Editing Vickers VC10 (section)

===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.