Sad indeed....another iconic aircraft I'll never get to fly on (Damn being born 10 years late...concorde etc. )

At least I've had the pleasure of seeing her 30ft above my head 

Surely this will make your life a bit more Hassle free then C?

.mic

I guess my Paderborn pictures will be the last ones I have taken then. In a previous life that involved a blue suit, I spent may an hour down the back being ferried from place to place. I have also been in the cockpit for take off and landing once during a "jolly"
I am not normally a nostalgic person when it comes to the passing of a mechanical thing, but the VC10 is in another league. As Charlie says, the fastest airliner to fly (apart from Concorde) and a form that could appear on Page Three any day of the week

Matt

I thought the CV990 was the fastest non-supersonic airliner?

According to the Super VC10 Performance manual, it's normal cruise is .84 mach, while the CV990 max cruise is .91. However, I saw a page that say the VC10 could cruise at .94, so I'm not sure.

All in the above 2 posts are correct. In RAF service VC10 cruises at M.84 or M.82 dependant on the variant, and a maximum normal operating limit (currently) of M.866 in the cruise in RAF service (mainly due to the fact that we've got things sticking out the front, dangling off the wings and want to be economical with fuel!).

M.94 is the Mne (Vne varying with altitude from 397KIAS@sea level up to 371KIAS at 28500ft).

So what's the Mne of the 990? Sadly the internet gives the normal laymans figures (other than the M.91 cruise - which arguably, if fuel was not a player the VC10 could and would manage), which are fairly meaningless.

Looking on the 990, it seems it was quick, but not if you put a lot of fuel in (in the carrots!).

As an aside, it was interesting that both the VC10 and CV990 used aerodynamic devices invented by Mr Kuchemann. The Convair had his "carrots" and the the VC10 has his wingtips!

Interesting article by Flight, including a statement which almost seems to contradict the earlier one (which was true). Is it me or has that been a symptom of the UK Plc in recent years. I think "spin" is the word!

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/01/22/337527/uk-updates-guidance-on-vc...

Good news though.

expat wrote on Jan 22^nd, 2010 at 2:03pm:


Yep. Maybe they put up two pictures, one of a Herc, and one of a 10, and asked them to point to the one they think would be best carry long haul pax!

It's probably as it should be though. Put civvies on the (slightly more modern) Tristar or charters, but allow military pax on the '10.