VC 10 with RB211 engine at Thurleigh

[HZ123]

Anyone a link to a picture of this as I have had a look and my 14 yr old is beginning to question my sanity. Remember visible from Goldington area of Bedfore regularly in the late 60's. I belive it may have been BOAC.

[Boss Raptor]

This was an RAF aircraft with RB211 on one side only...used as flying test bed early 70's also operated out of Hucknall I understand.

http://www.vc10.net/History/Individual/XR809.html

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Wasn't there some fuss about this when the RAF said they wanted their '10 back, please, and RR couldn't put their hands on the original Conways and engine bearers?

Didn't it end up being scrapped?

SSD

[Boss Raptor]

The site I linked above says the airframe was found to be 'distorted' and beyond economic repair?!

[Compass Call]

What is the pod under the starboard wing? :confused:


CC

[Boss Raptor]

Looking at the various shots from the front it has a hole in the front of the pod so guess instrumentation pod for measuring all atmospheric/aerodynamic parameters...dont appear to be any other obvious prods/probes visable

[Wycombe]

I believe that the Air Movements VC10 trainer at Brize is made of the remains of this aircraft.

Known locally as the "VC5", as the centre section is missing, with the front and rear fuselages (where the holds are) stuck together.

[teeteringhead]

According to this useful site (http://www.ukserials.fsnet.co.uk/) , XR 809 was scrapped at Kemble on 25 Oct 82.

[BEagle]

Yes, the Bag Bashers' School has it. There were still some RAE bits lying around in 1983, perhaps they've now been removed?

[WebPilot]

"I believe that the Air Movements VC10 trainer at Brize is made of the remains of this aircraft.

Known locally as the "VC5", as the centre section is missing, with the front and rear fuselages (where the holds are) stuck together".



The loady's "VC5" is the ex Ghana Airways and RAe machine, G-ATDJ/XX914/8777M. It still has the XX914 serial on the engine pod.

There are some cockpit fittings (throttle pedestal and flight engineers station) from XR809/G-AXLR used as a cockpit mockup at BN for procedures training.

[iain mchenry]

HZ123,

I bought a book a couple of years ago on the L1011 (Tristar). There is a photo in the book of a VC-10 carrying an RB211 on its port rear area, where its Conways should be. The photo is taken from the rear left of the aircraft showing the engine and tail.

I am moving from UK to Belgium at the mo and the book is packed. i should have it unpacked by about 10 March. I would be able to scan a copy of the photo for you.

If someone gets there first, fair enough. If not please feel free to remind me about it as I will be busy moving and may have forgot.

Bets regards

Iain McHenry

[Windy Militant]

Have a look in here A Little VC10 derness (http://www.vc10.net/index.html) lots of interesting stuff about the Funbus! :ok:

[HZ123]

Thanks for the replies and on an aside I have a number of recollections of flying on BA VC10 pax of course. I also flew with VJ 'Gulf Air' as security staff in the 70's. I recall two others as well the Oman VC10 at Brooklands and also a white/red cheet lines of the United Arab Emirates. I believe VJ went to the RAF what was the afte of the UAE a/c.

[Jhieminga]

The loady's "VC5" is the ex Ghana Airways and RAe machine, G-ATDJ/XX914/8777M. It still has the XX914 serial on the engine pod.

There are some cockpit fittings (throttle pedestal and flight engineers station) from XR809/G-AXLR used as a cockpit mockup at BN for procedures training.

There are photos of both on this page: http://www.vc10.net/History/bitsandpieces.html

Thanks for the replies and on an aside I have a number of recollections of flying on BA VC10 pax of course. I also flew with VJ 'Gulf Air' as security staff in the 70's. I recall two others as well the Oman VC10 at Brooklands and also a white/red cheet lines of the United Arab Emirates. I believe VJ went to the RAF what was the afte of the UAE a/c.
Feel free to share those recollections! :rolleyes:

[saman]

I joined HSA at Hatfield in September 1973 for a job in Future Projects. The enlightened management at that time decided that I should work in the Instrument Lab for 3 months so that I could touch, see and feel some real aircraft before going into an office. During this period, we did all sorts of noise trials work using a 125 with a Hartman noise generator mounted above one wing for noise shieilding tests; we used the Miles Student with its top mounted engine intake for some trials, but I cannot remember all the details if I ever knew them and, in a rare combined programme with BAC Weybridge, we did a whole heap of airframe noise trials with a VC10 at RAE Bedford at Thurleigh.

These trials required the VC10 to fly over the two sets of microphone arrays with flaps, slats, undercarriages and undercarriage doors open and closed in combinations that the good men of Weybridge had never imagined at the design stage! Naturally, the aircraft was required to fly as consistently low as possible and obviously with as little noise-generating thrust as possible.

At the end of each pass, the lucky guys on the ground got used to the aircarft overflying the site and at a given point in time, the ear shattering Conway Crackle would tell us that all was well in the world.

As you can imagine, the clean passes were quite 'fun' since airspeed had to be not too disimilar to the full-flap-and-slat passes and yet that thing called lift was not quite the same!

After one clean pass, the Conway Crackle was very late in coming and we all left our kit and rushed out our wee caravan just in time to see and hear the VC10 start to generate smoke and noise and start a very slow climb having missed the ground by what seemed only centimetres. No gear down, no flap, no slat. Heaven only knows what it was like on board but it certainly caused us to need a drink on our way back to Happy Hatters that night!

Rumour had it that the VC10 in question was ex-BUA. My unreliable memory has it in RAE markings and the word was that it had a major rear spar or centre section corrosion problem following a chemical or battery acid spill at some previous point in its life and that it was grounded and 'reduced to parts' shortly after these trials.

Can anyone help with this 30 year old memory? One thing is certain; it was twixt October and December 1973. 'Our' mikes were close to the 'VTOL pit' where I believe the SC1 and the P1127 were tested in the hover many years before.

Around the same time, the Hastings and Comet that were at Bedford, left for the great hangar in the sky and did a combined photo sortie with a Dove as the photo plane taking pics of the two aircarft flying over Thurleigh. Never did see the pics!

[None of the above]

Saman......

I worked at RAE Bedford during 1973/74.

I have a copy of the book 'A Short Illustrated History of the Royal Aerospace Establishment Bedford' by Arthur Pearcy.

An excellent, copiously illustrated book with plenty of photos of the SC1. However I couldn't find anything resembling the Hastings/Comet photo you mention.

By the way, the ISBN number is 1 85310 360 8

[Loki]

Saman:

I too remember the VC10 and the noise trials. It was always a spectacular view from the tower as the beast started its recovery after its pass. I`m pretty sure there was a HS125 involved too.

[stick&rudder]

compass call,
i understand the pod simulated the power loading of the L1011 for testing the rb211.

[saman]

Loki,

My dubious memory has it that we did the Hartman noise generator-equipped HS125 tests at Bedford in the weeks prior to the VC10 work. I also seem to remember that the Miles Student work was done at Hatfield but I'd moved jobs by then.

NotA

Many thanks for the book ref. - I'll seek it out even if it hasn't got the pic that got away.

Does anyone remember the Sea Vixen with 'Fly RAF' writ large along its booms?

Saman

[Loki]

Saman:

If it was the airworthy one at Thurleigh, then yes. Often flown by "Nugget 93"....I think his name was Miller/Millar. For some reason, while I was there it was involved in arrestor system trials, being taxied at varying speeds into a carrier arrestor wire. The first one got to know about it was when the RT burst into life for start clearance, as the trial sponsor/pilot never remembered to book the detail with movements.

[PAXboy]

Slight change of topic focus: I am one of those, whose first flight was on a VC10 and I have spent happy hours reading the web sites and remembering the three trips I did LHR~JNB Dec '65 and then in a Super (I think) JNB~LHR~JNB in June/July '71. I only wish that I still hae my Junior Jet Club log book. :sad:

There is one single image of the VC10 that I have been trying to find for 20 years or more. It was a BOAC poster for the HKG route in the 60s. The a/c was viewed from below and to one side and a little to the rear, so as to place her in silhouette, with the tailplane fully displayed. The wording was, "High Tail to the East". Has anyone seen this? Anywhere? For me, it summed up all the magic of the world.

By the time I flew into Kai Tak for the first time, it was 1991 and in a JAL 767!

Cheers.