Editing Vickers VC10 (section)

==Design and development==

===Background===
[[File:British Airways VC-10.jpg|A [[British Airways]] Vickers VC10 still in partial [[BOAC]] livery|thumb]]
Although privately owned, Britain's aviation industry had been government-managed in practice, particularly during the [[Second World War]]. Design and manufacture of transport aircraft had been abandoned to concentrate on production of combat aircraft with Britain's transport aircraft needs being met by the provision of US aircraft through [[Lend-Lease]]. In 1943, the [[Brabazon Committee]] introduced [[command economy]]-style principles into the industry, specifying a number of different types of airliners that would be required for the post-war years, though it assumed that US dominance in transport aircraft would translate into leadership in long-range airliners and conceded in principle that the industry might have to cede the long-range market to US makers.

During the 1950s, the government required the aviation industry to [[mergers and acquisitions|consolidate]]: in consequence only two engine makers were left by 1959: [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]] and [[Bristol Siddeley]]. In 1960, the [[British Aircraft Corporation]] (BAC) encompassed [[Vickers]], [[Bristol Aeroplane Company|Bristol]] and [[English Electric]]'s aviation interests, whilst [[Hawker Siddeley]] built on [[de Havilland]]'s heavy aircraft experience and [[Westland Aircraft|Westland]] consolidated helicopter manufacture.<ref>Hayward 1983, pp. 41–44.</ref> The British government also controlled route-licensing for private airlines and also oversaw the newly established publicly owned [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC) long-range and [[British European Airways]] (BEA) short and medium-range airlines.

In 1951, the [[Ministry of Supply]] asked Vickers-Armstrongs to consider a military troop/freight development of the [[Vickers Valiant|Valiant]] [[V bomber]] with trans-[[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] range as a successor to the [[de Havilland Comet]].<ref name="Henderson5">Henderson 1998, p. 5.</ref> The concept interested BOAC, who entered into discussion with Vickers and the RAF.<ref name="Henderson5" /> In October 1952, Vickers were contracted to build a prototype which they designated the ''Type 1000'' ([[Vickers V-1000]]), followed in June 1954 by a production order for six aircraft for the RAF.<ref name="Henderson5" /> The planned civil airliner was known as the ''VC7'' (the seventh Vickers civil design).<ref name="Henderson6">Henderson 1998, p. 6.</ref><ref>Hayward 1983, pp. 22–24, 27.</ref> Development was prolonged by the need to meet the RAF's requirements for short take-off and a self-loading capability.<ref name="Henderson6" /> Work started on the prototype but by 1955 the aircraft's increased weight required a more powerful engine, causing BOAC to question the engine development cycle. In 1955, the government cancelled the RAF order in a round of defence cuts.<ref name="Henderson6" /> Vickers and the Ministry of Supply hoped that BOAC would still be interested in the VC7 but they were reluctant to support the production of another British aircraft following delays in the [[Bristol Britannia|Britannia]] programme and the crashes involving the [[de Havilland Comet]].<ref name="Henderson6" />

===Concept===
{{Stack|[[File:Vickers VC10 from the rear arp.jpg|thumb|VC10 from the rear, showing the position of its four engines]]
[[File:Vc10.tail.arp.jpg|thumb|The [[T-tail]] of a VC10]]}}
Though BOAC had ordered modified Comet 4s, it viewed the type as an intermediate rather than a long term type. In 1956, BOAC ordered 15 [[Boeing 707]]s. These were oversized and underpowered for BOAC's medium-range Empire (MRE) African and Asian routes, which involved destinations with "[[hot and high]]" airports that reduced aircraft performance, notably between [[Karachi]] and Singapore, and could not lift a full load from high-altitude airports like [[Kano, Nigeria|Kano]] or [[Nairobi]]. Several companies proposed a suitable replacement. [[De Havilland]] offered the [[de Havilland DH.118|DH.118]], a development of the Comet 5 project while [[Handley Page]] proposed the [[Victor B(SR).2|HP.97]], based on their V bomber, the [[Handley Page Victor|Victor]]. After carefully considering the routes, Vickers offered the VC10.<ref name="Harrison 494">Harrison 1965, p. 494.</ref> Crucially, Vickers was the only firm willing to launch its design as a private venture, instead of relying on government financing.<ref>Hayward 1983, pp. 24–25.</ref>

The VC10 was a new design but used some production ideas and techniques, as well as the [[Conway engines]], developed for the [[Vickers V-1000|V.1000]] and VC7. It had a generous wing equipped with wide [[Chord (aircraft)|chord]] [[Fowler flap]]s and full span [[leading edge slats]] for good take-off and climb performance; its rear engines gave an efficient clean wing and reduced cabin noise.<ref>Walker and Henderson 1998, pp. 18–18, 40, 49.</ref> The engines were also further from the runway surface than an underwing design, an important factor in operations from rough runways such as those common in Africa; wide, low-pressure tyres were also adopted with this same concern in mind.<ref>Harrison 1965, pp. 495–498.</ref> The VC10 was capable of landing and taking off at lower speeds than the rival 707 and its engines could produce considerably more thrust, providing good 'hot and high' performance, and was considered to be a safer aircraft.<ref>Walker and Henderson 1998, pp. 9–45.</ref>

The onboard avionics and flight-deck technology were extremely advanced, a quadruplicated automatic flight control system (a "super autopilot") was intended to enable fully automatic zero-visibility landings (though the autoland system did not work smoothly and finally was removed from the Super VC10s.).<ref>Walker and Henderson 1998, pp. 18, 26–27.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vc10.net/Technical/Autoland.html|title=Autoland on the VC10|website=www.vc10.net}}</ref> Capacity was up to 135 passengers in a two-class configuration. Vickers designer Sir [[George Edwards (aviation)|George Edwards]] is said to have stated that this plane was the sole viable option unless he were to reinvent the 707 and, despite misgivings on operating cost, BOAC ordered 25 aircraft. Vickers calculated that it would need to sell 80 VC10s at about £1.75 million each to break even so, apart from BOAC's 25, another 55 remained to be sold. Vickers offered a smaller version, the VC11, to [[British European Airways|BEA]] for routes like those to [[Athens]] and [[Beirut]] but this was rejected in favour of the [[Hawker Siddeley Trident]].

The aircraft featured Powered Flight Control Units an early type of [[electro-hydraulic actuator]]; these were produced by [[Boulton Paul]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vc10.net/Technical/hydraulics.html | title=Hydraulics }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1201736 | title=Vickers Armstrong (Aircraft) LTD: VC 10; powered flight control units by Boulton Paul }}</ref>

===Production and order problems===
Vickers revamped its production plans to try to achieve break-even point with 35 sales at £1.5 million each, re-using jigs from the [[Vickers Vanguard]]. On 14 January 1958, BOAC increased its order to 35, with options for a further 20 aircraft, the largest civil order ever placed in Britain at that time;<ref name="Andrews Vickers p468">Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 468.</ref><ref>Goldring, Mary. [https://books.google.com/books?id=T7QpXGn-QekC&pg=PA11 "Forced Change in the Aircraft Industry."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024032953/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T7QpXGn-QekC&pg=PA11&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SUkcU_iDGtKjhgeK04DwBA&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCD |date=24 October 2016 }} New Scientist, 3(61), 16 January 1958. pp. 10–12.</ref> these were to have smaller 109-seat interiors and more first-class seating. As the BOAC order alone reached the break-even point, the reuse of Vanguard jigs was abandoned and new production jigs made. To offer greater economy, Vickers began work on the ''Super 200'' development of the VC10 with more powerful [[Rolls-Royce Conway|Conway]] engines and a {{cvt|28|ft}} longer fuselage offering up to 212 seats, 23 more than the Boeing 707-320 series.<ref name="Harrison 495">Harrison 1965, p. 495.</ref><ref name = "cole 29">Cole 2000, p. 29.</ref>

By January 1960, Vickers was experiencing financial difficulties and was concerned that it would not be able to deliver the 35 VC10s without making a loss.<ref>Hayward 1983, pp. 38–39.</ref> It offered to sell ten Super 200s to BOAC at £2.7 million each only to find that BOAC was unconvinced it had a role for the already ordered 35 VC10s and doubted the airline's ability to fill all 200 seats.<ref name = "cole 29"/> The whole project looked to be facing cancellation prior to government intervention, supporting Vickers with an order for Super 200s being placed on 23 June 1960.<ref>Hayward 1983, pp. 46–48.</ref> The Super 200 extension was cut down to {{cvt|13|ft}} for the finalised ''Super VC10'' (Type 1150), the original design retrospectively becoming the ''Standard VC10'' (Type 1100).<ref name="Harrison 495-496"/>

In accordance with its contracts with Vickers, in May 1961, BOAC amended its order to 15 Standard and 35 Super VC10s, eight of the Supers having a new [[Combi aircraft|combi]] configuration with a large cargo door and stronger floor; in December the order was reduced again to 12 Standards. By the time deliveries were ready to begin in 1964, airline growth had slowed and BOAC wanted to cut its order to seven Supers. In May, the government intervened, placing an order for VC10s as military transports to absorb over-production. This lengthy, well-publicised trouble eroded market confidence in the type.<ref name="Harrison 495-496">Harrison 1965, pp. 495–496.</ref><ref>"Jet – When Britain Ruled The Skies: Episode 2". ''British Broadcasting Corporation''. 2012.</ref> BOAC chairman [[Gerard d'Erlanger]] and managing director [[Basil Smallpeice|Sir Basil Smallpeice]] resigned, defending the opinion that the airline was a profit-making company, not a sponsor of indigenous aircraft. BOAC's incoming chairman Sir [[Giles Guthrie]] was also anti-VC10; he proposed that the Vickers programme be shelved in favour of more 707s.

===Development and production===
[[File:BOAC-Cunard Vickers VC10 G-ASGC Duxford 2006 (03).jpg|thumb|upright|VC10 Type 1151 Flight Deck]]

The prototype Standard, G-ARTA, rolled out of the [[Brooklands|Weybridge]] factory on 15 April 1962. On 29 June, after two months of ground, engine and taxi tests, it was first flown by Vickers' Chief Test Pilot G.R. 'Jock' Bryce, Co-Pilot [[Brian Trubshaw]] and Flight Engineer Bill Cairns from Brooklands to Wisley for further testing.<ref name="Green">Green 1964, p. 228.</ref> By the end of the year, two more aircraft had been flown. Flight tests revealed a serious drag problem, which was addressed via the adoption of [[Dietrich Küchemann|Küchemann]] wingtips and "beaver tail" engine [[nacelle]] fairings, as well as a redesigned basal rudder segment for greater control effectiveness; these aerodynamic refinements considerably elongated the testing process.<ref>Cole 2000, pp. 69, 74.</ref> The certification programme included visits to [[Nairobi]], [[Khartoum]], Rome, [[Kano (city)|Kano]], [[Aden]], [[Harare|Salisbury]] and [[Beirut]]. A VC10 flew across the Atlantic to [[Montreal]] on 8 February 1964.

By this point, 7 of the original 12 Standards were complete and the production line was preparing for the Supers. A [[Certificate of Airworthiness]] was awarded on 23 April 1964 and the plane was introduced to regular passenger service between London and [[Lagos]] on 29 April.<ref name="Andrew Vickers p473">Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 473.</ref><ref name = "cole 74">Cole 2000, p. 74.</ref> By the end of 1964, all production requirements had been fulfilled; Vickers (now part of [[British Aircraft Corporation|BAC]]) retained the prototype. The first Super VC10 was first flown from Brooklands on 7 May 1964. Although the Super was ostensibly a minor development of the Standard with an extra fuel-tank in the fin, testing was prolonged by the need to move each engine pair 11&nbsp;in (27&nbsp;cm) outboard as well as up and giving them a 3-degree twist.<ref name="Harrison 497">Harrison 1965, p. 497.</ref> This redesign resolved tailplane [[buffeting]] and fatigue issues incurred by operating the [[thrust reverser]]s. The two inboard engines could have thrust reversers installed (such as on military VC10s), matching the 707. There was 3.0% more wing area with the leading edge extension reducing aspect ratio and wing root thickness/chord ratios, improving low speed lift and reduced high Mach drag.

Later VC10 developments included the testing of a large main-deck freight-door and fitting new wing leading edges featuring a part-drooped, four-per-cent chord extension over the inboard two-thirds and a drooped, extended-chord wing-tip that allowed more economical high-altitude flying. (This mimicked the 1961 aerodynamics of the similar-looking but significantly different [[Ilyushin Il-62|Il-62]].) Further developments proposed included freighter versions, one with front-loading like the [[C-124 Globemaster II]]. Efforts focused on getting a BOAC order for a 250-seat "VC10 Superb", a move away from the VC10's initial MRE role into the area targeted by the [[Douglas DC-8|DC-8 Super Sixties]]. The VC10 would have needed an entirely new double-deck fuselage, which raised emergency escape concerns, and the design failed to attract orders.