The airliner was distinctive in that it had a tall vertical tail fin with horizontal stabilizer at the top. It also had four rear-mounted engines, situated two either side of the fuselage.
The VC10 is widely acknowledged as one of the best-looking airliners to have flown, and perfectly reflected the design styles of the 1960s.
It was also a highly capable airliner, with the ability to fly from “hot and high” airstrips, which were common on the overseas Empire routes of BOAC. It was also a quiet and comfortable aircraft to fly on.
There were two variants of Vickers VC10 – the Standard model, which first flew on 29 June 1962, and the Super VC10 which first flew in May 1964. However, in total only 54 VC10s were built.
Inside the VC10 cabin
In addition to BOAC (later British Airways), airlines such as Air Malawi, British Caledonian, British United, East African Airways, Ghana Airways, Gulf Air, Kenya Airways, Middle East Airlines and Nigeria Airways also operated VC10s. Examples were also flown in VIP configurations.
Later modifications saw the Royal Air Force operate a fleet of bespoke and former civilian VC10s in tanker and military transport roles. The RAF became the final operator of the VC10, retiring the type in September 2013.
Vickers VC10 Survivors
Thankfully a number of VC10s survive and are on display for the public to visit. None are likely to ever fly again.
- G-ARVF cn808 United Arab Emirates Government. Preserved Hermeskeil Museum, Germany.
- G-ARVM cn815 British Airways. Fuselage preserved Brooklands Museum, near London.
- A4O-AB cn820 Omani Royal Flight. Preserved Brooklands Museum, near London.
- G-ASGC cn853 BOAC Cunard. Preserved Duxford Imperial War Museum, near Cambridge.
- XR808 cn828 Royal Air Force. Preserved Royal Air Force Museum Cosford.
- XV106 cn836 Royal Air Force. Cockpit preserved Avro Heritage Centre, Woodford, Manchester.
- XV108 cn838 Royal Air Force. Cockpit preserved East Midlands Aeropark.
- ZD241 cn863 Royal Air Force. Preserved in taxi condition Bruntingthorpe Aircraft Museum in Leicestershire.
- ZA147 cn882 Royal Air Force. Stored at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire.
- ZA148 cn883 Royal Air Force. Preserved Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre, Newquay, Cornwall.
- ZA149 cn884. Cockpit preserved in Gulf Air colours at Al Mahatta Museum, Sharjah, UAE
- ZA150 cn885 Royal Air Force. Preserved in taxi condition Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey.
VC10 Icon of the Skies
Lance Cole’s new book, VC10 Icon of the Skies, looks into the development, history, politics and operation of the VC10. It’s a great read if you want to know more about this classic airliner.
You can read my review of the book here http://www.airportspotting.com/vc10-icon-skies-book-review/
36 comments
Theres no mention of the vc10 at Cosford museum which i flew to New York in many years ago it was the only B A flight still operating over the Atlantic departing L H R at 1830 at the time i think it was G- ASGC .
Hi, XR808 is the VC10 at Cosford. It’s listed just underneath the Duxford picture. There used to be a British Airways VC10 at Cosford, G-ARVM, which is now at Brookland. Also listed here.
Unfortunately, the Heritage collection at Cosford has been broken up distributed around the country and in most cases actually scrapped with only parts being preserved.
I remember many afternoons in the mid-1960s hearing the distinct sound of BOAC VC-10s on the LHR-BOS route coming low over my house just north of Boston. Those RR Conways may have been muted inside the cabin, but they roared outside.
The feature i loved most about the RAF VC10 passenger planes was that the seats all faced rearwards.
I was fortunate to have flown on BOAC’s Super VC-10. It was August 1965 from NYC to Bermuda , I was a teenager traveling with my family.
Hello. Why do the seats face rearwards?
Military transport aircraft operated by the RAF have rear-facing seats.
The text needs correcting please. The first flight of a standard VC10 was 29 June 1962, it went into service in April 1964.
I love the VC10 it was the master of the skies till this day in my opinion. London – Accra Ghana Airways On ground watching it taxi was hair raising the power and roar like a jet fighter .
As with Kakra above used to watch them at Kotoka Airport bringing my brother back from school and flying out on them. There is a great Pathe newsreel showing an arrival into Accra.
I am hoping that someone in cyber land can let me know if they know the whereabouts of a VC10,BOAC, ASGG on which I spent many hours flying on between Australia and the UK.Does anyone know of its fate or where I could find out?Cheers
Hi Guy, my database says it was sadly scrapped in 1981.
Hello. I have just spotted what appears to be an intact VC10 on Google maps sitting off the tarmac at Diori Hamani International Airport outside the city of Niamey in Niger. Does anyone know anything about this one? The link is here: https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Mali/@13.4783161,2.1870271,214m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0xe143e881b1073cf:0xbb3a5be2a0bdcf80!8m2!3d17.570692!4d-3.996166?hl=en
Hi Keith, it does look like one, but is in fact an Ilyushin IL-62 which is very similar. It’s this one: https://www.airliners.net/photo/Yana-Airlines/Ilyushin-Il-62M/1357655
Matt
Hello. I have just spotted on Google maps what appears to be an intact VC10 sitting off the tarmac at Niamey Diori Hamani International Airport in Niger. Does anyone know anything about this one?
Hi Matt,
Thanks for clearing that up. Thought I’d found a stray one!
Cheers,
Keith.
Hi all A friend of mine has recently confirmed that i must have flown in DC10s between Gatwick and Entebbe in the mid to late 60s. As a very young child I distictly remember running down a cabin and throwing my self onto some seats which were facing inwards – fixed along the inside of the fuselage. Can anyone confirm that there were some seats arranged like this for some reason or is it just a memory glitch?
[…] VC10 […]
I flew on them many time between London and Chileka in Malawi on BOAC and Air Malawi. I was at Chileka when the last BOAC FLight took off and what a sight he took off then flew around and did a pass up the runway at around 300 feet and did a wing tilt magic, when it got to Larnaca it had an engine failure and unfortunately all the passengers had to go onto London on other flights and it flew its last time into Heathrow on three engines and no passengers. The Air Malawi VC 10 was left at Gatwick for over a year to try and sell it but no takers so it flew back to Chileka where it sat for years at the end of the runway, there was thoughts to make it a restaurant but it never happened. I do not know where it is now
Fantastic memories, thanks Jerry!
Yes Matt they sure are fond memories. Sometimes en route we would stop at places like Da e salam and Addis Ababa for a refuel and passenger change but because the armed guards standing at the bottom of the steps we weren’t allowed off to stretch our legs. I did manage to spend a few hours in the cockpit when flying and got to know some of the crews, there was always 4 because they had to have a flight engineer and a navigator to plot the journey across Africa by the sun and stars mainly because the various countries we flew over the locals couldn’t be bothered to make sure the direction beacons were working so could not be relied on for locations . They are are compressed air start engine and at Chileka I was often called upon to get the compressor going when it had faulted as the VC10 had only 1 restart on board for emergencies and were very dependant on ground equipment at airports
Hi all my Dad was a steward for 10 SQN Brize Norton and flew on a large number of !0’s from 1970-1973 I have his flight log book and his last recorded flight was 10Nov 1973 0n XV106 from Gander to Brize Norton with PIC Sqn Ldr Willson Do you Know if XV106 Cockpit is still at Woodford please
Hi Alan, here’s some info: http://www.vc10.net/Airframes/cn_836__XV106.html
Looks like it’s still at Woodford.
In 1967 I flew from Bermuda where I lived, to New York for Christmas, by Pan Am Boeing 707. I was able to change my return ticket to BOAC VC10. As has been mentioned it was very quiet and smooth on board, I was fortunate that my partner and I were allocated seats at the front, just behind first class by an emergency exit to had very good leg room. A bonus was that as there was not a full complement of 1st class passengers, the stewardesses came through to chat and provide extra service.
My strongest recollection was that as soon as the aircraft left the runway the angle steepened until if felt like a recliner chair and looking out of the window the land just disappeared as if we were going up in a lift. My favourite airliner ever.
Fantastic memories. Thanks Andrew!
I seem to recall seeing one at Marana Airport in Marana Az 30+ years ago WE skydived there and they have a aircraft salvage operation and evergreen the CIA airline that used to operate there they are still in business I think?
As a child aged 10-11 I often flew on VC10 ‘s w. BOAC, As an unaccompanied minor! man we were treated SO well ! as I went to boarding school in UK @ Cheam School ( one of HRH Charles’ ala matters ) so often flew back and forth to UK fr USA that, was a great time and kids were often allowed to come up to the cockpit, given little plastic “wings ” as a jr aviator one flight they let me hang out there for hours in the jumpseat and for a time 15 minutes? I sat in the co-pilot’s seat and they let me ” fly ” the plane! bank it gently and go up and down! I was in awe and they liked it too ! will be forever grateful! bless BOAC! And those crew!
The VC10 was magnificent there is a poem about it somewhere I read ? you should find it put it here !
I remember them being built when I was a boy at BAC Weybridge. 1967 to 1968.
My experience with VC 10’s. started with East African Airways when my mother in law Trudy Carter worked for them in Dar es Salaam. She arranged for my wife and daughter to fly to Dar for her 1st birthday. After that we moved to Kampala and flew almost exclusively on ,EAA Super VC 10’s.
We also used the Entebbe Swimming Club which had a pool right under the flight path and often saw these magnificent planes taking off.
On our long leave back to the UK, EAA used Nicosia as a refueling stop to
London and we could break our trip there for a weeks holiday. The problem was that it landed at 4am! We had hired a car from Kyrenia and the poor driver had to make a huge detour as the direct route from Nicosia was only available to Kyrenia residents twice a day in a UN convoy!
Great planes and lovely memories.
Brilliant memories, thanks for sharing Chris!
My fiance (now wife) flew on a BOAC VC10 from Manchester to NYC idlewild / Kennedy in early summer 1973. The flight was smooth and quiet. A marvellous aircraft.
I was cabin crew on BA VC 10s from 1976 until 1982. I was completely in love with that aircraft! I would so love to find one that is still intact, but doubt there are any now. Watching our outbound aircraft coming into land at night to pick us and new passengers up whilst in transit, used to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up! They were so majestic.
Great memories Alison! Head to Duxford near Cambridge where there is an intact VC-10 with seating and cockpit!
There’s also one at Brooklands Museum near Weybridge, but has a VIP interior.
Matt
In 1973 at the age of13 I flew in an East African AIrways VC10 from Nairobi to London Heathrow an was amazed that such a big plane could fly! Most East African planes were small propeller engined flying visually. I was thrilled when we landed safely.
I rember the RAF used to name the planes after famous britts,vc 10 , do you know what happened to the vc 10 called sir Alexander Fleming, remember flying to gander and had to return 3 times for various reasons to Brise Norton for repairs never been so nervous in my life,
Hey Folks!
Love all the comments. Just fantastic.
Was it indeed only “one” VC 10 that Air Malawi operated?
As a teenager, I flew from Heathrow to Blantyre Malawi (via Lanarca + Dar es alam) on Air Malawi’s VC10 in September 1979 to visit my father who was working there.
An article in the current “British Airliners” magazine indicates the Air Malawi’s VC 10 was withdrawn from service in September of 1979 and returned to England on October 29 1979.
My Air Malawi commuter flight (an HS748) to LLW was cancelled, so I was able to see the VC10 depart later in the afternoon! It was magnificent, enough to make one’s spine tingle!
John Clements
Vancouver
Canada