Originally Posted by
pax britanica
Many lovely trips on tens and Supers among them LHr-Barbados-LHR LHR-Nicosia Khartoum Addis Seychelles , JFK-Antigua Barbados , SeychellesMauritus. A a lovely comfortable aeroplane -but that doesnt sell, witness the wonderful A 380 ,and re engining it would do nothing for the over heavy wings (no cantilevering balance from poddied engines, no huge tail for lack or moment arm and no Forth Bridge at the rear of the fuselage to hang the engines on.
As for the age demographics well to have been a pax on VC10 you have to be pretty old or flown on one as a small child, to have actually flown a civil one possibly older still.
Noise-unparalleled altho somehow a Caravelle with only two smaller engines sometimes seemed to rival them. The strange moaning noise as it taxied to the threshold and then the howl as it spooled up for full take off power remains a great memory from my childhood spotting days, pretty cool on approach too.
I lied the Trident as well, always seemed to zip along nicely much to the delight of the crews it seemed who more than once on trips I was on took great pleasure in pointing out a Scandi DC9 we were overtaking on the way to Stockholm and a VC10 we passed from Rome to LHR
Also very quiet inside but not outside , the 3 and a half engine version being the noisiest but I think the 1A version the fastest and trickiest.
Quiet planes , A 380 top of the league and biz class on an MD80 left you with the feeling there were no engines at all.
Interesting the relatively derided 1-11 which I didnt like much preferring the quieter and indeed better selling DC 9 - actually did sell pretty well and to airlines in all parts of the globe . But then thats us brits again always preferring the glamour to the practical
So there you go-the past is another country and they do things differently there.
(UK second biggest aersopace industry ? well USA of course but surely Airbus which has no British ownership anymore does it is huge and the French element probably bigger than ours . Whatever I do so hope RR sort out their problems and the Brexit calamity doesnt see the Airbus Industrie Uk elements which are critical gradually get moved to the rest of Europe . We dont do much in manufacturing hi tech engineering line and it would be a tragedy to lose even one of these enterprises . Not World Beaters to use that idiotic jingoistic phrase thats been the bane of so much of Britains recent history but genuinely highly regarded global enterprises of which we have very few that involve actually doing anything in terms of long term investment , employment and preservation of engineering and technology skills.
Hands up who would like to stand by the threshold of one of LHRs runways and see a ten depart again
pax britannica,
Yes, UK aerospace industry second largest in the world. Airbus is not French, despite the huge operation at Toulouse the company is actually registered in the Netherlands, and counts the UK as a 'home country.' Ownership of an industry is largely irrelevant in these globalised industry days. The Uk designs, manufactures and assembles each and every wing ever fitted to an Airbus airliner or military airlifter. In addition the UK designs the undercarriage, the fuel system and the hydraulic system, and manufactures a good percentage of these items too. Whilst the UK may only assemble complete aircraft in relatively small numbers in the shape of Typhoons, Hawks, Islanders, Merlins and microlights, it is present on almost every large scale platform such as A220 (wings), Martin Baker ejection seats, 15 to 20% of each and every F-35 built and so on and so on. Rolls-Royce of course is a huge international player and there are UK engines on platforms across the world, and a huge component industry.
Totally agree with you on the A380 by the way, simply the most comfortable and pleasant airliner I have ever flown on.