Yup, the VC-10 might have been a bit of a niche product, but there's no denying it was a superb niche product. It'll be a bit of a shame when they are no longer in the air, and that's not too far off; all those old birds are disappearing, the B720 made its last flight the other day apparently.

 

Al

And she is still flying today, as she celebrates her 50th year. My, my, my how time has flown by since I saw my very first VC-10 at BUA. Little did I know that one day I'd be servicing them in the RAF then at BA. Nice article with some vintage shots in this month's Airliner.

Very nice, always wanted to operate some of the older birds myself, particularly the VC-10.....

 

Rónán.

 

It was a Super VC10. Although BOAC intended them solely for the Atlantic they were often used on the "Bus Stop Route" as it was called from London to Hong Kong. Of all the a/c I have flown that is still my favourite. Our "excursion" was on the way back from Teheran.

 

vololiberista

I recall our 10 Sqn VC-10s en route back from Kai Tak calling at Muharraq(today's Manama) to refuel. Not too far away from Iranian airspace. And yes, the then British Government wanted to support Vickers Armstrong although the BOAC Board wanted the newly-arrived on the scene 707-320, and hence ordered BOAC to take the VC-10 and Super VC-10. Result was others also bought into it.

I recall our 10 Sqn VC-10s en route back from Kai Tak calling at Muharraq(today's Manama) to refuel. Not too far away from Iranian airspace. And yes, the then British Government wanted to support Vickers Armstrong although the BOAC Board wanted the newly-arrived on the scene 707-320, and hence ordered BOAC to take the VC-10 and Super VC-10. Result was others also bought into it.

 

BOAC was always in Boeing's pocket as they had made a secret deal to buy 707's. For the rest of BOAC the 10's were the best thing since sliced bread with Marmite! A number of pilots failed the conversion from VC10 to 707's. I think because the cockpit was poorly laid out in comparison. And it just didn't have the performance of the 10. It was said to be like going back from Ferrari to a Fiat 500.

vololiberista

@vololiberista

 

@Al

 

@Capt Rónán

 

It is a privilege for us who want to follow an intellectual thread, to read your depth of your font of knowledge.

I recall our 10 Sqn VC-10s en route back from Kai Tak calling at Muharraq(today's Manama) to refuel. Not too far away from Iranian airspace. And yes, the then British Government wanted to support Vickers Armstrong although the BOAC Board wanted the newly-arrived on the scene 707-320, and hence ordered BOAC to take the VC-10 and Super VC-10. Result was others also bought into it.

 

@vololiberista

 

@Al

 

@Capt Rónán

 

It is a privilege for us who want to follow an intellectual thread, to read your depth of your font of knowledge.

Thank you for the compliment!

 

Digressing "a little!" Have you been playing with the latest VC10 panel update? I have had very little feedback from people though all positive fortunately :-)

vololiberista

Digressing "a little!" Have you been playing with the latest VC10 panel update?

No, I have not. Please refresh my memory. I have it installed in FSX but was under the impression that the panel was for FS9's David Maltby versions whereas my version is the Addictive model, and I had read somewhere of somebody doing the Rolls-Royce engines sound but again, have not seen those sound files.

No, I have not. Please refresh my memory. I have it installed in FSX but was under the impression that the panel was for FS9's David Maltby versions whereas my version is the Addictive model, and I had read somewhere of somebody doing the Rolls-Royce engines sound but again, have not seen those sound files.

Yes, the updates are for DM's free model which apparently also works in FSX. It doesn't have the virtual cockpit but with the updates it has "everything" else! Every gauge and light on the panel works incl yaw dampers, fire handles etc. It also has a fully integrated pressurisation and oxygen delivery system + mask. Every light on the ignition panel works. Cabin call light + crew interactions, pushback module with marshaller, sextant, night panel and mountains of other stuff. The checklists are full and original and are called out using voicechecklist. Currently there are four updates which if you do decide to download do it in stages as there's a lot more than just a panel and gauges.

http://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=vc10+update&CatID=root&Go=Search

vololiberista

Thanks for that vololiberista.

 

But as that is all FS2004-related, I'm afraid I cannot take the availability of your heads-up stuck as I'm with an FSX ported version, which much as I want to fly, I have now taken out of my hangar. Maybe one day my dream of a re-worked FSX version will see the light of day?

I agree 100% ... Thank you all.

 

@vololiberista

 

@Al

 

@Capt Rónán

 

 

It is a privilege for us who want to follow an intellectual thread, to read your depth of your font of knowledge.

This one is a bit old, but it does work in FSX and has a VC: http://www.addictive.it/

 

Al

Thanks for that Al. Looks good. Will give it a shot.

This one is a bit old, but it does work in FSX and has a VC: http://www.addictive.it/

 

Al

 

True, but to say "it is lacking in features" is something of an understatement especially if money has to change hands!!

vololiberista

Are you questioning whether the stall warning should be designed differently? I don't really know what you're getting at here, could you re-phrase please....

 

On a seperate note, one thing that I would be interested in seeing is the pilots PRS ratings, it would shed some light on them and their attitudes and abilities, though I doubt information like that would ever be released into public domain.

 

Rónán.

 

Well yes possibly, there were several points towards the end of the descent where this was happening:

 

 

2 h 13 min 55 The angle of attack 2 is temporarily valid to 39.4°. SV: “Stall, stall” + cricket

2 h 13 min 57 The FD 1 and 2 become temporarily available again. The selected vertical speed is 1900ft/min. The selected heading is 280°.

2 h 14 min 03 The 3 angles of attack are invalid (NCD status). End of the “Stall, stall” warning + cricket

 

So whenever the AoA values went above a certain amount then the stall warning would stop. I can't help thinking that this probably added to the confusion rather than helping as the aircraft would still have been stalling but an action of pulling back was stopping the warning.

 

What are PRS ratings btw?