My keyboard needs wiping...its full of tears while I watched that video, so thanks for posting.
As an F/E I was one of the first batch of crew on No.10 Sqdn. We were ground trained by BOAC and did Flt. Sim at Cranebank whilst the first RAF VC10 models arrived at Brize Norton and Fairford.
After training I was sent to OCTU and, after graduating with a commission, was lucky to return to 10Sqn and to crew with Sqn Ldr. Pete Wooldridge DFC, AFC.
We did many airshows, just like the one on the video. When the A/C was light it was remarkably maneouverable, but sometimes too light to land with ease. I think I witnessed that on the video.
A dramatic trip I recall was when the PM of Australia went swimming and was never again found. They had a requiem in Melbourne and we crewed Gan to Tullamarine, which had just opened. Our VIP pax were Prince Charles: Hon. Harold Wilson: Hon. Edward Heath.
The A/C parked next to us was a B707 labelled Air Force I. President Johnson left earlier than we did and his T.O. was a very low, slow climb out. We found later he went all the way to Saigon to meet the troops...it was Xmas.
We were next and only carried enough fuel for Perth. Pete winked at me and said..."Max power V2 Climb Dave" I knew and winked back. We were tuned to the local radio station to hear the commentary as thousands of people attended the send-off.
As any VC10 afficionado will know the roar out of those Conways is deafening when they are floored...and I floored them and even tripped-off the compressors to get max thrust..... and off we went. The excitement from the commentors voice was equal to the adrenalin in the A/C. Pete slightly overcooked his rotate and the stick shaker well...shaked! so we had to push fwd a little but the ROC was still unbelievable.
Prince Charles thought this was fun.
The Prime Minister was not amused ....he never did seem to have much humour.
The Leader of the Opposition was still complaining that his seat was down the back with the Staff.
On a later flight to Offutt (USA) the government had changed and so had the seating plan.
I left 10Sqn to teach in the Flt Sim which was the original digital sim and had a funny old rolling map display.
After leaving the RAF and joining an airline those fun days diminished and the days on the VC10 became a very nice but distant memory...mind, I did 10 years on B747 which was some compensation.
Last edited by Davita; 24th Jun 2013 at 23:54.