It is beautiful as a bird. The flaps look like feathers, the tail wing is handdrawn. Airplanes will never look so 'analog' again. The sound is magnificent.
In 1973 I flew London-Brisbane in a Super VC10, seated at the back, about 10 feet from the port engines. After 29 hours I was glad to get off it. Almost deaf.
I had the honour of being an electrical engineer at Brize Norton in the eighties, and worked on all levels of the VC10 servicing from first to third line, and flew on many post service check flights which really put the plane through it;s paces and made it do things it never normally would when carrying passengers. I loved everything about this majestic aircraft and it was way ahead of it's time, like so many other British designed planes. .
I used to help look after the Victor and other jets at the Cold War Collection at Bruntingthorpe and the VC-10's were flown there to be scrapped. Several were kept intact for a few years and at least one kept in running order and did high-speed taxy runs with passengers on open days. Very sadly, with the selling of the rights to use the airfield for vehicle storage in 2019 (iirc) to Cox Automotive who wanted the airfield cleared of all aircraft, the remaining '10's together with 5 Tristars, 2 or 3 747's and assorted other smaller aircraft were chopped up and turned into coke cans. At least one of the '10's could have been fairly easily returned to flight a damn site easier than the tin triangle was.
British United, Ghana Airways, Malawi Airways, East African Airways, Gulf Air, Middle East airlines. I think Nigeria flew them. As well as airlines, the governments of, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates flew them in a VIP configuration.
Majestic plane. Flew on both the VC10 and the Super VC10 back in the 60's with my parents and siblings. Still have very fond memories. Quite an era for passenger air travel back then, same for the 70's; not the cattle car experience it has now become.
Having lived very near Brize Norton, listening to the Rolls Royce Conway power plants......This bird is the ultimate....... Looks combined with that noise...
I have flown in VC-10s many times, over the Atlantic to Canada twice, to Belize twice and to Cyprus, several times. On the trips to Canada, we refuelled at Gander in ‘76 and Goose Bay in ‘79. I was also on one that did an emergency landing at Washington Dulles when the flaps failed to retract after take off. I also had the privilege of sitting on the flight deck for take offs and landings on a few occasions.
Reminds me of my childhood plane spotting at Heathrow. Loved the rear engine airliners, VC-10, Tristar, Trident and BAC-111. All made a racket even while taxiing to and from their stand.
As a civil ATCO at JATCRU Border Radar in the early 70's I used to work BA VC10's when they came out over the North Sea to practice depressurisation emergency descent procedures. The captains usually requested descent clearance from high level to FL120 but said that if they hadn't called back on the VHF by the time they were going through FL140 then treat it for real as they might not be able to stop the descent! Beautiful aircraft especially the Super VC10.
This relates to the British Airways flights into Perth Australia late 60’s early 70’s. When I was a boy I found a gap in the fence at Perth airport and would hide in the scrub and trees abeam the threshold of the main runway and watch them spoil up and roll. I was deaf for some minutes following the departure. In no small manner it inspired me to pursue a career as a pilot flying internationally for over 33 years. A beautiful aircraft.
Yes!! London - Lagos 1966. Only once, then came the Biafra war...They still allowed you into the cockpit those days to look at all the dials and ask stupid questions.
@peterf2451 I was there, in Lokoja, when the war kicked off - very scary! All the kids on the flight used to be given a cheese biscuit size tin of chocolate bars. Then the tin shrank in half, before it stopped altogether.
I never flew in a BOAC VC10 but I flew back and forth to Ndola Zambia via Entebbe on school holidays in BUA VC10'S which later became British Caledonian. Infact one of the VC10's I flew in was bought by an Arabian King and is now parked up on display at Brooklands. I went and had a look at it last year and actually sat in the cockpit. Back in the 60's pilots used to let us into the cockpit when we were kids and sometimes they let us sit in the co-pilots seat. So there was me sitting in VC10 pilots seat that I could well have sat in when I was 10 years old some 59 years earlier. These are magical aircraft. Better than any other I have ever flown in.
@kenmcd2014 That's amazing! I flew BCAL too (better than BOAC IMO), but always in 707s. You flew an interesting route too. I always flew into Lusaka, usually via Nairobi, once via Entebbe and sometimes also via Rome or Tunis. From Lusaka, I caught a turboprop up to Ndola, which I always believed couldn't take the big jets.
@@mrsilbo6499 Hi Yes, VC10's were short runway aircraft they were developed especially for that purpose. VC 10's were in and out of Ndola every week. in the mid 60's. As well as the turbo prop you mentioned we often used a BAC1-11 to get us back and forth to Lusaka from where we would board a DC-8 and fly either by Alitalia or East African Airways or some other which I can't remember and the stops were many and varied. Ranging from Nairobi, Douala, Tripoli, Beirut, Franfurt, Orleigh Paris. Probably some others in North Africa which I can't remember. Great times from an age long gone. Can you imagine sending children halfway around the world on their own these days. Even when we got to the Airport it still meant long journeys by bus/coach to Paddington or whatever station you needed to get to. Then a train to your destination town. These days children can't even walk a few hundred yards to school. An entirely different world. However, getting back to the aircraft, I never once flew on a 707 which I would have liked to have done.
Love the Howl!! Living on finals to EGCC, that "after howl" was my alarm clock for a daily 8am arrival as it passed overhead. Great memories, thanks so much for sharing
As a Stockport schoolboy, that 0800 arrival was our bus keeping time clock. The black sooty smoke and the howl mixed with the engine whistle noise. Fabulous!
What a machine! Weeks after I got my PPL in Kenya I flew home in a VC10. We were delayed and took off from Nairobi at mid day, a VC10 speciality, wow did she go! I then managed to be in the cockpit for the entire flight, except for when the wheels were down at Zurick for fuel, and then finals for Gatwick. You were not allwed to be there for the best bit.
It was a good plane but it wasn't even close to being one of the best planes ever! if it was one of the best planes ever there would be more than just 54 built! it was one of the best British planes ever built but not one of the best planes ever!
@John Higgins It was not 'ordered less' than other airliners it happened to be extremely popular and the most popular (and only one for two or three years) wide bodied airliner of its era, it was king for 25 years, and the competition came in the guise of the DC10 and Tristar. The Tristar, though a technical tour de force didn't sell and was Lockheed's final attempt at a commercial. McDonnell Douglas cut more corners than a kid with scissors and a stack of A4, and still the 747 had many more orders. It single handedly changed the world as we knew it giving everyone the opportunity to travel like nothing before or since. It flew well too and the crews liked it. It was fast. 625 mph, so leaves ALL modern twins far behind. Airbus didn't get a look in till decades later, even though the A300 was introduced in the 70s it made no impact till much later. Some idiot mentioned the 737 MAX and made some inane comment - Well that is it - you are an idiot.
@@fredgarvinmaleprostitute6451 Numbers built do not guarantee quality, just means you managed to sell for the right price. The VC10 was a technical marvel and made the contemporary 707 look very mediocre. The VC10 would be at 2000 feet before the 707 had got half way up the runway. It flew like a fighter jet and was tough and rugged. Aerodynamically advanced it looked beautiful too. It was certainly one of the finest aircraft ever built.
I used to watch these RAF VC10's doing this at St. Mawgan - used to call them circuits and bumps. My late wife flew to Accra in a BOAC one in the late sixties, but I never had the privilege. No other plane quite like the VC10
I was lucky enough to fly on these a few times as an Army brat in the 60’s and 70’s. The only plane I ever flew on where you faced backwards. It was my favourite passenger plane.
Reminds me of the flight I had on a VC10 on an Air Training Corps summer camp at RAF Brize Norton. The flight was straight after lunch and it wasn't long before people started being ill as the flight was a training flight that included several touches and go.
Great video! I was lucky enough to find myself on a golf course weirdly located on the approach path of brize Norton airbase way back in 2010 or thereabouts, we were used to seeing 20+ C17’s and even more C130’s a day but as I was about to swing the bat I heard something way louder than any of that, I thought it had to be a Typhoon on full reheat but as the aircraft rose above the hedge into view I saw what it was - a VC-10! Those with me were like ‘it’s just an airliner’ but I on the other hand was dancing about like a happy idiot, I hadn’t seen one fly before and what a beautiful sight it was too! Great memories….
Superb. I flew from Manchester to JFK in a super VC10 in 1973 and it was fantastic. The kick on take off with those four rear mounted engines was amazing. Such power. A very stable and comfortable aircraft too. ✈️
When I flew out of Brize Norton in a VC10 to Split my abiding memory is the power, comfort, tranquil cabin and being in a very well engineered and safe aircraft. Yet the inferior 707 was the aircraft which sold by the bucket load. Never mind all history now but happy memories.
The most memorable jet I have ever flown in…what a Wing!! Flew on it first as a 5 year old from Brize to Singapore with my family. Then after On routes to Cyprus & Malta… Rear facing seats😊 Good idea!
Lots of happy memories with the VC10 - East African Airways to Kenya and back growing up. RAF VC10's in the late 70's and early 80's - sitting facing the rear of course! Including a very impress landing, and later take off on a VERY short funway in Vanuatu in 1980! Beautiful aircraft.
The last VC10 built was an order for East African Airways, A Super VC10. I saw a photo of it in the snow at the Vickers factory before delivery, lost now. I used to fly on these birsds regularly on the Nairobi, Entebbe routes inthe early 70s. Fantastic.
That was 5H-MOG, later ZA150, and it can still be seen at Bruntingthorpe to this day. Kepler Aerospace had plans to return it to tanker service in the USA, but those plans have not yet materialised, and probably never will.
@@aviationlba747Very sadly I believe she was chopped up about 4 years ago when the owners of Brunty leased the airfield to Cox Automotive for vehicle storage. I used to help maintain the Victor, Nimrod and Comet there until COVID and the leasing, but all the VC-10's apart from the ones moved to museums were scrapped there together with 5 Tristars, several 747s and a few other smaller pax aircraft. A very sad affair Edit: Just found out she's survived and lives on at Dunsfold in taxyable condition 😁.
Yeah,we flew out of Ndola Zambia to Entebbe in a VC10 in 1971. Beautiful hostess,very reassuring, curtain at the rear, ashtray that swirled around. Over Sahara was a dawn anomaly that happens maybe every 250 years ; the sun fills the whole horizon.
I lived next to Prestwick Airport, Scotland when I was young(1960s), BOAC VC-10s were very common, you knew it was one taking off by that amazing engine sound, the only sound that could beat it were the F-104s that regularly flew from there.
I've flown to lots of places in a VC10 including Canada and Khatmandu. I saw Mt Everest from 5 miles up in a VC10 and the mountain was still higher than us!!
We flew an RAF VC10 to Hong Kong in 1970, via Cyprus, Bahrain, Gan (Maldives island), Singapore and onto Hong Kong Kai Tak airport. Unfortunately the landing at Singapore was pretty hard, I was told the rear tyres burst, debris went into one of the engines which caught fire. I saw the rear door open as well, we were facing backwards, don’t know if the RAF still do that. We spent a long time at a beach club waiting for a new VC10 to be sent. As a young boy, it was an adventure and I just found the whole journey amazing, travel has been a buzz for me since. Never had a landing as bad as that one though in all of my flights around the world, though we did get a personal apology from a Lufthansa pilot after a landing at Dusseldorf, I didn’t think it was bad though.
BA had one of the best marketing slogans in the 70’s…. Try a littleVC10-tenderness……I flew (at the sharp end) from LHR to MEX via BDA and FPO on the day Virginia Wade won the singles at Wimbledon, the skipper ordered a round of drinks on the house……drinks were only free in First Class, and you could put a coin on the table on edge and it stayed perfectly steady…..although I can’t imagine what it was like to sit at the back with the four RR Conways singing for that time…….a fantastic example of British aircraft design and manufacturing, but was ‘too small’ for the emerging longhaul travel market, but was perfectly suited to running on the old Commonwealth Dip Mail routes to high altitude and shorter runways in Africa and Central America…..
Awesome Aircraft. Had the pleasure of many flights courtesy of the Royal Air Force. Even able, in those days, to have a chat with the cockpit crew - in the cockpit. The other RAF workhorse was the BAC 1-11, of which my experiences were similar. Some countries are still using them for short-haul work.🇬🇧
As an ex-LHR Customs Officer I used to pass and be passed by all kinds of aircraft and, other than the Concorde (noisy) and the Aeroflots (high-pitched whine), the VC-10 was the most "whiny" and, on take-off was the "crackliest" only challenged by the BAC1-11 (by-pass jets).
In August '69 at age 10, I flew on a BOAC VC-10 from JNB to LHR with a stop at NBO. On the first leg I 'fell in love' with a flight 'stewardess' (as known back then). On the second leg (NBO - LHR) my juvenile heart was broken as there had been a crew change and my 'love' was not on board - gone forever. 🤣😂
Flew in them when they were new, to Aden and back as a kid in 1966/7. Worked on them for a few years at Brize Norton and flew in them many times too. I was the team leader doing a Cat 3 repair on the last one to leave RAF Abingdon for tanker conversion. The airfield had closed when it left.
Tiny engines, but big noise. No wonder people living near airports back then were complaining so vociferously, and there was so much effort put into making engines quieter. My first flight on a jet was a 707. I don't remember much of the sound, but I do remember looking out the window at the front of those engines as we gathered speed for takeoff and the sound of them increasing in speed as we started accelerating down the runway. I had arrived at that airport on a DC3, so the 707 seemed like entering the space age. I feel fortunate to have been around for that transitional period when both propellor and jet airliners were common, because it was only a short time before DC3's and Super Constellations etc disappeared from most airports.
My family were returned on a VC10 from Singapore with my Casevac’ed father who was a Sqr Ldr in RAF. It was big. Beautiful and noisy. Designed for contact with British overseas territories it had powerful engines astride the tail as it needed ground clearance for the substandard airports it would visit. The inside was, for the day , roomy and luxurious. A shame that it was noisy and thirsty which stopped the overseas sales somewhat.
Yea those Conways have a unique sound. I love the Vc-10 I wish it would have been more popular with buyers. I love that engine layout. It may have been the layout that scared buyers away. They were afraid if one engine was damaged it could ultimately damage the neighboring engines. This did ring true to an extent. Either way it's a beautiful plane.
Ah the beautiful VC 10, have flown in them many times. Can recall on decent it started raining inside with droplets of water hitting you on the head. If only the RAF had issued umbrellas. 😀😀😀
I flew in one when I was 8 .We were allowed to get off the plane in Nairobi for a while. taking off is great. So much power it pushed you back in you seat. I don't think it had the range though. We landed in Rome and Tenerife and finally Joburg 1971
As an American and longtime fan of Boeing and all things aviation, I must say that the VC-10 is more awesome than my beloved 727. 4 beats 3, hands down. 😢
The VC10 is a beautiful aircraft, it will never be forgotten. I think that there should be an updated version made of this aircraft instead of the ugly looking planes they make nowadays.✈❤💙☺
Yes because of being covered in it after crawling up the jetpipes, but also referred to as "sumpies" or "paraffinos" because they usually stink of Avtur 😁 Ex sootie/rigger split brain😂
Absolute perfection! And all this could have been the rival of the Boeing 707 if not for bloody British Airways. Why you Brits still allow these wankers to display the Union Jack on their planes is beyond me. They're just another multi-national conglomerate. You Brits must be SO proud.
It is beautiful as a bird. The flaps look like feathers, the tail wing is handdrawn. Airplanes will never look so 'analog' again. The sound is magnificent.
The most elegant airliner ever built T tailplane swept back wings.. pure poetry, pilots and stewards loved it, and what's more it was british
And as a passenger I loved it too😊
In 1973 I flew London-Brisbane in a Super VC10, seated at the back, about 10 feet from the port engines. After 29 hours I was glad to get off it. Almost deaf.
The smoking seats !
Still remember those things landing at Kai Tak .... flew right over St Georges school - boy were they loud. The VC10's and the weekly Vulcan :)
Gorgeous !! The most beautiful airliner ever built in my opinion. Aarre Peltomaa
I had the honour of being an electrical engineer at Brize Norton in the eighties, and worked on all levels of the VC10 servicing from first to third line, and flew on many post service check flights which really put the plane through it;s paces and made it do things it never normally would when carrying passengers. I loved everything about this majestic aircraft and it was way ahead of it's time, like so many other British designed planes.
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How brilliant to have a job you feel is an honour. I'm a lapsed PPL, but I am in awe of the engineering people who make flying safe.
I used to help look after the Victor and other jets at the Cold War Collection at Bruntingthorpe and the VC-10's were flown there to be scrapped. Several were kept intact for a few years and at least one kept in running order and did high-speed taxy runs with passengers on open days.
Very sadly, with the selling of the rights to use the airfield for vehicle storage in 2019 (iirc) to Cox Automotive who wanted the airfield cleared of all aircraft, the remaining '10's together with 5 Tristars, 2 or 3 747's and assorted other smaller aircraft were chopped up and turned into coke cans.
At least one of the '10's could have been fairly easily returned to flight a damn site easier than the tin triangle was.
I can't watch enough of these VC-10's. Safe to say two of the most beautiful birds ever made are BRITISH!!!
British United, Ghana Airways, Malawi Airways, East African Airways, Gulf Air, Middle East airlines. I think Nigeria flew them.
As well as airlines, the governments of, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates flew them in a VIP configuration.
I forgot that BOAC purchased and flew them. The RAF used them as tankers and transport aeroplanes.
Your wrong there!
Comet , VC-10 and Concorde - that makes THREE .
I'm American and I agree. Vulcan, Concorde, VC-10, Comet, Spitfire, etc. Some classy designs.
Majestic plane. Flew on both the VC10 and the Super VC10 back in the 60's with my parents and siblings. Still have very fond memories. Quite an era for passenger air travel back then, same for the 70's; not
the cattle car experience it has now become.
Lucky Ravi ... 🙀😸✈✈✈
Having lived very near Brize Norton, listening to the Rolls Royce Conway power plants......This bird is the ultimate....... Looks combined with that noise...
I have flown in VC-10s many times, over the Atlantic to Canada twice, to Belize twice and to Cyprus, several times. On the trips to Canada, we refuelled at Gander in ‘76 and Goose Bay in ‘79. I was also on one that did an emergency landing at Washington Dulles when the flaps failed to retract after take off. I also had the privilege of sitting on the flight deck for take offs and landings on a few occasions.
Reminds me of my childhood plane spotting at Heathrow. Loved the rear engine airliners, VC-10, Tristar, Trident and BAC-111. All made a racket even while taxiing to and from their stand.
Don't for get the first Caravelles. RR Avon engines?
What a gorgeous, beautiful airplane. There’ll never be another one like it
A beautiful plane- even more beautiful in BOAC’s “gold speedbird” livery
I loved when they were marked up in BOAC Cunard livery .
A huge metal machine of stunning beauty.
During my time as a USAF pilot I got to fly one of these into a stable pre- contact position on a tanker.
The Vickers VC10, such a beautiful and underrated aircraft.
...seeing this for the first time gives me goosebumps upon goosebumps. Why such a beauty of an airline is no more? Love this video.
As a civil ATCO at JATCRU Border Radar in the early 70's I used to work BA VC10's when they came out over the North Sea to practice depressurisation emergency descent procedures. The captains usually requested descent clearance from high level to FL120 but said that if they hadn't called back on the VHF by the time they were going through FL140 then treat it for real as they might not be able to stop the descent! Beautiful aircraft especially the Super VC10.
This relates to the British Airways flights into Perth Australia late 60’s early 70’s. When I was a boy I found a gap in the fence at Perth airport and would hide in the scrub and trees abeam the threshold of the main runway and watch them spoil up and roll. I was deaf for some minutes following the departure. In no small manner it inspired me to pursue a career as a pilot flying internationally for over 33 years. A beautiful aircraft.
Great story and congratulations on realising your dream! Merry Christmas from UK.
I used to fly BOAC home to Africa for the holidays from boarding school on a VC10, in the 60s. What a plane!
Yes!! London - Lagos 1966. Only once, then came the Biafra war...They still allowed you into the cockpit those days to look at all the dials and ask stupid questions.
@peterf2451 I was there, in Lokoja, when the war kicked off - very scary! All the kids on the flight used to be given a cheese biscuit size tin of chocolate bars. Then the tin shrank in half, before it stopped altogether.
I never flew in a BOAC VC10 but I flew back and forth to Ndola Zambia via Entebbe on school holidays in BUA VC10'S which later became British Caledonian. Infact one of the VC10's I flew in was bought by an Arabian King and is now parked up on display at Brooklands. I went and had a look at it last year and actually sat in the cockpit. Back in the 60's pilots used to let us into the cockpit when we were kids and sometimes they let us sit in the co-pilots seat. So there was me sitting in VC10 pilots seat that I could well have sat in when I was 10 years old some 59 years earlier. These are magical aircraft. Better than any other I have ever flown in.
@kenmcd2014 That's amazing! I flew BCAL too (better than BOAC IMO), but always in 707s. You flew an interesting route too. I always flew into Lusaka, usually via Nairobi, once via Entebbe and sometimes also via Rome or Tunis. From Lusaka, I caught a turboprop up to Ndola, which I always believed couldn't take the big jets.
@@mrsilbo6499 Hi Yes, VC10's were short runway aircraft they were developed especially for that purpose. VC 10's were in and out of Ndola every week. in the mid 60's. As well as the turbo prop you mentioned we often used a BAC1-11 to get us back and forth to Lusaka from where we would board a DC-8 and fly either by Alitalia or East African Airways or some other which I can't remember and the stops were many and varied. Ranging from Nairobi, Douala, Tripoli, Beirut, Franfurt, Orleigh Paris. Probably some others in North Africa which I can't remember. Great times from an age long gone. Can you imagine sending children halfway around the world on their own these days. Even when we got to the Airport it still meant long journeys by bus/coach to Paddington or whatever station you needed to get to. Then a train to your destination town. These days children can't even walk a few hundred yards to school. An entirely different world. However, getting back to the aircraft, I never once flew on a 707 which I would have liked to have done.
Always loved the VC10. Such an elegant design, but packed with muscle.
The flaps on that thing are amazing!
Katie Price disagrees.
Love the Howl!! Living on finals to EGCC, that "after howl" was my alarm clock for a daily 8am arrival as it passed overhead. Great memories, thanks so much for sharing
As a Stockport schoolboy, that 0800 arrival was our bus keeping time clock. The black sooty smoke and the howl mixed with the engine whistle noise. Fabulous!
@@mrsmith6316heh fancy seeing someone from Stockport here lol
What a machine! Weeks after I got my PPL in Kenya I flew home in a VC10. We were delayed and took off from Nairobi at mid day, a VC10 speciality, wow did she go! I then managed to be in the cockpit for the entire flight, except for when the wheels were down at Zurick for fuel, and then finals for Gatwick. You were not allwed to be there for the best bit.
Probably one of the best planes ever built.
It was a good plane but it wasn't even close to being one of the best planes ever! if it was one of the best planes ever there would be more than just 54 built! it was one of the best British planes ever built but not one of the best planes ever!
Boeing 747 is the best airliner
@John Higgins It was not 'ordered less' than other airliners it happened to be extremely popular and the most popular (and only one for two or three years) wide bodied airliner of its era, it was king for 25 years, and the competition came in the guise of the DC10 and Tristar. The Tristar, though a technical tour de force didn't sell and was Lockheed's final attempt at a commercial. McDonnell Douglas cut more corners than a kid with scissors and a stack of A4, and still the 747 had many more orders. It single handedly changed the world as we knew it giving everyone the opportunity to travel like nothing before or since.
It flew well too and the crews liked it. It was fast. 625 mph, so leaves ALL modern twins far behind. Airbus didn't get a look in till decades later, even though the A300 was introduced in the 70s it made no impact till much later.
Some idiot mentioned the 737 MAX and made some inane comment - Well that is it - you are an idiot.
@@fredgarvinmaleprostitute6451 Numbers built do not guarantee quality, just means you managed to sell for the right price. The VC10 was a technical marvel and made the contemporary 707 look very mediocre. The VC10 would be at 2000 feet before the 707 had got half way up the runway. It flew like a fighter jet and was tough and rugged. Aerodynamically advanced it looked beautiful too. It was certainly one of the finest aircraft ever built.
@@martinda7446 The De Havilland Comet doomed the British aerospace industry!
I used to watch these RAF VC10's doing this at St. Mawgan - used to call them circuits and bumps. My late wife flew to Accra in a BOAC one in the late sixties, but I never had the privilege. No other plane quite like the VC10
Magnificent bird,and what a sound! Lovely ❤️.
I was lucky enough to fly on these a few times as an Army brat in the 60’s and 70’s. The only plane I ever flew on where you faced backwards. It was my favourite passenger plane.
Serving in Belize '86-'87, I watched " The Bird of Freedom," land, take-off once a week. The sounds, the smell... fantastic memories.
Same here 414 troop RCT
Nice, I was there in 83 as a REME mechanic. I rarely saw the airfield myself.
In 76 I flew to the Seychelles and back on a VC 10. Nice spacey seating in those days! Good aircraft.
Reminds me of the flight I had on a VC10 on an Air Training Corps summer camp at RAF Brize Norton. The flight was straight after lunch and it wasn't long before people started being ill as the flight was a training flight that included several touches and go.
Great video! I was lucky enough to find myself on a golf course weirdly located on the approach path of brize Norton airbase way back in 2010 or thereabouts, we were used to seeing 20+ C17’s and even more C130’s a day but as I was about to swing the bat I heard something way louder than any of that, I thought it had to be a Typhoon on full reheat but as the aircraft rose above the hedge into view I saw what it was - a VC-10! Those with me were like ‘it’s just an airliner’ but I on the other hand was dancing about like a happy idiot, I hadn’t seen one fly before and what a beautiful sight it was too! Great memories….
That takes me back - seeing them coming in to land over Hartburn for Teesside airport
Superb. I flew from Manchester to JFK in a super VC10 in 1973 and it was fantastic. The kick on take off with those four rear mounted engines was amazing. Such power. A very stable and comfortable aircraft too. ✈️
When I flew out of Brize Norton in a VC10 to Split my abiding memory is the power, comfort, tranquil cabin and being in a very well engineered and safe aircraft. Yet the inferior 707 was the aircraft which sold by the bucket load. Never mind all history now but happy memories.
The most memorable jet I have ever flown in…what a Wing!!
Flew on it first as a 5 year old from Brize to Singapore with my family.
Then after On routes to Cyprus & Malta…
Rear facing seats😊 Good idea!
Lots of happy memories with the VC10 - East African Airways to Kenya and back growing up. RAF VC10's in the late 70's and early 80's - sitting facing the rear of course! Including a very impress landing, and later take off on a VERY short funway in Vanuatu in 1980! Beautiful aircraft.
Melodic sound on taxiing power!
Beautiful capture of this iconic plane......just beautiful..... think I will loop this on my tv over and over........ ❤
Conway 301s beautiful sound!!
That is one pretty plane, thanks for posting.
Wow fantastic howling smoky touch and go very beautiful plane
Wow. Is this a beautiful airplane or what?
All the English 50s-60s jets sound amazing
The last VC10 built was an order for East African Airways, A Super VC10. I saw a photo of it in the snow at the Vickers factory before delivery, lost now. I used to fly on these birsds regularly on the Nairobi, Entebbe routes inthe early 70s. Fantastic.
Likewise at the same time. I know the picture you mean, was on the front of an aircraft magazine - but forget which one.
That was 5H-MOG, later ZA150, and it can still be seen at Bruntingthorpe to this day. Kepler Aerospace had plans to return it to tanker service in the USA, but those plans have not yet materialised, and probably never will.
@@aviationlba747Very sadly I believe she was chopped up about 4 years ago when the owners of Brunty leased the airfield to Cox Automotive for vehicle storage. I used to help maintain the Victor, Nimrod and Comet there until COVID and the leasing, but all the VC-10's apart from the ones moved to museums were scrapped there together with 5 Tristars, several 747s and a few other smaller pax aircraft. A very sad affair
Edit:
Just found out she's survived and lives on at Dunsfold in taxyable condition 😁.
Yeah,we flew out of Ndola Zambia to Entebbe in a VC10 in 1971. Beautiful hostess,very reassuring, curtain at the rear, ashtray that swirled around. Over Sahara was a dawn anomaly that happens maybe every 250 years ; the sun fills the whole horizon.
Beautiful legend
Charisma with wings!!!!
I lived next to Prestwick Airport, Scotland when I was young(1960s), BOAC VC-10s were very common, you knew it was one taking off by that amazing engine sound, the only sound that could beat it were the F-104s that regularly flew from there.
I've flown to lots of places in a VC10 including Canada and Khatmandu. I saw Mt Everest from 5 miles up in a VC10 and the mountain was still higher than us!!
We flew an RAF VC10 to Hong Kong in 1970, via Cyprus, Bahrain, Gan (Maldives island), Singapore and onto Hong Kong Kai Tak airport. Unfortunately the landing at Singapore was pretty hard, I was told the rear tyres burst, debris went into one of the engines which caught fire. I saw the rear door open as well, we were facing backwards, don’t know if the RAF still do that. We spent a long time at a beach club waiting for a new VC10 to be sent. As a young boy, it was an adventure and I just found the whole journey amazing, travel has been a buzz for me since. Never had a landing as bad as that one though in all of my flights around the world, though we did get a personal apology from a Lufthansa pilot after a landing at Dusseldorf, I didn’t think it was bad though.
One for the archives.
Well done!! 👍
BA had one of the best marketing slogans in the 70’s…. Try a littleVC10-tenderness……I flew (at the sharp end) from LHR to MEX via BDA and FPO on the day Virginia Wade won the singles at Wimbledon, the skipper ordered a round of drinks on the house……drinks were only free in First Class, and you could put a coin on the table on edge and it stayed perfectly steady…..although I can’t imagine what it was like to sit at the back with the four RR Conways singing for that time…….a fantastic example of British aircraft design and manufacturing, but was ‘too small’ for the emerging longhaul travel market, but was perfectly suited to running on the old Commonwealth Dip Mail routes to high altitude and shorter runways in Africa and Central America…..
Awesome Aircraft. Had the pleasure of many flights courtesy of the Royal Air Force. Even able, in those days, to have a chat with the cockpit crew - in the cockpit.
The other RAF workhorse was the BAC 1-11, of which my experiences were similar. Some countries are still using them for short-haul work.🇬🇧
As an ex-LHR Customs Officer I used to pass and be passed by all kinds of aircraft and, other than the Concorde (noisy) and the Aeroflots (high-pitched whine), the VC-10 was the most "whiny" and, on take-off was the "crackliest" only challenged by the BAC1-11 (by-pass jets).
In August '69 at age 10, I flew on a BOAC VC-10 from JNB to LHR with a stop at NBO. On the first leg I 'fell in love' with a flight 'stewardess' (as known back then). On the second leg (NBO - LHR) my juvenile heart was broken as there had been a crew change and my 'love' was not on board - gone forever. 🤣😂
Flew in them when they were new, to Aden and back as a kid in 1966/7. Worked on them for a few years at Brize Norton and flew in them many times too. I was the team leader doing a Cat 3 repair on the last one to leave RAF Abingdon for tanker conversion. The airfield had closed when it left.
I was in Aden around 64-66, lived on Sira Island and in Maala. Flew there and back on the VC 10 with my parents and siblings.
Always loved the VC10, wasn’t old enough to see one in person though unfortunately…
I was lucky enough to see a few land at Teesside (supplies for Navy store at Eaglescliffe). I miss that glorious, big bird.
My uncle used to fly these beautiful birds for BOAC and when offered 747's he turned it down to stay until his retirement
Great planes. British Airways had these flying form London to Khartoum Sudan in 1983 if my memory doesn't trick me..
Tiny engines, but big noise. No wonder people living near airports back then were complaining so vociferously, and there was so much effort put into making engines quieter.
My first flight on a jet was a 707. I don't remember much of the sound, but I do remember looking out the window at the front of those engines as we gathered speed for takeoff and the sound of them increasing in speed as we started accelerating down the runway. I had arrived at that airport on a DC3, so the 707 seemed like entering the space age. I feel fortunate to have been around for that transitional period when both propellor and jet airliners were common, because it was only a short time before DC3's and Super Constellations etc disappeared from most airports.
Like beautiful music
Brilliant!
I remember talking to an RAF VC10 Captain, and he told us, it’s like flying a Rolls Royce
Sounds amazing
100%safety record.
My family were returned on a VC10 from Singapore with my Casevac’ed father who was a Sqr Ldr in RAF. It was big. Beautiful and noisy. Designed for contact with British overseas territories it had powerful engines astride the tail as it needed ground clearance for the substandard airports it would visit. The inside was, for the day , roomy and luxurious. A shame that it was noisy and thirsty which stopped the overseas sales somewhat.
Yea those Conways have a unique sound. I love the Vc-10 I wish it would have been more popular with buyers. I love that engine layout. It may have been the layout that scared buyers away. They were afraid if one engine was damaged it could ultimately damage the neighboring engines. This did ring true to an extent. Either way it's a beautiful plane.
As a child In the late 60s use to see the BOAC ads on TV, boasting the quite transatlantic flights due to the rear mounted engines
Fantastic aircraft
Best like I’ve given today. What a noise!
Those birds were saying "we've been doing that for 100s and thousands of years" 🙂
I'm not surprised it "touched and went", there didn't seem to be an awful lot of runway.
Ah the beautiful VC 10, have flown in them many times. Can recall on decent it started raining inside with droplets of water hitting you on the head. If only the RAF had issued umbrellas. 😀😀😀
I flew in one when I was 8 .We were allowed to get off the plane in Nairobi for a while. taking off is great. So much power it pushed you back in you seat. I don't think it had the range though. We landed in Rome and Tenerife and finally Joburg 1971
My TV was rattling and the sound was down quite low too. Wow that's bloody insane!
I loved the V.C 10 so wished I had flown on that BIRD❤😊😊
Cool video 👍👍 subscribed
I flew from Brize to Belize in an R.A.F. VC10. Very uncomfortable, sat in rear facing removable seats.
Flew to Singapore on one of these from Brize Norton 1970 😅
Amazing capture ! Would you mind if I use part of this video , in one of my next episodes?Of course with a link back to your original video. Peace!
Sure
As an American and longtime fan of Boeing and all things aviation, I must say that the VC-10 is more awesome than my beloved 727. 4 beats 3, hands down. 😢
The VC10 is a beautiful aircraft, it will never be forgotten. I think that there should be an updated version made of this aircraft instead of the ugly looking planes they make nowadays.✈❤💙☺
Nice idea but nowadays it's all down to fuel efficiency, minimum operating costs and environmental concerns.
Affectionally known as , "The Whispering Giant." I still have 2 blue BOAC metal/tin Ashtrays!
I flew on them at least 30 times….my uncle Pete was a a BUA/BCAL Captain on them many years ago
This must have been a one off. Newcastle was Viscounts, Comets,tridents, and the occasional BAC 1-11.
Never seen a VC 10 on a regular basis.
Great plane to fly on, way better than the 707.
Ah those were the days.
And that’s why engine techies are called Sooties (in the RAF)
Yes because of being covered in it after crawling up the jetpipes, but also referred to as "sumpies" or "paraffinos" because they usually stink of Avtur 😁 Ex sootie/rigger split brain😂
@@125brat I always preferred Sumpy.
Oh, what a beauty. Rule Britannia!
conway engines were superb
That’s a real James Bond plane.
Stunning looking aircraft! Does anyone know if there are any still flying? 🤔
Not as far as I know. The RAF were the last to use them and all have now been decommissioned. You can see one at Duxford and Brooklands
@ thank you for the info 👍🏻
Thrust reversers on outboard engines 1 and 4 only
I have one sitting on my display cabinet 😜
Absolute perfection! And all this could have been the rival of the Boeing 707 if not for bloody British Airways. Why you Brits still allow these wankers to display the Union Jack on their planes is beyond me. They're just another multi-national conglomerate. You Brits must be SO proud.
We will be back
BUCK ROGERS DESIGN!
If it looks and sounds good from the outside, I've flown on a few and it was better on the inside!
The most beautiful plane doesn't exi...
Conway power!