iscover
Central pod installation required a major modification of the VC1 airframe involving cutting into the pressurised structure aft of the main wheel well' and ahead of the carry-through structure for the rear-mounted engines. The installation occupies most of the original rear underfloor freight hold. Its hose drum unit has 81 ft of trailing hose and it can deliver 500 gallons per minute as against 350 gallons per minute for the wing pods.
VC10 Makes a Comeback as Tanker
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Vickers VC10s, one of the most popular airliners in the world with crews and passengers alike during their years in airline service, has taken on a new lease of life as in-flight refuelling tankers for the Royal Air Force.
Nine aircraft are involved in the initial programme though a further ten may be added utilising existing stocks of stored ex-British Airways Super VC10s which the UK Government purchased in recent years. The tanker conversion programme will give the RAF a quantum leap forward in air refuelling capability and will operate alongside the existing Victor K Mk2 and Lockheed Tristars when they become operational later this year. In view of the RAAF’s decision to eventually convert its four Boeing 707-338s to a combined tanker /transport configuration, it is timely to review the background of the British programme which aims to achieve a similar, albeit larger, objective.
Approval for the project to proceed was given back in 1977 which allowed the purchase of five standard VC10s which were operated by Gulf Air and four Super VC10s from East African Airways. The Bristol division of British Aerospace set to work on zero-timing the airframes and commencing the tanker conversion programme in 1978 with the achieved aim of the first squadron becoming operational by early 1985.
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