View Full Version : Were those the graceful lines of a VC10 ?
tezzer
23rd Sep 2011, 13:45
Had to go to Durham today to renew my 2nd passport, and sat by the river, just before mid-day I heard a jet overhead, and being a spotter, of course looked up. Were thise the beeyootiful lines of a VC10 heading more or less due North up the river ?
Looked lovely from where I was sitting waiting for the passport office to do their business.
Rigga
23rd Sep 2011, 20:02
Unfortunately, just the fact that you heard it meant it was likely to be a VC10. The lack of Hush-Kits is one of it's failings.
tezzer
23rd Sep 2011, 20:19
Not a failing from an afficionado's perspective !
vascodegama
24th Sep 2011, 10:56
And punctuation is one of yours Rigga
and if it had them, would they be a fairing? :p
Turkeyslapper
24th Sep 2011, 11:12
The lack of Hush-Kits is one of it's failings
Yeh, noisy buggers. Nice peaceful morning on the beach here in Dubai today until...... that peace was shattered by what looked to be a VC10? Noisy , but nice to see (and hear) something different for a change :ok:
Exascot
24th Sep 2011, 11:34
I had to recover a VC10 from Dulles on one occasion flapless. I think the noise complaints are still coming in :ok:
Vickers VC-10 awesome airliner! **feel the noise** - YouTube
ZH875
24th Sep 2011, 12:14
Looks like they threw more coal on, just as the wheels went in.
12 twists per inch
24th Sep 2011, 13:48
Turkey, yep that was a VC10 - great view of the palm and the burj after a full power take off!
Turkeyslapper
24th Sep 2011, 14:30
Turkey, yep that was a VC10 - great view of the palm and the burj after a full power take off!
Great stuff :ok: Whats that rate of climb like from where you take off? Almost needed to transmit on the Jumeriah MBZ at that height :E
Exascot
24th Sep 2011, 14:32
Looks like they threw more coal on, just as the wheels went in.
We had a good deal with the coal merchants in down town Witney - Marriotts if I remember rightly.
sisemen
24th Sep 2011, 15:49
I well remember a 6 hour stop over in Kai Tak many years ago and watching the procession of civ jets arriving and departing. Apart from some slight noise heard through the double glazing of the airport building that was all you heard.
And then there was one of Shiny 10s finest cranking up on the pan. Once lined up and opened up you not only could hear the noise but the windows and the building shook.
Shame they don't make 'em like that any more.
sharpend
24th Sep 2011, 15:50
I remember bringing a couple of steely Jag mates back from Gulf War 1. The two wanted to stand on the flight deck for take off from Exeter (landed there to drop off a few Commandos). One Jag mate sat on the jump for the very short take-off roll at very light weight. The other elected to stand and hold on. Fool!
We rolled with full power (of course) and maintained 17.5 deg climb, reaching 10,000' in no time. I turned round to chat to the second Jag mate who was nowhere to be seen. Apparently he had been knocked off his feet by the rotation and rolled all the way down the isle.
MaxReheat
25th Sep 2011, 11:56
'Warned In' (is that term still in use?) at BZN on the eve of my first tour and was allocated a room at the front of the Mess (which, for those not familiar with the Mess, fronts onto the runway - straightline distance around 300m).
Monday morning, 0445. Not only was I awakened but I thought the windows were about to shatter. Welcome to Brize. :)
LowObservable
25th Sep 2011, 12:26
To blend this with another thread...
Rolling down the runway, throttles open wide
See the mighty FunBus...
SING LOUDER, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU
ex-fast-jets
25th Sep 2011, 13:28
As a young lad growing up in Kenya, I remember watching the first BOAC VC10s departing from Nairobi. Beautiful to watch, with an inspiring climb angle to a young lad used to watching Comets.
Several decades later, my OMQ was right next to the 27 threshold at Gutersloh. 0710 every Sunday, an Op BANNER VC10 would depart for Northern Ireland. No matter how good the party the night before, we were always awake at 0710 on Sunday morning!!
Happy Days!!
PICKS135
25th Sep 2011, 13:49
The Coal being shovelled in leaving Leuchars in 2005 :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/f4phixeruk/DSCF0026.jpg
sisemen
25th Sep 2011, 15:29
400 metres from my MQ to the engine run pan between Base Hangar and Electronics.
No engine tests after 2300 - yeah right!
Four Wings
25th Sep 2011, 20:16
As SLF on BOAC / BA VC10s a number of times I can tell you when they came into service every pax's idea of the safest way to fly was a BOAC VC10 with an ex-Lancaster pilot up front (yes, there were many still around then). As one said to me: 25% more power than the Americans would have given it - who's complaining (apart from the bean counters).
Gerontocrat
26th Sep 2011, 08:49
Max Reheat, remember those rooms well. I had one during the evacuation from Cyprus in '74. Noisy as hell with aircraft arriving and departing at all hours.
The good residents of Witney made a complaint about the noise, so a couple of folk were invited up for dinner in the Mess and I was detailed off to host them for the evening. It all turned out well, when the couple arrived and I discovered they were the brother and sister-in-law of a former girlfriend. They listened to the noise we had to put up with in the Mess and went home satisfied that what they could hear in Witney was, in the great scheme of things, very little to complain about.
MATELO
26th Sep 2011, 19:41
Does she still hold the record for the fastest time to Australia. Remember talking to some crews and they said that was the case.
Was a few years ago.
Exascot
27th Sep 2011, 06:46
Does she still hold the record for the fastest time to Australia. Remember talking to some crews and they said that was the case.
This old thread may help: http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/315023-vc10-jfk-lhr-fastest-times.html
Doesn't answer the question but you may be right.
I notice it also mentions a record run I did with the PM LHR to Andrews AFB. We were running a bit late and couldn't increase flight planned speed across the pond so as soon as we came off the NATS I asked for direct and 0.92. Regret I do not have my log book here or I could give the time.
It also mentions in this thread the noisy impressive arrival with full reverse power. This is incorrect. On Royal and ministerial flights, if runway length permitted, we only used idle reverse for passenger comfort. We also quite frequently didn't have passengers or crew strapped in on landing. Against SOPs I know but there were the PPOs strapping on shooters and ADCs swords etc. I was once called in by the Stn Cdr about an article in some rag that the AOC had read about my landing being so smooth that the journalists sleeping on tables never even woke up. I don't recall the conversation but it wasn't exactly a b:mad:ing.
Spurlash2
27th Sep 2011, 17:45
Here you go, Matelo,
In April 1987 the Squadron celebrated its 60th Anniversary in style with another record-breaking flight to Australia. ZA147, a VC10K3 captained by the commanding officer, Wing Commander J L Uprichard, took off from Brize Norton at midnight on 8 April and was refuelled by another VC10 near Cyprus and then by a Tristar KI of No 216 Squadron over the Indian Ocean. The aircraft arrived at Perth after a flight of just under 16 hours, knocking two hours off the existing record which had been set by the Squadron during Exercise Walkabout in 1963. The VC10 then proceeded to tour Australia and New Zealand demonstrating air-to-air refuelling techniques and equipment and attending a major air display in honour of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's 50th anniversary.
Not quite the answer to the question of fastest time, but it's a start!