Super VC10-Jet Airliner
In the meantime airports around the world had been busy extending their runways for Boeing 707/DC-8 operations, and the VC10s special capabilities were much less in demand. BOAC now wanted its initial order reduced and a stretched longer-range version introduced. The Super VC10s was a development which traded take-off performance against the ability to carry a much heavier payload. The fuselage was lengthened by 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m) and an internal fuel tank was fitted in the fin. Uprated Conway RCo 43 engines installed in nacelles angled 3 degrees nose-up and a strengthened structure were also a feature. The Super VC10 was originally planned as a 212-seater, but this was reduced to 163 seats at the insistence of BOAC. Two versions were built, the Type 1151 for BOAC which first flew on 7 May 1964 and the similar Type 1154 for East African Airways which incorporated a large cargo door and was configured for ‘combi’ mixed passenger/cargo operations. BOAC introduced the Super VC10 on its London-New York route on 1 April 1965.
Almost from the start, the VC10 and Super VC10 were popular with passengers, pilots and airline maintenance teams. The rear location of the engine gave a very quiet and vibration free cabin. The aircraft’s high performance, low landing speeds and excellent engine-out handling qualities endeared it to pilots, while dispatch reliability was never a problem. At the same time BOAC management publicly criticised the aircraft for poor operating economics and implied that they had been forced to ‘Buy British’ for purely political reasons. This had a damaging effect on potential export orders and production ceased in 1970 after only 54 had been completed. When BOAC’s financial calculations were finally published, they were shown to have been based on false assumptions. In fact the annual utilisation of the VC10 and Super VC10 was the highest in the BOAC fleet, its load factors were always significantly higher than the 707 and the actual operating profit was also the highest in BOAC, beating even the 707. BOAC later became British Airways, which operated it’s last VC10 service on 29 March 1981, having carried 13 million passengers without accident.
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