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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 0013.PDF
FUGHT International, 5 lanuar' 1967 14-15 possible routeing when the VC10 begins scheduled services when Singapore, an obligatory stop with Transport Com- mand's present operational trunk-route aircraft, may be over- flown by aircraft linking the UK and Hong Kong. For this 3,100 n.m. stage (skirting to the north of Sumatra, for clear- ance for RAF aircraft to overfly Indonesia has not yet been regained) the aircraft had a take-off weight of 300,0001b. The RAFs Standard VClOs have Super power—Conway 550/301 engines—worth 101.5 per cent the maximum take-off power of the Conways in the Standard civil variant; and with this an early morning take-off from Kai Tak's 8,350ft runway, into lowering overcast, was performed with ease. En route cruis- ing speed for the entire journey home was Mach 0.86. The operating maximum is Mach 0.886, but the aircraft is taken to Mach 0.92 in training to give trainees experience of the onset of compressibility. Handling characteristics at this speed remain good. When long range is a more important considera- tion than block-speed the cruise is reduced to Mach 0.84. For extreme long range it can be reduced further, to Mach 0.82— at which speed, however, handling suffers as the aircraft is bordering its low-speed buffet regime. En route ground-based navaids are an expendable luxury for RAF VC10 navigators. A Doppler navigator displays "raw" distance-run and drift data, and this is processed in a GPI Mk 7 with integral computer to show TAS, geographic co- ordinates, wind speed, drift, ground speed, track and true heading. An along-and-across-track computer display permits two consecutive tracks to be set up, to and from any particular reporting or turning point, and then clearly indicates progress along these tracks, changing from A to B automatically as the intermediate point is passed. There is an automatic Doppler- fed magnetic-variation control unit correcting the gyro-magnetic compasses. A periscopic sextant is fitted for occasional recourse to older navigation methods, while Tacan, two ADFs and VOR displays are the main ground-dependent aids. Both the captain and navigator have weather-radar displays. Descent into Gan from 35,000ft began 116 n.m. out, passing 30,000ft at 95 n.m. Mach 0.6 was maintained on the descent, with 70 per cent h.p. compressor r.p.m. and a descent rate of 2,000ft/min. We were in visual contact with Gan from 17 n.m. out, the islands of Addu Atoll appearing like small green jewels in the ocean ahead. Following the landing brief and pre-landing checks, speed was down to 150kt at 1,500ft, with landing flap and 83 per cent power selected. The waters of the lagoon were intensely green as we completed our straight- in approach, to touch down on Gan's shore-to-shore runway, with positive deceleration from the outboard-only thrust reversers—cancelled at 80kt—and brakes. From Gan to Muharraq, Bahrein, is 2,100 n.m. and XR808 took off with 92,0001b of fuel aboard, after a short refuelling stop. Vi was 120kt, Vr 138kt and Va 153kt at our weight and prevailing conditions and at 1,000ft power was reduced to 95£ per cent for a 2,000ft /min climb. At the commencement of the cruise 6,5OOlb of fuel was pumped back into the empty fin tank (which has a capacity of 11,9001b) to move the e.g. just forward of the aft limit for the most efficient trim. Just another comfortable and efficient flight, with obviously much work in progress among the trainees—not only those actually flying the sector but among those riding in the back. The only excitement—of short duration—occurred on landing at Bahrein. Following a descent for a straight-in ILS approach the flap synchros detected flap asymmetry at the moment of flap selection and isolated the system. A very brief discussion between captain and flight engineers (one trainee, one tutor) and we flew at 1,000ft over the airfield while the fuses were checked in the spacious equipment bay beneath the floor, reached by a hatch immediately aft of the flight deck. It was not a faulty fuse. If there was no flap outside, there was no flap inside either. Committed to a flapless landing, Fit Lt Liddell—who had taken the left-hand seat from a trainee captain for the landing—brought the aircraft round over the town, quietly calling power settings to the flight engineer (who is almost wholly responsible for throttle adjustment on RAF VClOs, the pilots' throttle quadrants being rarely touched). At 600ft, 76 per cent power ... 77 per cent . . . 145kt IAS . . . 77 ... 76 .. .74 per cent. We were coming in at a speed obviously greater than that at Gan but still no more than that of many an airliner in scheduled service; Muharraq's 7,500ft runway was adequate, though having little to spare. With the leading-edge slats extended, the approach speed was increased by only 20kt above normal, to 140kt. Had the slats not been operational either, the increment would have had to be 40kt for a 160kt approach and we would have had to divert to r» longer runway—Dharan—with our 30,0001b fuel reserve. Take-off just after daybreak from Bahrein before the tem- peratures rose was made at a weight of 316,0001b—4,000lb below maximum gross—with 144,0001b of fuel aboard for the 3,450 n.m. sector to Lyneham. The 135-seat cabin, sparsely populated on the first two sectors, was better filled on this, with a party of about 30 airmen returning home for Christmas leave. An average headwind of 40kt was forecast for this journey—over Turkey adverse winds reached a high of 120kt. We cruised at Mach 0.80 at 35,000ft, stepping up to 39,000ft over Caraffa in Southern Italy. At this altitude the cabin was pressurised to a comfortable 7,000ft. With 2,650 n.m. run we were making a groundspeed of 450kt. Rome, Elba, the Apennines, the Alps—all in their turn slipped by. Refresh- ments came and went—and one saw that with a full aircraft and only one galley, at the rear, the cabin staffs of 10 Sqn— "Shiny Ten"-—are going to foe hard worked. We passed Abbeville at 1533 and began the let-down over Lydd, passing Epsom at 10,000ft, through the low stratus which, with only occasional holes, covered southern England. We turned past Fairford, the RAF VClOs' temporary home, to line up with Lyneham's runway, on which we landed after 8hr lOmin for a block-speed of 430kt. The overall impression was one of effortless global transport in the grand manner, for with the VC10 Transport Command matches in speed and comfort the best trunk airlines. The interior decor could be improved—the wall linings have an unhappy visual relationship with the standard dull blue RAF passenger seats and harmonise no better with the ceiling trim. This minor carp apart, Transport Command is obviously about to operate a very fine new fleet. The electronic equipment racks are housed in a spacious underfloor compartment, together with the main fuse panels (3). From the com- partment access can be gained to the underside hold. With more power available than the civil Standard VCI0, the RAF aircraft climbs away from Kai Tak (4) at the start of the three-sector journey to Lyneham. The date was December 23 for the final leg and appropriately seasonal activities took place in the cabin (5)
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