The Vickers VC10 is a British airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long distance routes with a high subsonic speed and also be capable of hot and high operations from African airports. Today, a handful of these aircraft remain in service as aerial refuelling and transport aircraft with the RAF.
The initial concept of the VC10 was to provide a jet-powered ...
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The Vickers VC10 is a British airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long distance routes with a high subsonic speed and also be capable of hot and high operations from African airports. Today, a handful of these aircraft remain in service as aerial refuelling and transport aircraft with the RAF.
The initial concept of the VC10 was to provide a jet-powered airliner that could comfortably make use of the shorter runways commonly in use at the time. The performance of the VC10 was such that it achieved the fastest crossing of the Atlantic - London to New York, by a jet airliner, a record still held in 2009 for a sub-sonic airliner though beaten by the supersonic Concorde.
Though privately owned, Britain's aviation industry had been government-managed in practice, particularly during the Second World War. In 1943 the Brabazon Committee introduced command economy-style principles into the industry,...
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