VC10 at Nairobi

[jjfluk]

It was good to see a VC 10 at Nairobi, as this was one of the Hot & High routes Vickers mistakenly saw as the market gap filled by the VC10.

Does anyone have any backgound on the specific one at Nairobi? It was in a military grey colour, but no sign of nationality.

[irishair2001]

The only present day operator of the VC-10 is the RAF,might explain the military gray colour ?:

[TEEEJ]

The RAF VC-10 airframes have low-visibility markings.

Photo Search Results | Airliners.net

RAF - VC10 Gallery

TJ

[Rainboe]

I beg your pardon!

one of the Hot & High routes Vickers mistakenly saw as the market gap filled by the VC10.

I flew this route for 6 years. The VC10 filled the slot admirably. On that route, it way outperformed the 707 and was actually designed for that operation. But the very design features that made it so good hot and high meant the general operation was not so efficient. The limited set of routes operated did mean that the order book was small as a result. Your statement was wrong. It waas filed by the VC10. Sadly it could not fill the other requirements quite as well as the 707.

[Seloco]

Rainboe posted:

Your statement was wrong. It waas filed by the VC10.

but jjfluk's original post actually said:

It was good to see a VC 10 at Nairobi, as this was one of the Hot & High routes Vickers mistakenly saw as the market gap filled by the VC10.

I don't think jjfluk is claiming that the VC10 could not fulfil the hot and high requirement - quite the opposite! However the requirement was not one defined by Vickers, but rather one imposed upon them by BOAC's specifications at the time.

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

What a beautiful airliner.

That wing is way too big for cruising!

Still a darling!

[Rainboe]

A big wing actually has a lot of benefits. The 757 benefits from a big wing and higher cruise altitudes as a result. Not an aerodynamacist, but I think the problems were:
Heavy structure
Low bypass engines not able to benefit from high cruise altitudes
Outdated section high drag wing design

It's handling was superb, but it was not unknown to fly with continuous buffet at high altitude. Engine out stuff was a breeze, but a combination of all the above meant full consumption was higher than the opposition. Honolulu-Auckland could be a strain whereas the opposition could handle it better. It could not do LHR-LAX whereas the other could, maybe with a restricted payload.

[Groundloop]

Your statement was wrong. It waas filed by the VC10.

Yes, but it was also filled by the 707 and DC-8. Why? Because when the African governments saw that their airports were too small for the 707/DC-8 and realised that a lot of airlines would simply overfly them they hurriedly extended their runways to handle the 707/DC-8. Overnight the reason for the VC-10 disappeared.

[jjfluk]

Yes, but why was it at Nairobi

Thanks for the info. From the pictures it was certainly an RAF one.

I agree with the comments - its market was too small. If the article on Wiki is in any way accurate, it never really had a chance with the arguments between BOAC and Vickers.

Nevertheless why would a troop carrier be in Nairobi in September 2009?

[renfrew]

British troops still exercise in Kenya?

[gsa]

Nevertheless why would a troop carrier be in Nairobi in September 2009?

Taking the lads on exercise as they have done for the last 30 or so years.

[Cater]

Vc10

I was one of the lucky people that did a proving flight on one of the first BOAC Vc10
we did a day trip to I think it was Kano in west africa
Great fun