign to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait, during which they flew 381 sorties.
In 1992, XR806 suffered a flash fire
in a wing fuel tank, whilst undergoing major maintenance and fuel leak rectification, by a British Aerospace
team at RAF Brize Norton
. Two members of the team received burns (one serious) in the incident. The damage to the aircraft was classified as minimal, due to there being no follow-on combustion and the fast response of the emergency services. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service.
In 1997, XR806 was damaged beyond economic repair in a ground de-fuelling accident at RAF Brize Norton
, whereby fuel was drained from the wing & centre section fuel tanks, but not the rear fin tank. This made the aircraft tail heavy and it tipped backwards on its main undercarriage, with the tail crashing heavily onto the hard standing. This caused damage to the rear cone of the fuselage and lower sections of the rudder. The rear pressure bulkhead suffered severe damage. The RAF considered replacing the rear pressure bulkhead with one from a donor aircraft (the fire trainer at Brize Norton), until an estimate of in excess of £2m was tabled by BAE Systems.
VC10s allowed RAF Bruggen
-based Tornado GR1s to strike Serbian targets during Operation Allied Force
in 1999.
. Nine VC10s participated in Operation Telic
, the UK's contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The K2s were retired and scrapped between 2000 and 2003. The surviving airworthy VC10 C1Ks, K3s and K4s served as tanker/transports with No. 101
Squadron at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
and No. 1312 Flight
at RAF Mount Pleasant
, Falkland Islands
, making the RAF the VC10's final operator.
In 2006 two VC10s were dispatched to Okinawa, Japan to undertake a lesser known role of the type; to collect nuclear debris tests using sampling pods replacing the refuelling pods. This was prompted by the North Korean nuclear test
.
The K3s are due to be retired in 2014 but may be extended, fatigue hours permitting.
The VC10 and Lockheed TriStar
tanker/transports are due to be replaced in RAF service by the Airbus A330 MRTT
under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft
Project; they are currently restricted to use as tankers, and will not be used beyond the end of the 2010-2015 support contract.
VC10 air-to-air refuelling aircraft supported the British air strikes
on Libya on 19–20 March 2011 as part of the coalition operations to enforce UN Resolution 1973
.
During the late 1980s, the RAF/MOD considered moving the major servicing to RAF Abingdon
, a short distance away from RAF Brize Norton
, and the storage location of the future K4 aircraft. The decision to close RAF Abingdon
as an RAF base put paid to this. Instead a purpose built hangar facility was built at RAF St Athan, in South Wales. This facility was known as "1 Air Maintenance Sqn" (1 AMS) and could take two VC10s side by side with a dividing wall between the two bays. Because of the design of the structure it was given the nickname "Twin Peaks". In August 1992, the pre-Dock Day (input date) meeting took place for the 1st aircraft to undergo major service at this facility took place within 1 AMS. This meeting was interrupted with the news of the flash fire of XR806. The first aircraft to undergo major servicing at the new facility entered Twin Peaks in January 1993.
Due to the looming out of service date of the remaining VC10 aircraft, in favour of the FSTA, the last aircraft to undergo major servicing left "Twin Peaks", RAF St Athan. At this point the "Twin Peaks" hangar was only operating one of the two lines for VC10s the other line had been stripped of the dedicated staging and utilised for Tornado aircraft. It is envisaged that a similar fate will fall to the last remaining dedicated bay.
) Manchester, Woodford and Chadderton sites. During the early 1990s Chadderton produced the majority of the detailed components, until a corporate decision to subcontract all detailed manufacture was taken in the mid 1990s. At this time the design team, led by Chief Design Engineer David Natham, transferred from Woodford to Chadderton.
In 2003, responsibility for the commercial procurement of all spares items was undertaken by BAE Systems, at BAE Systems Samlesbury. The Chadderton site maintained responsibility for the MoD contracts for project managing modifications; major repairs and major maintenance being carried out at RAF St Athan.
Military (RAF) use:
Bahrain
East African Community
Ghana
Lebanon
Malawi
Nigeria
Oman
Qatar
Sri Lanka
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd, and first flown in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance routes with a high subsonic speed and also be capable of hot and high
Hot and high
In aviation, hot and high is a condition of low air density due to high ambient temperature and high airport elevation. Air density decreases with increasing temperature and altitude. Lower air density reduces the amount of lift generated by the wings or the rotors of an aircraft, which may hamper...
operations from African airports. The initial concept of the VC10 was to provide a jet-powered airliner that could comfortably make use of the shorter runways commonly in use at the time. The performance of the VC10 was such that it achieved the fastest crossing of the Atlantic - London to New York by a jet airliner, a record still held to date for a sub-sonic airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
; only the supersonic
Supersonic
Supersonic speed is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound . For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound are often...
Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
remains faster.
The VC-10 is often compared to the larger Soviet Ilyushin
Ilyushin
Open Joint Stock Company «Ilyushin Aviation Complex» , operating as Ilyushin or Ilyushin Design Bureau, is a Russian design bureau and aircraft manufacturer, founded by Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin. Ilyushin was established under the Soviet Union. Its operations began on January 13, 1933, by...
Il-62, both aircraft having a rear-engined quad layout, the two types being the only airliners with such a configuration. As of June 2010, 13 VC10s remain in service as aerial refuelling and transport aircraft with the Royal Air Force.
Origins
Although privately owned, Britain's aviation industry had been government-managed in practice, particularly during the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Design and manufacture of transport aircraft had been abandoned in order to concentrate on production of combat aircraft with Britain's transport aircraft needs being met by the provision of US aircraft through Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
. In 1943 the Brabazon Committee
Brabazon Committee
The Brabazon Committee was a committee formed on 23 December 1942 to investigate the future needs of the British Empire's civilian airliner market...
introduced command economy-style principles into the industry, specifying a number of different types of airliners that would be required for the post-War
Post-War
Post-War is the fifth studio album by M. Ward. It was released on August 22, 2006 by Merge Records. It features the single "To Go Home," a cover of a song written by Daniel Johnston. Guest appearances were made by Jim James of My Morning Jacket , Neko Case and Mike Mogis...
years, though it assumed that US dominance in transport aircraft would translate into leadership in long range airliners and conceded in principle that the industry might have to cede the long-range market to US makers.
During the 1950s the government required the industry to consolidate: in consequence only two engine makers were left by 1959: Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
and Bristol Siddeley
Bristol Siddeley
Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of the de Havilland Engine Company and the engine division of...
. In 1960, the British Aircraft Corporation
British Aircraft Corporation
The British Aircraft Corporation was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs , the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with...
(BAC) encompassed Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
, Bristol
Bristol Aeroplane Company
The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aero engines...
, and English Electric
English Electric
English Electric was a British industrial manufacturer. Founded in 1918, it initially specialised in industrial electric motors and transformers...
's aviation interests, Hawker Siddeley built on de Havilland
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
's heavy aircraft experience, and Westland
Westland Aircraft
Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil in Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Ltd just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915...
consolidated helicopter manufacture. In 1977 BAC and Hawker Siddeley (by then also including Avro
Avro
Avro was a British aircraft manufacturer, with numerous landmark designs such as the Avro 504 trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the delta wing Avro Vulcan, a stalwart of the Cold War.-Early history:One of the world's...
) were nationalised and merged to form British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
.
BOAC background
The British government controlled route-licensing for private airlines and also oversaw the newly established publicly owned British Overseas Airways CorporationBritish Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
(BOAC) long-range and British European Airways
British European Airways
British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...
(BEA) short and medium-range airlines. These were subject to public interest as well as commercial advantage, thus BOAC served British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
destinations across Southern Asia and Africa, many of them in remote and less-developed areas, commercially unattractive but politically, strategically and socially important.
As had been the case for its interwar
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
predecessor, Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long range air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939 and serving parts of Europe but especially the Empire routes to South Africa, India and the Far East...
, BOAC was expected to operate British-designed and built, or at least British-powered, aircraft, their procurement bills being met by the Ministry of Supply
Ministry of Supply
The Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. There was, however, a separate ministry responsible for aircraft production and the Admiralty retained...
. Several aircraft commissioned had been unsafe (Comet I
De Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at the Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom headquarters, it first flew in 1949 and was a landmark in aeronautical design...
), delayed (Britannia
Bristol Britannia
The Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the British Empire...
) or uncompetitively priced (Canadair North Star
Canadair North Star
The Canadair North Star was a 1940s Canadian development of the Douglas C-54 / DC-4 aircraft. Instead of radial piston engines found on the Douglas design, Canadair employed Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in order to achieve a 35 mph faster cruising speed. The prototype flew on 15 July 1946 and...
, Hermes
Handley Page Hermes
The Handley Page HP 81 Hermes was a British civilian airliner built by Handley Page in the 1940s and 50s. Closely related to Handley Page's Hastings military transport, the Hermes was a low-wing monoplane powered by four piston engines...
) - or had all of these defects combined. This had strained relations between airlines and aircraft makers.
Vickers and Rolls-Royce background
Vickers Valiant
The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...
V-bomber with trans-Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
range as a successor to the de Havilland Comet
De Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at the Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom headquarters, it first flew in 1949 and was a landmark in aeronautical design...
. The concept interested BOAC, who entered into discussion with Vickers and the RAF. In October 1952 Vickers were contracted to build a prototype which they designated the Type 1000 (V.1000), followed in June 1954 by a production order for six aircraft for the RAF.
The planned civil airliner was known as the VC7 (the seventh Vickers civil design). The development period was extended as the company had to meet RAF requirement for short take-off and a self-loading capability. Work started on the prototype but by 1955 the increased weight of the aircraft required a more powerful engine. Then the government cancelled the RAF order in the 1955 round of defence cuts. Vickers and the Ministry of Supply hoped that BOAC would still be interested in the VC7 but they were reluctant to support the production of another British aircraft following delays in the Britannia
Bristol Britannia
The Bristol Type 175 Britannia was a British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the British Empire...
programme and the crashes involving the de Havilland Comet
De Havilland Comet
The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at the Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom headquarters, it first flew in 1949 and was a landmark in aeronautical design...
.
BOAC re-enters the jet age
Though BOAC had ordered modified Comet 4s it saw the type as intermediate (the new Comet served the carrier for well under a decade). In 1956 BOAC ordered 15 Boeing 707Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
s. These, however, were oversized and underpowered for BOAC's medium-range Empire (MRE) African and Asian routes, which involved destinations with "hot and high" airports that reduced aircraft performance, notably between Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and could not lift a full load from high-altitude airports like Kano or Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
.
Several companies proposed a suitable replacement. De Havilland
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
offered the DH.118, a development of the Comet 5 project while Handley Page proposed the HP.97, based on their V-bomber, the Victor
Handley Page Victor
The Handley Page Victor was a British jet bomber aircraft produced by the Handley Page Aircraft Company during the Cold War. It was the third and final of the V-bombers that provided Britain's nuclear deterrent. The other two V-bombers were the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. Some aircraft...
. After carefully considering the routes Vickers offered the VC10.
The VC10 concept
Chord (aircraft)
In aeronautics, chord refers to the imaginary straight line joining the trailing edge and the center of curvature of the leading edge of the cross-section of an airfoil...
Fowler flaps and full span leading edge slats
Leading edge slats
Slats are aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of the wings of fixed-wing aircraft which, when deployed, allow the wing to operate at a higher angle of attack. A higher coefficient of lift is produced as a result of angle of attack and speed, so by deploying slats an aircraft can fly at slower...
for good take-off and climb performance and its rear engines gave an efficient clean wing and reduced cabin noise. The engines were also further from the runway surface than an underwing design - of importance considering the nature of the African runways. Technology from the V.1000 and later Vanguard
Vickers Vanguard
The Vickers Type 950 Vanguard was a British short/medium-range turboprop airliner introduced in 1959 by Vickers-Armstrongs, a development of their successful Viscount design with considerably more internal room. The Vanguard was introduced just before the first of the large jet-powered airliners,...
programmes included structural parts milled from solid blocks rather than assembled from sheet metal. The entire airframe was to be coated against corrosion. Planned flight-deck technology was extremely advanced, with a quadruplicated automatic flight control system (a "super autopilot") intended to enable fully automatic zero-visibility landings. Capacity was up to 135 passengers in a two-class configuration. Vickers designer Sir George Edwards
George Edwards (aviation)
Sir George Robert Freeman Edwards, OM, CBE, FRS, DL , was a British aircraft designer and industrialist.Edwards was born in Highams Park, England...
is said to have stated that this plane was the sole viable option unless he were to reinvent the 707 and, despite misgivings on operating cost, BOAC ordered 25 aircraft.
Vickers calculated that it would need to sell 80 VC10s at about £1.75 million each to break even so, apart from BOAC's 25 another 55 remained to be sold. Vickers offered a smaller version (the VC11) to BEA
British European Airways
British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...
for routes like those to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
but this was rejected in favour of the Hawker Siddeley Trident
Hawker Siddeley Trident
The Hawker Siddeley HS 121 Trident was a British short/medium-range three-engined jet airliner designed by de Havilland and built by Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s and 1970s...
.
Production and order problems
Vickers revamped its production plans to try to achieve break-even point with 35 sales at £1.5 million each, re-using jigs from the Vickers VanguardVickers Vanguard
The Vickers Type 950 Vanguard was a British short/medium-range turboprop airliner introduced in 1959 by Vickers-Armstrongs, a development of their successful Viscount design with considerably more internal room. The Vanguard was introduced just before the first of the large jet-powered airliners,...
. On 14 January 1958 BOAC increased its order to 35, with options for a further 20 aircraft, all with smaller 109-seat interiors and more first-class seating so, as orders from BOAC alone now allowed break-even, the use of the Vanguard jigs was abandoned and new production jigs made.
BOAC had calculated that the Boeing 707 cost £4.10 per passenger-mile while the VC10 would cost £4.24. This information was leaked, reputedly with the loss of several foreign orders. The difference brought calls to cancel the order in favour of the 707. The VC10 was rescued by the British government and in order to offer more economy Vickers began work on the Super 200 development of the VC10 with more powerful Conway engines and a 28 feet (8.1 m) longer fuselage offering up to 212 seats, 23 more than the Boeing 707-320 series.
By January 1960 Vickers was experiencing financial difficulties and was concerned that it would not be able to deliver the 35 VC10s without making a loss. It offered to sell ten Super 200s to BOAC at £2.7 million each only to find that BOAC was unconvinced it had a role for the already ordered 35 VC10s and doubted the airline's ability to fill all 200 seats. The government intervened again on Vickers' behalf with an order for Super 200s, placed on 23 June 1960. The Super 200 extension was cut down to 13 ft (3.9 m) for the final Super VC10 (Type 1150), the original design retrospectively becoming the Standard VC10 (Type 1100).
As allowed in its contracts with Vickers, in May 1961 BOAC amended its order to 15 Standard and 35 Super VC10s, eight of the Supers having a new combi
Combi
In commercial aviation, the term combi refers to versions of various aircraft that can be used for either passenger, as an airliner would, or cargo duties, as a freighter would, and often have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at once...
configuration with a large cargo door and stronger floor: in December the order was reduced again to 12 Standards. By the time deliveries were ready to begin in 1964 airline growth had slowed and BOAC wanted to cut its order to seven Supers. In May the government intervened, placing an order for VC10s to operate as military transports to absorb over-production.
This lengthy, well-publicised trouble did much to erode market confidence in the type. BOAC chairman Gerald d'Erlanger and managing director Sir Basil Smallpeice resigned, defending the opinion that the national airline was a profit-making company, not a sponsor of indigenous aircraft designs (Smallpeice was later an ardent supporter of the Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
premiership). BOAC's incoming chairman Sir Giles Guthrie was also anti-VC10: he proposed that the Vickers programme should be shelved in favour of more 707 orders.
Development and production
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
factory on 15 April 1962. On 29 June, after two months of ground, engine and taxi tests, it flew to Wisley for further testing. By the end of the year two more had been flown to Wisley. A serious problem with drag appeared: to cure it Küchemann
Dietrich Küchemann
Dietrich Küchemann CBE FRS FRAeS was a German aerodynamicist who made several important contributions to the advancement of high-speed flight...
wingtips and "beaver tail" engine nacelle
Nacelle
The nacelle is a cover housing that holds engines, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. In some cases—for instance in the typical "Farman" type "pusher" aircraft, or the World War II-era P-38 Lightning—an aircraft's cockpit may also be housed in a nacelle, which essentially fills the...
fairings were added and tested. Along with a reworking of the basal rudder segment (its scythe shape replaced by an angular design with an endplate for greater control effectiveness), this lengthened testing. The certification programme included visits to Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
, Rome, Kano
Kano
Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
, Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, Salisbury
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
(Harare) and Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
. A VC10 flew across the Atlantic to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on 8 February 1964.
By this point seven of the original 12 Standards were complete and the production line was preparing for the Supers. A Certificate of Airworthiness was awarded on 23 April 1964 and the plane was introduced to regular passenger service between London and Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
on 29 April. By the end of 1964 all the production requirements had been fulfilled, Vickers (by this point part of the BAC
British Aircraft Corporation
The British Aircraft Corporation was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs , the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with...
) retaining the prototype.
Super VC10s made a first flight on 7 May 1964. Although the Super was ostensibly a minor development of the Standard with an extra fuel-tank in the fin, testing was prolonged by the need to move each engine pair 11 in (27 cm) outboard as well as up and giving them a 3 degree twist. This major redesign was needed to resolve tailplane buffeting and fatigue issues due to thrust reverser operation. The two inboard engines could have thrust reversers installed at last, matching the 707. (Military VC10s also had this engine arrangement.)
There was 3.0% more wing area with the leading edge extension reducing aspect ratio and wing root thickness/chord ratios. These changes improved low speed lift and reduced high Mach drag respectively.
Later VC10 design developments included testing a large main-deck freight-door and fitting new wing leading edges featuring a part-drooped, four-per-cent chord extension over the inboard two thirds and a drooped, extended-chord wing-tip that allowed more economical high-altitude flying. (This mimicked the 1961 aerodynamics of the similar-looking but significantly different Il-62
Ilyushin Il-62
The Ilyushin Il-62 is a Soviet long-range jet airliner conceived in 1960 by Ilyushin. As successor to the popular turbo-prop Il-18 and with capacity for almost 200 passengers, the Il-62 was the largest jet airliner when it first flew in 1963. It entered Aeroflot service on 15 September 1967 with...
.) Further developments proposed included freighter versions, one with front-loading like the C-124 Globemaster II
C-124 Globemaster II
The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shakey", was a heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California....
. Efforts focused on getting a BOAC order for a 250-seat "VC10 Superb", a move away from the VC10's initial MRE role into the area targeted by the DC-8 Super Sixties
Douglas DC-8
The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company...
. The VC10 would have needed an entirely new double-deck fuselage, which raised emergency escape concerns, and the design failed to attract orders.
Operational history
Commercial service and sales
A total of 12 Type 1101 VC10 (registered G-ARVA to G-ARVM) were purchased in 1964-65, followed by 17 Type 1151 Super VC10 in 1965-69 (G-ASGA to G-ASGP and G-ASGR). The VC10 became an immensely popular aircraft in the BOAC fleet, both with passengers and crew, being particularly praised for its low cabin noise level and comfort. BOAC (and later British Airways) obtained higher load factors with the VC10 than with the 707 or indeed any other aircraft of its fleets. Operational experience soon resulted in the deletion of the inboard thrust-reversers due to continued tailplane buffeting despite the engine repositioning. Two BOAC Super VC10s were lost in terrorist hijackings in 1968 and 1970.Ghana Airways
Ghana Airways
Ghana Airways Limited was the national airline of the Republic of Ghana with its main base of operation, and hub, at Kotoka International Airport in Accra....
ordered three VC10s in January 1961: two to be fitted with a cargo door, known as Type 1102s. The first (registered 9G-ABO) was delivered in November 1964 and the second (9G-ABP) in May 1965: the third was cancelled. Ghana Airways leased 9G-ABP to Tayaran Assharq Alawsat (Middle East Airlines
Middle East Airlines
Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. , more commonly known as Middle East Airlines , is the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport...
; MEA), destroyed at Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
during an Israeli raid in December 1968. The other, 9G-ABO, was retired from service in 1980. MEA also leased the prototype aircraft that Vickers had kept until 1965, leased from Freddie (later Sir) Laker's charter airline.
British United Airways
British United Airways
British United Airways was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest wholly private airline based in the United Kingdom at the time...
(BUA), ordered two combi versions (Type 1103) in 1964, receiving them in October that year. When BOAC ceased VC10 operations to South America BUA took them over, purchasing Ghana Airways' cancelled third aircraft in July 1965 (G-ATDJ, a Type 1103). The prototype aircraft (G-ARTA) was purchased from Vickers/BAC and converted from Type 1101 to Type 1109 in 1968. It was initially leased to Middle East Airlines but returned to British Caledonian (as BUA had become) in 1969. G-ARTA was damaged beyond economical repair in a landing accident at Gatwick in 1972 and the others were sold in 1973-74. G-ASIW saw further service with Air Malawi, being retired in 1979. G-ASIX was sold to the Sultan of Oman as VIP transport and was preserved at Brooklands upon its retirement in 1987. G-ATDJ went to the Royal Aircraft Establishment for equipment tests and was retired in 1980.
Nigeria Airways
Nigeria Airways
Nigeria Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Nigeria Airways, is a defunct Nigerian airline. The company was founded in 1958 after the dissolution of West African Airways Corporation. It was wholly owned by the Government of Nigeria, and served as the country's flag carrier. The airline was...
had planned to buy two VC10s but had to cancel the order for financial reasons; it leased BOAC G-ARVA from 1969, but it was destroyed in a landing accident at Lagos in November that year.
The final VC10 was the one of five Type 1154 Super VC10 built for East African Airways
East African Airways
East African Airways Corp. was an airline jointly run by three countries in East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania; and Uganda, which were then part of an East African Community. The airline was headquartered in the Sadler House in Nairobi, Kenya...
between 1966 and 1970 (registered 5X-UVA, 5H-MMT, 5Y-ADA, 5X-UVJ and 5H-MOG). Of these, 5X-UVA was destroyed in a take-off accident at Addis Ababa in 1972, and the other four were retired in 1977 and returned to BAC, subsequently being purchased by the RAF. After 5H-MOG was delivered in February 1970, the production line closed, 54 airframes having been built. The 707 and Douglas DC-8
Douglas DC-8
The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company...
, with their superior operating economics, had encouraged many of the world's smaller airports to extend their runways thus eliminating the VC10's main advantage.
Marketing overtures were made elsewhere, particularly in Mexico, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, often fronted by British politicians. In reminiscences some of these figures have claimed that BOAC staff actively sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
d VC10 marketing by leaking
News leak
A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release, or the unsanctioned release of confidential information.-Types of news leaks:...
confidential documents relating to the type's fuel consumption.) The final serious enquiry for VC10s came from Chinese state airline Zhōngguó Mínyòng (CAAC
Civil Aviation Administration of China
The Civil Aviation Administration of China , formerly the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China , is the aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents...
) in 1971. It was confirmed in 1972 but by then the production equipment had been broken up. Czechoslovakia, Romania and China eventually purchased the Ilyushin Il-62 (for Czech Airlines
Czech Airlines
Czech Airlines j.s.c. , trading as Czech Airlines , is the national airline of the Czech Republic and temporary in Slovakia with its head office on the grounds of Ruzyně Airport in Ruzyně, Prague...
, TAROM
TAROM
S.C. Compania Națională de Transporturi Aeriene Române TAROM S.A., doing business as TAROM Romanian Air Transport, is the flag carrier and oldest currently operating airline of Romania. The brand name is an acronym for...
and CAAC, respectively).
BOAC's successor British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
began retiring its Super VC10s from Atlantic flights in 1974, mainly due to the 1973 oil crisis, and using them to displace standard VC10s. Ten of the eleven surviving standard models were retired in 1974-75. Of these, five were leased to Tayaran AlKhalij (Gulf Air
Gulf Air
Gulf Air is the principal flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Headquartered in Muharraq, adjacent to Bahrain International Airport, the airline operates scheduled services to 45 destinations in 28 countries across Africa, Asia and Europe. Its main base is Bahrain International Airport...
) until 1977-78 then purchased by the RAF. One was leased to the Government of Qatar for VIP transport until 1981 when it was purchased by the RAF as an instructional airframe. Another went to the Government of the United Arab Emirates for similar purposes until retirement in 1981 and preservation at Hermeskeil, Germany. The other three were traded in to Boeing as part payment on new aircraft and Boeing scrapped them at Heathrow. The last standard VC10 in British Airways service, G-ARVM, was retained as a stand-by for the Super VC10 fleet until 1979. It was then preserved at RAF Cosford as part of the British Airways Museum collection. Its condition deteriorated (BA having withdrawn funding of the collection) and it was reduced to a fuselage in 2006 before being moved to the Brooklands Museum in order to create space for the new National Cold War Exhibition.
Retirement of the BA Super VC10 fleet began in April 1980 with use continuing on less-travelled routes until 1981. After failing to sell them to other operators British Airways sold 14 of the 15 survivors to the RAF in May that year (the exception, G-ASGC, went for preservation at Duxford). This ended the type's airline service history.
The VC10 served its intended market for a mere decade and a half. Fully written down and amortised by the 1970s, it could have continued in airline service much longer despite its high fuel consumption but high noise levels on departure and approach sealed its fate. Hush-kitting
Hush kit
A hush kit is a device for reducing noise from an engine; most commonly the term refers to devices which reduce noise emissions from low-bypass turbofan engines, as fitted to older commercial aircraft ....
the Conways was considered in the late 1970s but rejected on grounds of cost.
1960s and 1970s
In 1960, the RAF issued Specification 239 for a strategic transport, which resulted in an order being placed by the Air MinistryAir Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
with Vickers in September 1961 for five VC10s. The order was increased by an additional six in August 1962, with a further three aircraft cancelled by BOAC added in July 1964. The military version (Type 1106) was a combination of the Standard combi airframe with the more powerful engines and fin fuel tank of the Super VC10. It also had a detachable in-flight refuelling nose probe and an auxiliary power unit
Auxiliary power unit
An auxiliary power unit is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft, as well as some large land vehicles.-Function:...
in the tailcone. Another difference from the civil specification was that all the passenger seats faced backwards for safety reasons.
The first RAF machine (designated
British military aircraft designation systems
British military aircraft designations are used to refer to aircraft types and variants operated by the armed forces of the United Kingdom.Since the end of the First World War, aircraft types in British military service have generally been known by a name British military aircraft designations are...
VC10 C Mk. 1, often abbreviated to VC10 C1), was delivered for testing on 26 November 1965, with deliveries to No. 10 Squadron
No. 10 Squadron RAF
No. 10 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron served in a variety of roles over its 90 year history...
beginning in December 1966 and ending in August 1968. The VC10s were named after Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
(VC) medal holders, displaying the VC holder's name above the forward passenger door. VC10 C1 aircraft were supplied to the RAF in specific configuration of a forward freight door (as per the K3), the "super" VC10 wing (as per the K3 and K4) and the fin fuel tank.
One aircraft (XR809) was leased to Rolls-Royce for flight testing of the RB211 turbofan between 1969 and 1975. On return to the RAF it was found that the airframe had become distorted, due to the increase in power from the RB211 fitted to one side of the fuselage over the Conways fitted to the other side. It considered uneconomical to repair and was instead used for SAS training, before being scrapped.
In late 1977, studies were started into converting redundant commercial VC10s into air-to-air refuelling tankers, with the RAF placing a contract with British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
to convert five former BOAC (that had been operated by Gulf Air) Standard VC10s and four former East African Airways Super VC10s as air-to-air refuelling tankers. These were designated VC10 K2 and VC10 K3 respectively. During conversion, extra fuel tanks were installed in what was previously the passenger cabin. These increased the theoretical maximum fuel load to 85 tons/77 tonnes (K2) and 90 tons/82 tonnes (K3); the fin fuel tank of the Super VC10 making the difference. In practice, the fuel load would be capped by the maximum take-off weight before the tanks are completely full. Both variants had refuelling pods mounted under the wings and a centreline refuelling point, known as a Hose Drum Unit (HDU), was installed in the rear freight bay. An in-flight refuelling probe was fitted on the nose, allowing fuel to be taken from the VC10, Victor or TriStar tankers.
Conversion to K2, K3 and K4 tanker role of the previous civil aircraft took place at BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
Filton
Filton
Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about from the city centre. Filton lies in Bristol postcode areas BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building...
site. Because the K3s had a forward freight door this facilitated the insertion of five upper fuselage tanks in the main fuselage of the aircraft. In the case of the K2s, there was no forward freight door and it was required to dismantle a large section of the fuselage roof structure for the insertion of the five upper fuselage tanks. This proved to a mammoth task. In the K2 and K3 conversions extensive floor reinforcement was required to accommodate the additional weight of the five tanks and fuel load. K2 and K3 aircraft were classed as three point tankers, consisting of two wing mounted HDU and one centre fuselage HDU.
1980s and 1990s
In 1981, 14 former British Airways Super VC10s were purchased, and these were placed in storage and some were used for spare parts. In the early 1990s, five of the aircraft were revived and converted to VC10 K4 tankers. Upon examination prior to the first "major" in-depth servicing of the K4s it was discovered that there was extensive wing plank corrosionCorrosion
Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...
in the lower surface of the wings. This was attributed mainly to the storage method used prior to conversion, whereby the wing tanks were defuelled but then filled with water, in order to add ballast to the aircraft during storage. This led to an extensive wing plank corrosion rectification and in some cases plank replacement during subsequent major services. For the K4 conversions, as with the K2 aircraft, there was no facility of a forward freight door. For this reason it was decided that there would be no internal refuelling tanks fitted to the K4s. The K4 has identical refuelling equipment to the K2 and K3, but does not have any extra fuel tanks in the fuselage. Its fuel capacity remains at 80 tons (70 tonnes), the same as a Super VC10.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 13 surviving C1s were also equipped with wing-mounted refuelling pods (HDUs) and re-designated as VC10 C1K dual-rôle two-point tanker/transports. Again, no extra tanks were provided and the fuel load remains at 80 tons (70 tonnes). The C1s did not therefore require the strengthened flooring. The conversions were undertaken by FR Aviation Limited based at Hurn Airport, near Bournemouth. The in-flight refuelling probe was a feature of the original RAF aircraft, but it was removed for a period during the 1970s and 1980s due to lack of use. The probe was refitted sometime before the tanker conversions took place.
Another one-time BOAC Standard VC10 was acquired as an instructional airframe/spare parts in 1981, having previously been leased to the Government of Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
. A former BUA/British Caledonian
British Caledonian
British Caledonian was a private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline, operating out of Gatwick Airport in the 1970s and 1980s...
aircraft was acquired by the MoD in 1974 and served with the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
(RAE) at Bedford
RAE Bedford
RAE Bedford based near the village of Thurleigh, north of the town of Bedford in England, has been the site of major aircraft experimental development work....
. After retirement the fuselage was retained at RAF Brize Norton as an instructional aid for the Air Movements School.
In 1982 VC10 C1s were part of the airbridge between RAF Brize Norton and Wideawake Airfield on Ascension Island
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
during Operation Corporate
Operation Corporate
Operation Corporate was the codename given to the 1982 British military involvement in the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War. The commander of task force operations was Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse. Operations lasted from 1 April 1982 to 20 June 1982....
, the campaign to retake the Falkland Islands. In 1991 9 K2s and K3s deployed to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman as part of Operation Granby
Operation Granby
Operation Granby was the name given to the British military operations during the Gulf War. 53,462 troops were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations was £2.434 billion of which at least £2.049 billion was paid for by other nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; £200...
, the UK's contribution to the campaign to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait, during which they flew 381 sorties.
In 1992, XR806 suffered a flash fire
Flash fire
A flash fire is a sudden, intense fire caused by ignition of a mixture of air and a dispersed flammable substance such as a solid , flammable or combustible liquid , or a flammable gas...
in a wing fuel tank, whilst undergoing major maintenance and fuel leak rectification, by a British Aerospace
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was in the Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire...
team at RAF Brize Norton
RAF Brize Norton
RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the settlements of Brize Norton, Carterton and Witney....
. Two members of the team received burns (one serious) in the incident. The damage to the aircraft was classified as minimal, due to there being no follow-on combustion and the fast response of the emergency services. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service.
In 1997, XR806 was damaged beyond economic repair in a ground de-fuelling accident at RAF Brize Norton
RAF Brize Norton
RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the settlements of Brize Norton, Carterton and Witney....
, whereby fuel was drained from the wing & centre section fuel tanks, but not the rear fin tank. This made the aircraft tail heavy and it tipped backwards on its main undercarriage, with the tail crashing heavily onto the hard standing. This caused damage to the rear cone of the fuselage and lower sections of the rudder. The rear pressure bulkhead suffered severe damage. The RAF considered replacing the rear pressure bulkhead with one from a donor aircraft (the fire trainer at Brize Norton), until an estimate of in excess of £2m was tabled by BAE Systems.
VC10s allowed RAF Bruggen
RAF Bruggen
The former Royal Air Force Station Brüggen, more commonly known as RAF Brüggen, in Germany was a major station of the Royal Air Force until 15 June 2001. It was situated next to the village of Elmpt, approximately west of Düsseldorf near the German-Netherlands border. The base was named after...
-based Tornado GR1s to strike Serbian targets during Operation Allied Force
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999...
in 1999.
2000s
Oman-based VC10s refuelled USAF and Marine Corps aircraft over Afghanistan as part of Operation VeritasOperation Veritas
Operation Veritas was the codename used for British military operations against the Taliban government of Afghanistan in 2001. British forces played a supporting role to the American Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition, the British contribution was an important part of the overall forces deployed...
. Nine VC10s participated in Operation Telic
Operation Telic
Operation TELIC was the codename under which all British military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the Invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on 22 May 2011...
, the UK's contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The K2s were retired and scrapped between 2000 and 2003. The surviving airworthy VC10 C1Ks, K3s and K4s served as tanker/transports with No. 101
No. 101 Squadron RAF
No. 101 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Vickers VC10 C1K, K3 and K4 from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. Since 10 Squadron disbanded in 2005, the squadron is the only operator of the VC10.-Formation and early years:...
Squadron at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
and No. 1312 Flight
No. 1312 Flight RAF
No. 1312 Flight is an independent flight of the Royal Air Force, supporting at present the defence of the Falkland Islands.While the UK officially does not foresee any threat to the Falkland Islands, it maintains significant military forces as a deterrent against any aggressor. These forces also...
at RAF Mount Pleasant
RAF Mount Pleasant
RAF Mount Pleasant is a military base for the Royal Air Force in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The facility is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands...
, Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, making the RAF the VC10's final operator.
In 2006 two VC10s were dispatched to Okinawa, Japan to undertake a lesser known role of the type; to collect nuclear debris tests using sampling pods replacing the refuelling pods. This was prompted by the North Korean nuclear test
2006 North Korean nuclear test
The 2006 North Korean nuclear test was the detonation of a nuclear device conducted on October 9, 2006 by North Korea.North Korea announced its intention to conduct a test on October 3, six days prior, and in doing so became the first nation to give warning of its first nuclear test...
.
The K3s are due to be retired in 2014 but may be extended, fatigue hours permitting.
The VC10 and Lockheed TriStar
Lockheed TriStar (RAF)
|-See also:-References:* Prothero, R.M. "Tristar:The answer to an operational requirement". Air International, March 1991, Vol 40 No. 3. pp. 128–134....
tanker/transports are due to be replaced in RAF service by the Airbus A330 MRTT
Airbus A330 MRTT
The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport is an aerial refuelling tanker aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330-200. The A330 MRTT has been ordered by the Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Air Force , United Arab Emirates Air Force, and Royal Saudi Air Force...
under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft
Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft
Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft is a British project to procure aerial refuelling and air transport for the Royal Air Force to replace VC10 and Lockheed TriStars then in service. After evaluation of bids the RAF selected the AirTanker consortium who had offered the Airbus A330 MRTT. AirTanker...
Project; they are currently restricted to use as tankers, and will not be used beyond the end of the 2010-2015 support contract.
VC10 air-to-air refuelling aircraft supported the British air strikes
Operation Ellamy
Operation Ellamy was the codename for the United Kingdom participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. The operation was part of an international coalition aimed at enforcing a Libyan no-fly zone in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 which stipulated...
on Libya on 19–20 March 2011 as part of the coalition operations to enforce UN Resolution 1973
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, on the situation in Libya, is a measure that was adopted on 17 March 2011. The Security Council resolution was proposed by France, Lebanon, and the United Kingdom....
.
Servicing and repair
All servicing, including minor, minor star and major servicing, of the RAF fleet of VC10s was undertaken at RAF Brize Norton, which also serves as the RAF's Main Operating Base (MOB). This took place in a purpose built hangar, known as "Base Hangar", built in 1969 which was considered the largest cantilever-roofed structure in Europe. Base Hangar is a quarter of a mile in length with no internal supports and the ability that when the full length hangar doors are fully opened provides a vast unobstructed area, where six VC10 aircraft can be positioned beside each other and still provide working space around the aircraft.During the late 1980s, the RAF/MOD considered moving the major servicing to RAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon was a Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps....
, a short distance away from RAF Brize Norton
RAF Brize Norton
RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the settlements of Brize Norton, Carterton and Witney....
, and the storage location of the future K4 aircraft. The decision to close RAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon was a Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps....
as an RAF base put paid to this. Instead a purpose built hangar facility was built at RAF St Athan, in South Wales. This facility was known as "1 Air Maintenance Sqn" (1 AMS) and could take two VC10s side by side with a dividing wall between the two bays. Because of the design of the structure it was given the nickname "Twin Peaks". In August 1992, the pre-Dock Day (input date) meeting took place for the 1st aircraft to undergo major service at this facility took place within 1 AMS. This meeting was interrupted with the news of the flash fire of XR806. The first aircraft to undergo major servicing at the new facility entered Twin Peaks in January 1993.
Due to the looming out of service date of the remaining VC10 aircraft, in favour of the FSTA, the last aircraft to undergo major servicing left "Twin Peaks", RAF St Athan. At this point the "Twin Peaks" hangar was only operating one of the two lines for VC10s the other line had been stripped of the dedicated staging and utilised for Tornado aircraft. It is envisaged that a similar fate will fall to the last remaining dedicated bay.
BAE Systems support
After the closure of the British Aerospace site at Hatfield, responsibility of design and all commercial activity transferred to British Aerospace (now BAE SystemsBAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
) Manchester, Woodford and Chadderton sites. During the early 1990s Chadderton produced the majority of the detailed components, until a corporate decision to subcontract all detailed manufacture was taken in the mid 1990s. At this time the design team, led by Chief Design Engineer David Natham, transferred from Woodford to Chadderton.
In 2003, responsibility for the commercial procurement of all spares items was undertaken by BAE Systems, at BAE Systems Samlesbury. The Chadderton site maintained responsibility for the MoD contracts for project managing modifications; major repairs and major maintenance being carried out at RAF St Athan.
Variants
Commercial (airline) use:- Vickers V.C.10 Type 1100: Prototype; one built, (one converted to Type 1109)
- BAC VC10 Type 1101: BOAC Standards; up to 35 ordered at various times; 12 built
- BAC Standard VC10 Type 1102: Ghana Airways' Standard combis; three built (one redesignated Type 1103)
- BAC Standard VC10 Type 1103: BUA Standard combis; two built, (one redesignated Type 1102)
- BAC Standard VC10 Type 1104: Nigeria Airways' Standards; two ordered, none built
- BAC Standard VC10 Type 1109: Converted from Type 1100 for lease to Laker Airways
- BAC Super VC10 Type 1150: Generic Super VC10
- BAC Super VC10 Type 1151: BOAC Supers, up to 22 ordered at various times; 17 built
- BAC Super VC10 Type 1152: BOAC Super combi; 13 ordered, none built
- BAC Super VC10 Type 1154: East African Airways' Super combi; five built
Military (RAF) use:
- VC10 C1: RAF designation for the VC10 Type 1106; 14 built, 13 converted to VC10 C1K
- VC10 C1K: RAF designation for 13 VC10 Type 1180 transport/tanker aircraft converted from VC10 C1
- VC10 K2: RAF designation for five VC10 Type 1112 inflight-refuelling tankers converted from Type 1101
- VC10 K3: RAF designation for four VC10 Type 1164 inflight-refuelling tankers converted from Type 1154
- VC10 K4: RAF designation for five VC10 Type 1170 inflight-refuelling tankers converted from Type 1151
Civilian operators
Bahrain
- Gulf AirGulf AirGulf Air is the principal flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Headquartered in Muharraq, adjacent to Bahrain International Airport, the airline operates scheduled services to 45 destinations in 28 countries across Africa, Asia and Europe. Its main base is Bahrain International Airport...
- Air CeylonAir CeylonAir Ceylon was the flag carrier airline of Sri Lanka from 1947 until 1978, when it was replaced by Air Lanka.- History :...
East African CommunityEast African Community
The East African Community is an intergovernmental organisation comprising the five east African countries Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of the Republic of Burundi, is the current Chairman of the East African Community. The EAC was originally...
- East African AirwaysEast African AirwaysEast African Airways Corp. was an airline jointly run by three countries in East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania; and Uganda, which were then part of an East African Community. The airline was headquartered in the Sadler House in Nairobi, Kenya...
Ghana
- Ghana AirwaysGhana AirwaysGhana Airways Limited was the national airline of the Republic of Ghana with its main base of operation, and hub, at Kotoka International Airport in Accra....
Lebanon
- Middle East AirlinesMiddle East AirlinesMiddle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. , more commonly known as Middle East Airlines , is the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport...
Malawi
- Air MalawiAir MalawiAir Malawi Limited is an airline based in Blantyre, Malawi. It is the national airline of Malawi, wholly owned by the Malawi government and operates regional passenger services...
Nigeria
- Nigeria AirwaysNigeria AirwaysNigeria Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Nigeria Airways, is a defunct Nigerian airline. The company was founded in 1958 after the dissolution of West African Airways Corporation. It was wholly owned by the Government of Nigeria, and served as the country's flag carrier. The airline was...
Oman
- The Government of OmanOmanOman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
Qatar
- The Government of QatarQatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
Sri Lanka
- Air CeylonAir CeylonAir Ceylon was the flag carrier airline of Sri Lanka from 1947 until 1978, when it was replaced by Air Lanka.- History :...
United Arab Emirates
- The Government of the United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
United Kingdom
- BOACBoacBoac may refer to:* Boac, Marinduque, a municipality in the Southern Philippines* Boac , an American rapper* British Overseas Airways Corporation, a former British state-owned airline...
- British AirwaysBritish AirwaysBritish Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
- British CaledonianBritish CaledonianBritish Caledonian was a private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline, operating out of Gatwick Airport in the 1970s and 1980s...
- British United AirwaysBritish United AirwaysBritish United Airways was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest wholly private airline based in the United Kingdom at the time...
- Laker AirwaysLaker AirwaysLaker Airways was a wholly private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It originally was a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide...
- Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce plcRolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...
(engine test bed)
Military operators
- Military of QatarMilitary of QatarThe Qatar Armed Forces are the military forces of Qatar. The country maintains a modest military force of approximately 11,800 men, including an army , navy and air force . Qatar's defense expenditures accounted for approximately 4.2% of gross national product in 1993...
- Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
- No. 10 Squadron RAFNo. 10 Squadron RAFNo. 10 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron served in a variety of roles over its 90 year history...
- No. 101 Squadron RAFNo. 101 Squadron RAFNo. 101 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Vickers VC10 C1K, K3 and K4 from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. Since 10 Squadron disbanded in 2005, the squadron is the only operator of the VC10.-Formation and early years:...
- No. 1312 Flight RAFNo. 1312 Flight RAFNo. 1312 Flight is an independent flight of the Royal Air Force, supporting at present the defence of the Falkland Islands.While the UK officially does not foresee any threat to the Falkland Islands, it maintains significant military forces as a deterrent against any aggressor. These forces also...
- No. 10 Squadron RAF
- Royal Aircraft EstablishmentRoyal Aircraft EstablishmentThe Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
Accidents and incidents
- On 28 December 1968, Middle East Airways 9G-ABP was destroyed at Beirut Airport in the 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon1968 Israeli raid on LebanonThe 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon, code-named Operation Gift , was an Israel Defense Forces Special Forces operation against Beirut International Airport on the night of December 27 - 28, 1968...
. - On 20 November 1969, Nigeria Airways 5N-ABD (ex BOAC G-ARVA) crashed on landing at Lagos, Nigeria killing all 87 passengers and crew.
- On 27 November 1969, BOAC G-ASGK had a major failure of No.3 engine, debris from that engine damaged No.4 engine causing a fire. A safe overweight landing was made at Heathrow without any casualties.
- On 9 September 1970, BOAC G-ASGN was hijacked, and on 12 September was blown up at Zerqu Jordan, in the Dawson's Field hijackingsDawson's Field hijackingsIn the Dawson's Field hijackings five jet aircraft bound for New York City were hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine...
. - On 28 January 1972, British Caledonian G-ARTA was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Gatwick.
- On 18 April 1972, East African AirwaysEast African AirwaysEast African Airways Corp. was an airline jointly run by three countries in East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania; and Uganda, which were then part of an East African Community. The airline was headquartered in the Sadler House in Nairobi, Kenya...
Flight 720 5X-UVA crashed on take-off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia killing 43 of the 107 passengers and crew. - On 3 March 1974, BOAC G-ASGO was hijacked and landed at Schiphol, Netherlands, where the aircraft was set on fire and damaged beyond economic repair.
- In November 1974, British AirwaysBritish AirwaysBritish Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
Flight 870 from DubaiDubaiDubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
to Heathrow was hijacked in Dubai, landing at TripoliTripoliTripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
for refuelling before flying on to TunisTunisTunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
. One hostage was murdered before the hijackers eventually surrendered after 84 hours. Captain Jim Futcher was awarded the Queen's Gallantry MedalQueen's Gallantry MedalThe Queen's Gallantry Medal is the third level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.It was instituted on 20 June 1974 to replace the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, the British Empire Medal for Gallantry, and the Colonial Police Medal for Gallantry...
, the Guild of Air Pilots and Air NavigatorsGuild of Air Pilots and Air NavigatorsThe Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Guild was established in 1929 and was granted the status of a Livery Company in 1956...
Founders Medal, the British Airline Pilots Association Gold Medal and a Certificate of Commendation from British Airways for his actions during the hijacking, having returned to the aircraft to fly it knowing the hijackers were on board. - On 18 December 1997, Royal Air Force XR806 was damaged beyond economic repair in a ground de-fuelling accident at RAF Brize Norton.
Survivors
, some 15 examples of the VC10 remain in active service with the Royal Air Force, all of which are to be retired by around 2015. Some static museum exhibits are listed below:- Type 1101 (Registration G-ARVF) is on display in United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
government colours at the Flugausstellung Leo Junior at HermeskeilHermeskeilHermeskeil is a town in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Hunsrück, approx. 25 km southeast of Trier...
in Germany - Type 1101 (Registration G-ARVM) (fuselage only) at BrooklandsBrooklandsBrooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
Museum, SurreySurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England - Type 1103 (Registration A40-AB, formerly G-ASIX), originally owned by British United Airways before being sold to British Caledonian, it was later sold to the Omani government where it was used for a number of years by the Sultan of OmanSultan of Oman-List of Imams :-Nabhan Dynasty :-Ya'ariba Dynasty :-Banu Ghafir Dynasty :-Ya'ariba Dynasty :-Al Said Dynasty :-See also:...
as his personal jet. On display in Oman Royal Flight colours at the Brooklands MuseumBrooklandsBrooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
, SurreySurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
- Type 1151 (Registration G-ASGC) is on display in BOAC-Cunard colours at the Imperial War Museum, DuxfordImperial War Museum DuxfordImperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near the village of Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britain's largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the museum's large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artillery and minor naval vessels in seven...
, CambridgeshireCambridgeshireCambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, England
Specifications (Model 1101)
See also
External links
- Royal Air Force VC10 page
- A little VC10derness - a website dedicated to the VC10
- VC10 development and service
- VC10 History
- VC10 British Pathe newsreel footage: (Adobe FlashAdobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
video)- "VC10 in the Clear", 1964
- "VC10 Proves Itself", 1965
- "BOAC VC10 Automatic Landing", 1968
- The double deck VC10 Superb proposal
- Assorted proposals for the VC10