Endowed with levels of performance in some respects still unmatched, the VC10 was loved by pilots and passengers alike, as Bruce Hales-Dutton explained in the August 2013 issue of Aviation News
You could call it the E-Type Jaguar of the skies, an overpowered thoroughbred that handled like a dream. But unlike that other performance icon of the early 1960s, the Vickers VC10 not only carried passengers, but pampered them with its smooth ride and quiet cabin.
And compared with Boeing’s 707, the VC10, which flew for the first time 50 years ago, was a sprightly performer that could be off the ground and well into its climb while its American rival was still on the runway. Not surprisingly, the VC10 set speed records and remains the fastest subsonic transatlantic airliner.
