RAF VC10 - Great Memories
Well, that was a fun evening last night at the VC10 farewell dinner. What a gathering - crammed to the bulkheads, it was! So many familiar faces from times past, almost too many to say hello again to. I suspect that the quantity of wine, port and beer consumed must have surprised the venue proprietors a bit. 
Some well known names were in tatters before the guest of honour even delivered his speech.
Over £8000 raised for the RAF Benevolent fund, from the after-dinner auction of VC10-related items. A retired training skipper drew cheers and admiration for his very determined bids to secure a rather nicely mounted VC10 Captain's control yoke, complete with Vickers badge mounted on the centre pivot point.
Well done to all who planned and executed the Op Order for the evening - a worthwhile gathering that will be remembered for a very long time ........
[Coff, sorry, I managed to delete my post ..... trying again ...... must have been a very good night, ha ha]
Some well known names were in tatters before the guest of honour even delivered his speech.Over £8000 raised for the RAF Benevolent fund, from the after-dinner auction of VC10-related items. A retired training skipper drew cheers and admiration for his very determined bids to secure a rather nicely mounted VC10 Captain's control yoke, complete with Vickers badge mounted on the centre pivot point.
Well done to all who planned and executed the Op Order for the evening - a worthwhile gathering that will be remembered for a very long time ........
[Coff, sorry, I managed to delete my post ..... trying again ...... must have been a very good night, ha ha]
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I've often wondered how well a rejig of the airframe with 2xRB211s in place of the four Conways (following on from the testbed experiments) would have worked. Unfortunately I suspect there were too few airframes and too little money to make it a viable proposition.
I still say said airframe had so much potential, given the time it was developed, that it was bordering on criminal to have set it aside so early.
I still say said airframe had so much potential, given the time it was developed, that it was bordering on criminal to have set it aside so early.
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Wasn't the V2500 one not the full engine but the cores minus the fan, if memory serves me correctly and would have been three in a triangular layout either side ?
Last edited by NutLoose; 21st Sep 2013 at 10:13.
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There was an "unofficial" 101 Sqn Engineers reunion at the end of August in Brize village organised online
.
Last edited by NutLoose; 21st Sep 2013 at 10:32.
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The V2500 is a little bit bigger than a Conway but not hugely so (it's used on the A320, for example) - I believe that the engine hangers would have had to be re-worked but that it would have been a reasonably straightforward swap (no worse than the CFM56 being fitted to the 707/KC135/E3).
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And they would have paid for themselves many times over in fuel savings, who knows they might have still been in service.
Must admit I also thought a pair of RB211's would have been efficient.
Must admit I also thought a pair of RB211's would have been efficient.
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2 RB211s would have been fine except that they could have posed problems on oceanic flights if the RAF was following ETOPS rules in the same way as civilian operators. 4 engines were less limiting
Why would the Military need, or have any obligation to follow civilian
ETOPS rules
They certainly didn't follow any for noise
ETOPS rules
They certainly didn't follow any for noise
Last edited by stilton; 22nd Sep 2013 at 08:39.
As an instructor in the RAF VC10 sim we had to similate the procedure for crew activity prior to ditching.
To save time we wrote a programme which meant the crew would leave Brize for Gander/Goose Bay (I forget). After many faults, during start and T.O which we would tick-off the training sheet, we would re-position the crew half-way across the Atlantic close to a weather ship. The briefing was we would cause numerous engine failures where they would apply the appropriate drills, so we could tick them as complete, then we would leave the crew with only one engine and thus they would carry out the flight side of a ditching drill.
On one occasion this crew were descending on one engine at full power and the Air Eng was dumping fuel as per....when the Capt. said "Stop dumping!".
The VC10 had levelled out at full power! A quick check of the fuel indicated they could still fly and they then established they could make it to the coast of Ireland with the prevailing wind.
As instructors we were flummoxed and, as there was another training session later, we needed get this one finished so we reversed the tailwind
However, after establishing that the computer and the condition were accurate we reviewed our training to include the possibility of flying on one engine to a better location to land or ditch.
Amazing Aircraft.
To save time we wrote a programme which meant the crew would leave Brize for Gander/Goose Bay (I forget). After many faults, during start and T.O which we would tick-off the training sheet, we would re-position the crew half-way across the Atlantic close to a weather ship. The briefing was we would cause numerous engine failures where they would apply the appropriate drills, so we could tick them as complete, then we would leave the crew with only one engine and thus they would carry out the flight side of a ditching drill.
On one occasion this crew were descending on one engine at full power and the Air Eng was dumping fuel as per....when the Capt. said "Stop dumping!".
The VC10 had levelled out at full power! A quick check of the fuel indicated they could still fly and they then established they could make it to the coast of Ireland with the prevailing wind.
As instructors we were flummoxed and, as there was another training session later, we needed get this one finished so we reversed the tailwind
However, after establishing that the computer and the condition were accurate we reviewed our training to include the possibility of flying on one engine to a better location to land or ditch.
Amazing Aircraft.
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We basically followed civilian rules across the board (in peacetime transport ops) including noise abatement procedures
Last edited by moggiee; 23rd Sep 2013 at 09:54.
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VC10 Commemorative Polo Shirts
For anyone who's interested, the folks on the VC10derness forum have organised a second run of commemorative polo shirts. Orders need to be placed and paid for by 12th October.
Details here: A Little VC10derness ? View topic - VC10 Tribute Shirts - NEW ORDER!!
Details here: A Little VC10derness ? View topic - VC10 Tribute Shirts - NEW ORDER!!
Last edited by moggiee; 1st Oct 2013 at 16:49.
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I would have ordered one, but bank transfers are a pain in the butt to do.
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VC10 airfix kit - request for relaunch
We all know that the Airfix VC10 K2 model has been out of production for some time but I would imagine that, with the retirement of the aeroplane, there would be quite a bit of interest in seeing it on the market again.
Airfix have a contact form allowing you to get in touch to make product suggestions. Could I urge you all to use it to ask Airfix to do the decent thing and relaunch the kit? There's nothing to lose and it costs nothing
thanks
Scale Plastic Model Kits by Airfix - Send us an enquiry
Airfix have a contact form allowing you to get in touch to make product suggestions. Could I urge you all to use it to ask Airfix to do the decent thing and relaunch the kit? There's nothing to lose and it costs nothing
thanks
Scale Plastic Model Kits by Airfix - Send us an enquiry
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PM me an address to send some monies for a shirt 
Filled out the enquiry too.
Filled out the enquiry too.
Last edited by NutLoose; 3rd Oct 2013 at 18:15.
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We all know that the Airfix VC10 K2 model has been out of production for some time but I would imagine that, with the retirement of the aeroplane, there would be quite a bit of interest in seeing it on the market again.
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Then rub it hard.
You cannot have one, they used the standard mould to produce the K2, so it was altered, something that cannot be reversed, you would need new moulds and they are not cheap.
You cannot have one, they used the standard mould to produce the K2, so it was altered, something that cannot be reversed, you would need new moulds and they are not cheap.