The Super VC10 line began with the Type 1150 base model which led to the Type 1151 for BOAC of which 17 examples were produced. Thirteen examples of the Type 1151 were to follow though none were actually manufactured. Five Type 1154 aircraft were produced for East African Airways.
Military marks included the original VC10 C1 strategic transport for the RAF which were based on a Type 1106 configuration and were manufactured in 14 examples. The VC10 C1 achieved first flight in November of 1965 with deliveries commencing in 1966. The VC10 C1K was a Type 1180 model designed as a hybrid transport/aerial refueling tanker airframe, the later with two-point. Thirteen examples of the preceding VC10 C1 were then converted to the VC10 C1K standard. The VC10 K2 (Standard VC10) became another RAF model (as the Type 1112) and born from the original Type 1101 line to be used as refueling tankers. The VC10 K3 (Super VC10) and VC10 K4 (later Super VC10 conversions) then joined the RAF stable as aerial tankers, though these with three-position fueling, the K4 lacking the maindeck of the K3. The first RAF tankers were delivered in 1984.
Externally, the VC10 followed well-accepted commercial airliner design which included a tubular, aerodynamically-refined fuselage, a well-forward flight deck, low-mounted swept-back monoplane wings and a high "T" style tail unit. Engines numbered four and these were fitted as paired nacelles along either side of the rear fuselage. Dorsal strakes were noted along the main wing surfaces. Vision out of the cockpit was relatively good with a multi-paned window arrangement. The undercarriage included two main legs with four wheels each and a two-wheeled nose leg. Cabin entry was through doors fitted at the fuselage sides. Original cockpits were naturally dotted with needle gauges and seated the two pilots side-by-side with a center console in between. Two additional crew could be located just aft of these primary seating positions. A complete VC10 crew was four plus three cabin attendants and passenger capacity totaled approximately 151 persons (for commercial passenger-hauling versions).
Today (Sep 2013), with increasing use of the Airbus A330-200 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), the RAF has elected to retire its entire fleet of VC10 aircraft with a few examples being ferried to final destinations to live out their days as museum showpieces. The MRTT aircraft, designated by the RAF as "Voyager", are detailed elsewhere on this site and will be joined in retirement by the aged fleet of Lockheed L1101 TriStar aircraft scheduled for retirement in March of 2014. The final flight of a RAF VC10 occurred on September 25th, 2013. During her 47 years of service, the VC10 formed an important logistical portion of British military operations, particularly in its aerial refueling tanker role.
Qatar became the only other notable military operator of the VC10 series while there proved a surprising plethora of civilian operators: Bahrain, Ceylon, East African Community, Ghana, Lebanon, Malawi, Nigeria, Oman, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar and the UK, therefore, became both military and civil operators of the VC10 while the UK, Ghana and East African Airways hold their place in history as the original launch customers of the VC10 line.
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