September 21, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Hi all,
Had the great joy of flying with 101 Sqd yesterday in the venerable VC10. I have flown in them before but only on trooper flights, this time I was on the only pax and was treated to a full on look at the the jet as we flew from Brize out over the North Sea to meet up with a mix of Tornado F3, Harriers and Mirage 2000’s. I know she is a military plane but hey I thought you might like to see some shots. Thanks to Damo (Skipper), Ash (Navs), Jaz (Co Pilot) and Steve (Flight Engineer) the crew of Tartan 45. Hope you like them.
Si
XV101

Forward looking aft (note the rearward facing seats)
Taking off
Passing Liverpool Airport heading to the Pole Hill VOR
Some trade



Finals to land


Timmy outbound
By: Future Pilot - 24th September 2007 at 10:32
Amazing selection Si, you lucky son of….:D :diablo:.
By: Si Jones - 24th September 2007 at 10:04
Looking good there cant wait to see the real thing.
James
James,
Whilst I was at BZZ, I noticed an A330 in all white scheme parked near 99 Sdn which is the C17 squadron, didn’t get a picture of it but there was an awful lot of interest in the jet. It had a an Egyptian reg, maybe a MRTT contender?
I work near the Future Tanker guys, I will find out what the latest is on the new jets and post something. Incidentally, the VC10 guys were saying that the aircraft will be in service until at least 2013.
All the best
Si
By: Manston Airport - 23rd September 2007 at 22:58
Looking good there cant wait to see the real thing.
James
By: Ren Frew - 23rd September 2007 at 22:56
Yeah that going to be cool an A330 in RAF Colours…
Might look a bit like this…?
By: Manston Airport - 23rd September 2007 at 22:46
They are all ex BA to the best of my knowledge ? And BA, along with BAE and Boeing proposed to offload their current 767’s for conversion to KC-767 tankers and supply to the RAF to replace the current Tristar and VC-10 tankers.
In the end the RAF opted for the A330 tanker, which should start to enter service in a couple of years.
Yeah that going to be cool an A330 in RAF Colours alongside VC-10’s and Timmys 😀
good information the TriStar’s are gonna be converted to “glass” flightdecks!
SO that could give them longer life flying in the RAF?
James
By: Ren Frew - 23rd September 2007 at 22:45
Well Ren,the engine mounts on the Trident are licenced parts of sud aviation (Caravelle era although DH gave the Caravelle the flightdeck section under licence so one for you one for me so to speak),ill show ya the plates when you pop in the avp and visit WZK .:rolleyes: .
Still trying to find that all elusive weekend off work Neil ! 😉
By: TRIDENT MAN - 23rd September 2007 at 21:48
Well Ren,the engine mounts on the Trident are licenced parts of sud aviation (Caravelle era although DH gave the Caravelle the flightdeck section under licence so one for you one for me so to speak),ill show ya the plates when you pop in the avp and visit WZK .:rolleyes: .
By: Ren Frew - 23rd September 2007 at 21:39
Yeah and British,apart from the stab (Sud Aviation France):rolleyes:
Ooh… shut your ears “ZK” ! 😀 😀 😀
By: TRIDENT MAN - 23rd September 2007 at 21:14
without doubt the best looking airliner ever built
Yeah and British,apart from the stab (Sud Aviation France):rolleyes:
By: Ren Frew - 23rd September 2007 at 21:10
Ren,not all of the TriStar’s were BA ones.Three were Pan Am .:rolleyes:
Cheers for the info Neil, I thought they were all BA’s.
By: sealordlawrence - 23rd September 2007 at 20:50
ah excellent.. VC 10 has to be one of the most graceful birds ever.
I second that, without doubt the best looking airliner ever built!
By: TRIDENT MAN - 23rd September 2007 at 20:48
Also from good information the TriStar’s are gonna be converted to “glass” flightdecks!
By: TRIDENT MAN - 23rd September 2007 at 20:35
Ren,not all of the TriStar’s were BA ones.Three were Pan Am .:rolleyes:
By: Ren Frew - 23rd September 2007 at 20:25
Some off there Tristars are ex BA?
James
They are all ex BA to the best of my knowledge ? And BA, along with BAE and Boeing proposed to offload their current 767’s for conversion to KC-767 tankers and supply to the RAF to replace the current Tristar and VC-10 tankers.
In the end the RAF opted for the A330 tanker, which should start to enter service in a couple of years.
By: TRIDENT MAN - 23rd September 2007 at 19:06
The Nimrod was introduced in 1969 if my memory serves me correct,The VC-10 was introduced to the RAF in 1966,if anyone can correct me please do,im a civil person at heart.:D
By: Manston Airport - 23rd September 2007 at 19:02
They are indeed,if not the aircraft would be grounded.Bear in mind they will fly untill 2015,Says it all about a tough built British aircraft!:D
And the Longest Running British Built aircraft ever to fly or is it the Nimrod?
James
By: TRIDENT MAN - 23rd September 2007 at 18:59
and are BAe Systems supporting the VC-10?
They are indeed,if not the aircraft would be grounded.Bear in mind they will fly untill 2015,Says it all about a tough built British aircraft!:D
By: Manston Airport - 23rd September 2007 at 18:52
By the way a good freind of mine is a training captain on the RAF VC-10 fleet he says the “best” ex airline Supers are the ex East African aircraft (they have lower hours) and were fitted with the cargo door as standard.He says the ex BA ones are not that good and are high houred!!:D
At least they are still going strong 😀 and are BAe Systems supporting the VC-10?
James
By: MSR777 - 23rd September 2007 at 18:38
Cracking pics! Thanx for sharing them. The VC10 is attractive to be sure………almost as much as the IL62!…but not quite;)
By: KabirT - 23rd September 2007 at 18:34
ah excellent.. VC 10 has to be one of the most graceful birds ever.