I worked as a steward for BOAC/British Airways from 1971-1976 on this magnificent aircraft and I can tell you that after all these years, I still get a lump in may throat every time I see or hear this magnificent beast! Looking at the VC10, she could have come off the drawing board only recently; completely ageless and, of course British!!
I recall the inaugural flight of both the VC-10 and Tridents on TV - so many years ago. I recall the dreams these planes represented. it certainly reminds me I'm getting really old.
Two distinct things remind me of this beautiful aircraft. The Massive raked sculptured T Tail, and the distinctive howl of the conways as they pass you. This aircraft used to be my 08:00 morning alarm as it approached EGCC RWY 24. We lived on finals. Now gone forever, so sad.
Sad to see a great plane like the VC10 go for good I work for the RAF Tengah base in Singapore taking care of the ground equipment for the VC10 and other RAF aircraft the good old days
i live on the edge of Brize Norton base and have lived under the path of the VC10 for decades. i miss that unmistakable roar. also had the pleasure of some trips in the 70's when i was a child in the ATC when i could just phone up and get on a training flight of one kind or another during summer holidays. beautiful aircraft!
Chris cummins thats true, great times,called air experiance, and you put it in your book, so tonight lets go to prestwick, and circuits and bumps, or a nav excersise to iceland, oh well lets get up to 42000 feet then, and all in the cockpit, GREAT TIMES INDEED😁😊😊😆😆
there's one at Dunsfold Aerodrome first flight of the Harrier and the Top gear building and test track Top Gear was the best TV show on free view with Clarkson, May and Hammond
Beautiful aircraft.My second favourite after the DC-8.Shame to see these go.As it happens l have two VC10 models sat on my kitchen table as l write,a BOAC and an RAF tanker variant.Beautiful. Great video👍
I flew back from RAF Changi in 1969 aged 9 yrs old , refuel at Cyprus and on to Brize Norton , a fantastic flight and a lot better than the 4 stops we had to refuel on the Bristol Britannia 😀
What a sad end. I wish I could have been at Brunty that day but I was at Brize watching her last ever take-off and then touch-and-go about half an hour prior to this arrival. Another beautiful British aircraft, missed by so many.
A truly sad day in British Aviation indeed, was down there at Brunty in may amongst the VC10s, still a world record holder for a subsonic crossing of the Atlantic......thanks for posting this great video of her last flight
Quite simply, the most superbly engineered passenger airliner, ever. And it provd its worth with the RAF. And listen to those engines! What a shame the Soviets had to copy the VC-10. A fantastic aircraft
I've always felt like the quad engines were, aesthetically, the only blemish on a gorgeous bird. However, the performance of those engines made it beautiful through the sheer capabilities and I love it.
Did many flights in Africa, grass strip at Lusaka. Used to sit at the back for take off just to hear the descending howl of the engines before brakes off.....
It is extremely sad to see the VC-10 permanently grounded and past of as scrap. I have to believe that it's gone forever never to hear this beautiful Airliner roaring. Anyway, all good things come to an end at one time or another.
Speak to a BOAC pilot of the VC10, it was an exceptional aircraft that flew like a bird. Sit behind the wings where the engine noise in most aircraft is awful, and you would be astonished at how quiet it was. The stretched version could also carry 180 passengers. The inferior 707 was launched at a time when the US Gov't forced airlines to buy American. The Comet disasters didn't help our cause.
Lucky enough to have been evacuated from Cyprus in 1974 in one of the beauties, landed at RAF Brize Norton after one of the best flights in my life (and I'm 74!)
Such a pleasure to watch this magnificent bird - albeit enjoying one final flight before landing perfectly! Are any VC 10s still able to be seen in the flesh in UK??
The crackle of the Conway engines on take off at Heathrow superb,how could the chairman of BOAC go on record and criticise this superb aircraft,been on one and it was so nice the only other aircraft if traveled on was Concorde thus too a classic 😢sad no more
I wonder whether people will bother to show up for the last flights of today's and future aircraft. Perhaps A380s and 747s, but after they're gone, jet aviation will consist of low tailplane twins with underwing engines, in varying sizes, and yet more of the same, with one type being replaced in time by another that looks much the same.
I wouldn't bother showing up for the the Last A380 flight personally. IMHO, its one ugly looking aircraft, proportionality speaking, but thats subjective, I guess. I'd go to see a 747 tho, if I had the chance...a lot more visually proportioned design.
Incredible sound. I've been on the one at Brooklands, but not seen a video with sound until now. Don't believe I've ever seen one fly (unless maybe they flew at the Farnborough airshow back in the day?).
Glad you enjoyed the video. That’s why we do this so the future generations can now enjoy the site and sound of a flying VC10. Also something you’ll get with my videos is the sound is real and not edited in anyway. Thanks for your comments 👍
scrap ?? why ? WTF !! i am sure many many American museums (just to say that ....) would love to have that beautiful jet on permanent exhibit !! Me and many of my friends would love to travel just to see the VC10 here in the US ..!!
Thanks for a brilliant though sad video. I always loved to see these wonderful aircraft, in whatever livery, but I prefer the older [60s? RAF]] scheme, if I had to choose. We all know they can't fly forever - but if only....
I just hope someone higher up the chain has the grey matter to preserve one of these at Duxford or the like, instead of rotting away on the apron at Bruntingthorpe.
Already an ex BA one at Duxford (now in BOAC colours),plus 3 other civil ones preserved.Of the RAF ones an original C mk 1 at Cosford,plus of the ex civil ones bought by the RAF one kept live at Bruntingthorpe and does fast taxi's on open days (last one in August this year).one preserved at the museum at Newquay and the Brooklands museum K3 located at Dunsfold.
I was fortunate to spend 2 full days riding in the cockpits of 4 United Airlines Vickers Viscounts. ( formally owned by Capitol Airlines) in September 1963. My father ( a free lance movie maker) was contracted by United to film the instrument panels (particularly altimeters and radio altimeters) as these 4 airplanes-2 each day- were flown in continuous circuits around ACY at the FAA's test facility. The experience really stoked my fire to want to learn to fly, which I did 4 years later. George Merriken, Leesburg, Va. putney303@gmail.com
A once in a lifetime event, one that should have been televised (as Concorde's was) Rather strange though that as with the Nimrod MR2 & Victor K2, the VC-10 wasn't phased out because she had been surpassed (she was so good the USAF preferred her & the Victor to their own tankers) but because the individual airframe's are reaching the end of their lifespan. I'd certainly rather my taxpayer's money was going to newbuild aircraft than some technically inferior replacement from Boeing or Airbus
Still looks like a Modern Design- Thin Wings- Very Streamline & Elegant- as apposed to a Boring Boeing or Air-Bus- Design - Its ashame it wasnt more Sucessful it Clearly was a Better Plane- But Maybe not as Profitable! Thats all that Counts Today- Thanx for the Upload- Cheers-👍🍺🍻
ACtually, when looking at the Airbus 380,its quite ugly, looks old fashioned from the sideview, however, they didn't have the designers Britain had but they DID have a government who assisted them, with great pride, too late to worry now, Britain has gone from being a massive producer of technologies of many disciplines to a shabby, down at heel bludging society bringing into the nation, the parasites of the earth.Why has the government acted in this way have they no pride?
First aircraft I ever flew in , and nothing since has come close to the acceleration down the runway , or the impressive climb out . I so wish one could be preserved in flying condition , along with one Comet , Concorde and Vulcan , for display purposes. The 60th anniversary of the VC10s first flight is coming up next June ; it would be great to see one of the taxi-able survivors doing a fast taxi run to mark the occasion .
Bean counters realized the 707 was a much better choice. Even the British government didn't back it. Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge VC 10 fan and have a BOAC Super vc10 cutaway model 87 inches long .
when only the raf operated the type it was almost worth a brit falling off a mountain somewhere in the world so you could be repatriated with a little vc10derness!!!
Faster too, in speed she is still the 2nd fastest Airliner ever built, second only to Concorde herself. She's also one of only a select few Airliner's where Passengers deliberately delayed their flights so they could fly on her, although the fact she was faster, quieter and more comfortable than any of her rivals (the 707 for example) might have had something to do with it ~_^
True but speed came at a cost. Horrendous fuel burn by Conway engines made it uncompetitive to the BOEING 707. Even the British Government realized that. It is a classic airplane regardless.
^ *sigh* The 990 was an even harder commercial flop than the VC10, in that unlike the latter the 'planes built didn't find a long and productive flight life; it's range was also inferior - so much so it fell short of the requirements it was created for - and the speed subject is tentative as there were no independent tests. Interesting aircraft for sure, but mostly in a "Why you shouldn't hotrod an airliner" kind of way 🤔 .
@@747heavyboeing3 For the time the RR Conway was the only credible option that Vickers could go for that would have met BOAC's requirements, both for being more efficient than contemporary Turbojets and it had already been proven in the Handley Page Victor. It must be emphasized that it was the airline that specified the aircraft (as they had with the AVRO Tudor & the Bristol Britannia), yet BOAC had the barefaced cheek to then turn round and say the aircraft they had specified wasn't what they wanted and try to duck out of the orders they'd committed to, destroying any real hope for export success (because if your flag carrier if throwing a tantrum over not wanting an aircraft [that again they specified], smaller airlines at home and abroad are going to hang back). The former is the real reason why the VC10 fell short of enough sales to break even, and saw BOAC's derisive nickname of *The Boeing Only Airline Corporation* well and truly stick. As for the government... they'd done more to hamper the aerospace sector than any other factor, and failing to support promising options for a further development of the Super-VC10 was just another such failure, among many. By contrast the US Government has basically always supported Boeing, Lockheed and other such aerospace firms with contracts and publicity, while overlooking many of their more questionable activities (Lockheed bribing the W-German & Japanese governments into buying the F-104, an aircraft the USAF itself had grown cold to due to it not fitting their requirements).
Scrapping an aircraft is a very poor prospect for a scrap merchant. It is almost easier to extract aluminium from bauxite than it is to get pure aluminium from an aircraft. With this in mind, keeping an aircraft in (at least) viewable condition, with people paying good money to see it, makes economic sense. The Americans know this and keep their iconic aircraft in flyable condition, often in private hands, rather than letting these beautiful machines corrode into dust.
The days when Great Britain made fantastic airplanes only to be gazumped by BOAC for Boeing. All the great pioneering manufacturers gone. Sold out to the yanks. You bet I'm bitter. No class anymore.
I think it's for a shorter undercarriage, engines higher less chance of debris ingress. High power to weight ratio for shorter runways etc, clean more aerodynamic wings, stuff like that.
![[ENGSUB] UNPRODUCTIVE DAY ใช้ชีวิต (เปื่อยๆ) ด้วยกัน 1 วัน! | OUROAD CLOSEFRiEND SS2 EP.9](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pyYKZ3kra9w/mqdefault.jpg)
Probably the most beautiful commercial aircraft ever.
Howling like a Vulcan, what a marvelous machine! I flew in these a number of times as a youngster and it was always a treat. Sad to see them retired.
50 Years old and still looks better than a lot of modern airliners
Of course! Regulations were not as tight and aircraft manufacturers were more adventurous. Those days are long gone.
The sound of Britain in the sixties. Always love that dull roar when the engines spool up - unmistakably VC10.
Lovely video! :D
A line that jeremy clarkson would say XD
What a majestic aircraft and fitting that this pilot brought her in so gracefully.
Grew up in the RAF and served in the Army. Just love this old bird. Nothing comes close
The sexiest plane ever! Beautiful and fast. Fond memories of school holidays to Africa in the 60s and 70s.
A gentle reminder of the engineering giant that Britain was.
I worked as a steward for BOAC/British Airways from 1971-1976 on this magnificent aircraft and I can tell you that after all these years, I still get a lump in may throat every time I see or hear this magnificent beast! Looking at the VC10, she could have come off the drawing board only recently; completely ageless and, of course British!!
Stuart Holder I used to watch them fly out of perth, Australia, back then. Wonderful machine always departing around 10pm.
Did you work on both standard and Super VC 10?
You must have been on the Lusaka route then when I was on my school holidays! Best plane ever!
Still better than any other passenger plane of today, love the VC10.
Wonderful to have flown this iconic British aircraft, December 1968 BOAC, London-Tel Aviv. Fondly remembered!
I recall the inaugural flight of both the VC-10 and Tridents on TV - so many years ago. I recall the dreams these planes represented. it certainly reminds me I'm getting really old.
Thanks for sharing and it was so uniquely British unlike todays designs.
I can't think of a more beautiful aircraft. So graceful
Comet , VC-10 , Concorde : all beautiful.
What a beautiful moment..but very sad..As an English woman it makes me very proud to belong to a Country that has developed such Aircraft...
flew to bahrain in 1969 on the VC10 marvellous experience.
Two distinct things remind me of this beautiful aircraft. The Massive raked sculptured T Tail, and the distinctive howl of the conways as they pass you. This aircraft used to be my 08:00 morning alarm as it approached EGCC RWY 24. We lived on finals. Now gone forever, so sad.
Sad to see a great plane like the VC10 go for good
I work for the RAF Tengah base in Singapore taking care of the ground equipment for the VC10 and other RAF aircraft the good old days
I will never tire of the VC10 , sound & vision.
Ил-62М тоже крутой
i live on the edge of Brize Norton base and have lived under the path of the VC10 for decades. i miss that unmistakable roar. also had the pleasure of some trips in the 70's when i was a child in the ATC when i could just phone up and get on a training flight of one kind or another during summer holidays. beautiful aircraft!
Chris cummins thats true, great times,called air experiance, and you put it in your book, so tonight lets go to prestwick, and circuits and bumps, or a nav excersise to iceland, oh well lets get up to 42000 feet then, and all in the cockpit, GREAT TIMES INDEED😁😊😊😆😆
Had the pleasure of flying in one of these from Ascension Islands to Brize Norton.
brilliant experience.
there's one at Dunsfold Aerodrome first flight of the Harrier and the
Top gear building and test track
Top Gear was the best TV show on free view with Clarkson, May and Hammond
The beautiful vicky 10 , flown on these many times , going to be missed .
so long ago since my father unveiled his brother's XR810 VC10, and to find out it was scrapped at St Athan not that long ago is quite upsetting
Beautiful aircraft.My second favourite after the DC-8.Shame to see these go.As it happens l have two VC10 models sat on my kitchen table as l write,a BOAC and
an RAF tanker variant.Beautiful.
Great video👍
Thank you very much for your kind comment. Really glad you enjoyed the video 😄👍
I flew back from RAF Changi in 1969 aged 9 yrs old , refuel at Cyprus and on to Brize Norton , a fantastic flight and a lot better than the 4 stops we had to refuel on the Bristol Britannia 😀
beautiful jet. I miss those older british designs. They had great lines and were very unique
Great dive down approach and climbout.
Superb aircraft, very happy days flying backwards and forwards to school in England from Malawi, loved it . BOAC crew were excellent towards us.
Farewell Queen Of The Skies. You served us well.
What a sad end. I wish I could have been at Brunty that day but I was at Brize watching her last ever take-off and then touch-and-go about half an hour prior to this arrival. Another beautiful British aircraft, missed by so many.
A truly remarkable plane. So sad to see it go. Thank you for sharing this video.
Excellent Video Presentation. Well Done by all.
Thank you for your kind comments. Glad you enjoyed the video 👍
A truly sad day in British Aviation indeed, was down there at Brunty in may amongst the VC10s, still a world record holder for a subsonic crossing of the Atlantic......thanks for posting this great video of her last flight
Such a beautiful plane....on the ground, or in the air....such grace and power...
Quite simply, the most superbly engineered passenger airliner, ever. And it provd its worth with the RAF. And listen to those engines! What a shame the Soviets had to copy the VC-10. A fantastic aircraft
Wow. Do any other contemporary aircraft attract so much attention or even goosebumps as they carry out a fly past?
As a UKAARC I tasked and flew on this aircraft. Brilliant times.
I was under the impression the Conway engines were quiet compared to American turbojet/turbofan engines of the era. They were pretty loud !
May bruntingthorpe keep her alive and hopefully return her to flight if possible brilliant vid
i was at Manchester airport some years ago when a VC 10 buzzed the airport
I've always felt like the quad engines were, aesthetically, the only blemish on a gorgeous bird. However, the performance of those engines made it beautiful through the sheer capabilities and I love it.
I think the positioning of the engines is the best part. Along with that tail....sexiest aircraft ever!
A pleasure to transit in ..................
Thank you for capturing this Lee , it was killing me not being able to get there .
Farewell VC10 :-(
JUNE 29th, 1962 was the first VC 10 flight.
Did many flights in Africa, grass strip at Lusaka. Used to sit at the back for take off just to hear the descending howl of the engines before brakes off.....
It is extremely sad to see the VC-10 permanently grounded and past of as scrap.
I have to believe that it's gone forever never to hear this beautiful Airliner roaring.
Anyway, all good things come to an end at one time or another.
Probably the most beautiful airliner ever!
No definitely
One of a trio : Comet , VC-10 , Concorde . All special in their own ways
Speak to a BOAC pilot of the VC10, it was an exceptional aircraft that flew like a bird. Sit behind the wings where the engine noise in most aircraft is awful, and you would be astonished at how quiet it was. The stretched version could also carry 180 passengers. The inferior 707 was launched at a time when the US Gov't forced airlines to buy American. The Comet disasters didn't help our cause.
chanctonbury63 yes it was,did not win at flying, i know ,been in both, i survived the controlled crash ,that is a 707 landing
Lucky enough to have been evacuated from Cyprus in 1974 in one of the beauties, landed at RAF Brize Norton after one of the best flights in my life (and I'm 74!)
I've been to some nice places in the world, in one of theses fantastic planes. Sad day :(
it wasn't designed it was styled
Such a pleasure to watch this magnificent bird - albeit enjoying one final flight before landing perfectly! Are any VC 10s still able to be seen in the flesh in UK??
Yes there are the RAF Museum has one at the Cosford site. XR808 affectionately known as Bob.
It would be interesting to hang a pair of Trent engines on one of these and do some tests
great catch, looks like the old girl knew what her future was and didn't want it to happen
The crackle of the Conway engines on take off at Heathrow superb,how could the chairman of BOAC go on record and criticise this superb aircraft,been on one and it was so nice the only other aircraft if traveled on was Concorde thus too a classic 😢sad no more
That’s why they became known as the Boeing Only Aircraft Corporation
I wonder whether people will bother to show up for the last flights of today's and future aircraft. Perhaps A380s and 747s, but after they're gone, jet aviation will consist of low tailplane twins with underwing engines, in varying sizes, and yet more of the same, with one type being replaced in time by another that looks much the same.
I wouldn't bother showing up for the the Last A380 flight personally. IMHO, its one ugly looking aircraft, proportionality speaking, but thats subjective, I guess. I'd go to see a 747 tho, if I had the chance...a lot more visually proportioned design.
Incredible sound. I've been on the one at Brooklands, but not seen a video with sound until now. Don't believe I've ever seen one fly (unless maybe they flew at the Farnborough airshow back in the day?).
Glad you enjoyed the video. That’s why we do this so the future generations can now enjoy the site and sound of a flying VC10. Also something you’ll get with my videos is the sound is real and not edited in anyway. Thanks for your comments 👍
lets hope they keep this one air worth ... KEEP THE VC 10 IN THE AIR
Incredible aircraft Shane there not around why was it retired
Sad day but great footage..! Nice to see from the other side of the runway.
Been lucky enough to see them up close on the ramp at EMA, when still operational
scrap ?? why ?
WTF !!
i am sure many many American museums (just to say that ....) would love to have that beautiful jet on permanent exhibit !! Me and many of my friends would love to travel just to see the VC10 here in the US ..!!
Thanks for a brilliant though sad video. I always loved to see these wonderful aircraft, in whatever livery, but I prefer the older [60s? RAF]] scheme, if I had to choose. We all know they can't fly forever - but if only....
Glad you enjoyed the video. Yes I remember the day very well and it incredible to think it’s been almost 11 years since the last touch down.
Star of the show....what a machine!
Beautiful. Its too bad U.S. carriers never bought any. Would have loved to have flown on a VC10.
I used to plan VC10 flights at BZN and I fell in love with the aircraft. An absolute Queen of the Skies - so sad about her demise :(
Went onboard the last remaining model in the ground a few years back.. didn’t know they had more, sad to think they all went to scrap
There are still several in preservation
Such a beautiful aircraft. How many of these were built? And what does RAF have to take it's place?
54 were built. The RAF has replaced them with a military variant of the Airbus A330.
I just hope someone higher up the chain has the grey matter to preserve one of these at Duxford or the like, instead of rotting away on the apron at Bruntingthorpe.
Already an ex BA one at Duxford (now in BOAC colours),plus 3 other civil ones preserved.Of the RAF ones an original C mk 1 at Cosford,plus of the ex civil ones bought by the RAF one kept live at Bruntingthorpe and does fast taxi's on open days (last one in August this year).one preserved at the museum at Newquay and the Brooklands museum K3 located at Dunsfold.
@@parsleylionunk3235 Since my original remark the live one at Bruntingthorpe and the one at Newquay have been scrapped.
03:21 The old girl didn`t want to come down :-(
I was fortunate to spend 2 full days riding in the cockpits of 4 United Airlines Vickers Viscounts. ( formally owned by Capitol Airlines) in September 1963. My father ( a free lance movie maker) was contracted by United to film the instrument panels (particularly altimeters and radio altimeters) as these 4 airplanes-2 each day- were flown in continuous circuits around ACY at the FAA's test facility. The experience really stoked my fire to want to learn to fly, which I did 4 years later. George Merriken, Leesburg, Va. putney303@gmail.com
A once in a lifetime event, one that should have been televised (as Concorde's was)
Rather strange though that as with the Nimrod MR2 & Victor K2, the VC-10 wasn't phased out because she had been surpassed (she was so good the USAF preferred her & the Victor to their own tankers) but because the individual airframe's are reaching the end of their lifespan. I'd certainly rather my taxpayer's money was going to newbuild aircraft than some technically inferior replacement from Boeing or Airbus
1 dislike... obviously someone has no idea of the beauty of aviation... amazing video and amazing plane!!:D R.I.P the VC10!!
ZA147 is now in a museum I believe
I was at Bruntingthorpe on that sad day.
a solid month before my birthday
Still looks like a Modern Design- Thin Wings- Very Streamline & Elegant- as apposed to a Boring Boeing or Air-Bus- Design - Its ashame it wasnt more Sucessful it Clearly was a Better Plane- But Maybe not as Profitable! Thats all that Counts Today-
Thanx for the Upload-
Cheers-👍🍺🍻
ACtually, when looking at the Airbus 380,its quite ugly, looks old fashioned from the sideview, however, they didn't have the designers Britain had but they DID have a government who assisted them, with great pride, too late to worry now, Britain has gone from being a massive producer of technologies of many disciplines to a shabby, down at heel bludging society bringing into the nation, the parasites of the earth.Why has the government acted in this way have they no pride?
There was only ONE "QUEEN OF THE SKIES".......747.
First aircraft I ever flew in , and nothing since has come close to the acceleration down the runway , or the impressive climb out .
I so wish one could be preserved in flying condition , along with one Comet , Concorde and Vulcan , for display purposes.
The 60th anniversary of the VC10s first flight is coming up next June ; it would be great to see one of the taxi-able survivors doing a fast taxi run to mark the occasion .
I just subscribed to your channel.
I was on the other side of the runway- a sad moment.
3:25 Just forget about the Vulcan howl, listen to the Conway howl
Amazing sound
If I were a billionaire..... ;) John Travolta made a bad choise :D
Bean counters you should be ashamed of yourselves!!! Such a beautiful iconic aircraft should be allowed to continue flying......
Bean counters realized the 707 was a much better choice.
Even the British government didn't back it.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm a huge VC 10 fan and have a BOAC Super vc10 cutaway model
87 inches long .
when only the raf operated the type it was almost worth a brit falling off a mountain somewhere in the world so you could be repatriated with a little vc10derness!!!
its like it knows when it touches the ground its all over so doesn't want to land ... sad times all round
A truly geat Aircraft that did not get anywhere near the World Sales it deserved, until Airbus came about it was the U.S.A. all the time.
One should sureley be kept airworthy. Maybe one day...
If I were a billionaire..... ;) John Travolta made a bad choise :D
Faster too, in speed she is still the 2nd fastest Airliner ever built, second only to Concorde herself.
She's also one of only a select few Airliner's where Passengers deliberately delayed their flights so they could fly on her, although the fact she was faster, quieter and more comfortable than any of her rivals (the 707 for example) might have had something to do with it ~_^
True but speed came at a cost. Horrendous fuel burn by Conway engines made it uncompetitive to the BOEING 707.
Even the British Government realized that. It is a classic airplane regardless.
The CV990 was faster, and the B747 was probably equal to the VC10 in speed. I flew both the SVC10 and the B747.
^ *sigh*
The 990 was an even harder commercial flop than the VC10, in that unlike the latter the 'planes built didn't find a long and productive flight life; it's range was also inferior - so much so it fell short of the requirements it was created for - and the speed subject is tentative as there were no independent tests.
Interesting aircraft for sure, but mostly in a "Why you shouldn't hotrod an airliner" kind of way 🤔 .
@@747heavyboeing3 For the time the RR Conway was the only credible option that Vickers could go for that would have met BOAC's requirements, both for being more efficient than contemporary Turbojets and it had already been proven in the Handley Page Victor.
It must be emphasized that it was the airline that specified the aircraft (as they had with the AVRO Tudor & the Bristol Britannia), yet BOAC had the barefaced cheek to then turn round and say the aircraft they had specified wasn't what they wanted and try to duck out of the orders they'd committed to, destroying any real hope for export success (because if your flag carrier if throwing a tantrum over not wanting an aircraft [that again they specified], smaller airlines at home and abroad are going to hang back).
The former is the real reason why the VC10 fell short of enough sales to break even, and saw BOAC's derisive nickname of *The Boeing Only Airline Corporation* well and truly stick.
As for the government... they'd done more to hamper the aerospace sector than any other factor, and failing to support promising options for a further development of the Super-VC10 was just another such failure, among many.
By contrast the US Government has basically always supported Boeing, Lockheed and other such aerospace firms with contracts and publicity, while overlooking many of their more questionable activities (Lockheed bribing the W-German & Japanese governments into buying the F-104, an aircraft the USAF itself had grown cold to due to it not fitting their requirements).
An aircraft with a lot character!
it's a beautiful airplane.
Wow sad to see her go
Scrapping an aircraft is a very poor prospect for a scrap merchant. It is almost easier to extract aluminium from bauxite than it is to get pure aluminium from an aircraft. With this in mind, keeping an aircraft in (at least) viewable condition, with people paying good money to see it, makes economic sense. The Americans know this and keep their iconic aircraft in flyable condition, often in private hands, rather than letting these beautiful machines corrode into dust.
I Went To Australia In !976 The First Time In An Aircraft It Was A Brilliant Plane I Was In The Army It Was An RAF Jet Ace
Британский Ил62 тоже перестал летать?
If she were a woman I'd marry her,and live happily ever after.
What a knockout.
The days when Great Britain made fantastic airplanes only to be gazumped by BOAC for Boeing. All the great pioneering manufacturers gone. Sold out to the yanks. You bet I'm bitter. No class anymore.
I wish every narrowbody in the past are re-engined to CFM LEAP 1-B/PW1500G and every widebody to Trent 7000/XWB-84/GEnX/GE9X
Interesting engine placement, is that why it's not on service?
I think it's for a shorter undercarriage, engines higher less chance of debris ingress. High power to weight ratio for shorter runways etc, clean more aerodynamic wings, stuff like that.
This is not the last time. The VC10 will fly again.