Must look in the cockpit at Brooklands sometime, to see if the cockpit shares as much with the VC10 internally as externally..
It is marvellous, it's like being on the bridge of a ship; spacious and with a wrap-around view. Such a contrast to the cramped Viscount cockpit ( and apparently the Herald was even tighter ). One instrument that stuck in my mind was the gauge that indicated aircraft weight, based on compression of the main gear; a clever cross-check for paper calculations.
On the newspaper runs into Belfast the Merchantman carried the full load in the immense lower cargo holds, which was handy for the rampers since they could unload from ground-level.