Editing Vickers VC10 (section)

===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.