A Little VC10derness

Is it possible to see a VC10 in flight ?

I figure they pretty much only fly from Brize Norton now, but how often do they fly / how many ?


If I were just to turn up whats the chances of seeing on or is it possible to find out where / when it's going to fly ?

They fly out of Brize most days... even the weekend, though that will be a bit hit and miss. During the week you should see some day time movement as they will be off doing AAR or going down-route. It depends on what day you intend to come down to Brize really??

Tonks

As a Brize Norton and VC10 veteran I can tell you that if you go to one end of the runway in Brize villlage Station Road you will get great pics and the other end is the B4020 Alvescot road. In my day there was no such thing as digital cameras and due to a flood at home I lost nearly ALL my photos of VC10's I had pictures of the Red Arrows GNATS all these photos got destroyed. Thank the lord we now have digital and I can back up my pics 10 fold all over the place!

If you are prepared for a walk there is a public footpath that runs right past the ILS beacon near Alvescot. I used to spend hours there photgraphing the 10's.

Please be aware that on Station Road there are traffic lights and the threshold is only FEET away from the fence. Be safe and watch the jet wash doesnt catch you if one is taking off West.

Don't bother with Brize at the moment... we are all flying from Fairford until Jan 06...

Tonks

Fairford Hmmmm.

Does anyone remember the display pilot from Brize in the 80's? He used to land and hold her nose up high using aerodynamic braking (a la Vulcan) and let her gently settle onto the nose at the end of the runway - seeing him display was like poetry in motion. On one practice run up we drove out onto the centre airfield to watch him - the b*gger low levelled us so low we had to dive on the deck! It is something else watching what is really an airliner being chucked around.

the low speed pass you would SWEAR it would stall. Quite magnficent - wherever you are sir thanks for the memories of our baby! You were the best. I still marvel at the sheer raw grunt of the vicky.

Tonks what would be the sort of speed you could hold the nose up until. I'm taking C MK1 with non of this tanker kit on. I guess it must be somewhere between your Vmr and Vmu? Only a guess but I suppose at less that 100 knots theres not enough lift over the tail to keep her rotated?

I bet the C of B is a fair way farther back on the K series than on the C Mk1?

Non pilots please dont worry about all this Its Jargon. cacbbage crates obver the briny etc