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G-ASGC seen at Duxford in October 1999 Picture J. Hieminga G-ASGC is one of the more accessible of the VC10s these days as it is one of the five airframes currently preserved in museums. Since 1982 she can be seen at Duxford, in the care of the Duxford Aviation Society (DAS). Obviously life didn't start out for her that way. G-ASGC was built for BOAC as the third Super VC10 ordered by BOAC and flew for the first time on the first day of the year 1965. Most of the development work for the Super VC10, which still was a new type even though there is a lot of commonality with the Standard model, was done by G-ASGA, which first flew in May 1964. Even so the next Supers to emerge from the production line were also needed in this program, but by February of 1965 both G-ASGC and G-ASGD were loaned to BOAC (the official delivery date for G-ASGC is 27 March 1965). These two aircraft went to Shannon and were used for initial crew training. Because of the similarities between the Standard and Super VC10s, BOAC crews were licensed to fly either version, something that may seem straightforward now but which wasn't all that common then, and probably saved BOAC a lot of money in those days.
The major reason for developing the Super VC10 were the relatively high seat-mile costs of the Standard VC10 when compared to the main competitors. It did meet up to the specification that BOAC had put out, but at a cost. With the Super VC10 some of the 'hot-and-high' performance of the Standard was traded against a higher capacity, which made it a more economical aircraft. The attitude of BOAC towards the VC10 was strangely ambivalent sometimes, which had its effect on the eventual fleet composition which became a mix of VC10s and 707s. With the Super's entry into service the North Atlantic became one of the areas in which the Super VC10's better seat-mile costs compared to her little sister the Standard VC10 were soon exploited. In 1968 there were three flights a day between London and New York, all serviced by Super VC10s. The BOAC-Cunard titles on G-ASGC stem from a cooperation scheme between the airline and the shipping line. With the decline in liner travel across the Atlantic the Cunard Steamship Company applied for a license to operate scheduled air services from the UK to the USA, and ordered two 707s to fly under the Cunard-Eagle Airways flag. After an appeal by BOAC this license was revoked soon after its issue. BOAC then approached Cunard to talk about a joint venture, marrying Cunard's prestige to BOAC's airline experience. From 1962 to 1966 this scheme worked well, initially operating 707s, but with G-ASGD flying the type's first revenue flight to New York under the BOAC-Cunard flag in 1965. In 1966 BOAC warned Cunard that more money was needed to order more and larger aircraft for the North Atlantic. Cunard was unable to provide the capital needed, and BOAC then bought Cunard's shares which ended the joint company.
The Super VC10 fleet flew on long after the Standards were taken out of service, but in 1980 the end was near for the Super VC10s as well. On 15 April 1980 G-ASGC made her last flight to Duxford Airfield to be included in the collection of the Duxford Aviation Society. Soon after arrival the British Airways colors that had been applied after the merger of BOAC and BEA were covered with the white and blue of the 'Golden Speedbird' scheme and BOAC - Cunard titles. Since then many visitors have walked through the VC10 and admired the
interior, perhaps reliving experiences from the days when VC10s flew their
daily services. More images
1. Find the VC10! It's pretty hard to hide a 40ft tail. Picture taken at Duxford in October 1999.
1. The flight deck
1. G-ASGC seen on a not too sunny day in April 2005
1. Looking along the fuselage towards the tail
1. Left side of the tail and engines
1. Right wing of G-ASGC showing the flap track fairings, and the fuel dump
outlet on the rightmost fairing
1. The flight deck of G-ASGC. This sequence of photos was taken by M. Mossanen and he kindly provided copies for me! All photos J. Hieminga except where noted |
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