Description

First flying on 29^th June 1962, the Vickers VC10 was originally designed as a 4-engined, long-range airliner intended to transport more than 100 passengers in comfort over long distance routes and still be able to operate in hot conditions from shorter runways and high-altitude airports such as those found at African and Far Eastern destinations at the time.

As well as comfort, the VC10 offered speed and was until 2019 the fastest sub-sonic civilian aircraft ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean, achieving this feat in the only recently broken record time of 5 hours and 1 minute from New York Kennedy airport to Prestwick Scotland Airport – only Concorde was faster! The Vickers VC10 was the last great all-British airliner, a record-breaker and flag-bearer for Great Britain and fully deserves her famous title as the “Queen of the Skies”.

The VC10 that became “ZA148” was originally manufactured as a “Super VC10 Type 1154”, the distinguishing feature being a large cargo door in the port forward fuselage which allowed it to operate as a freight carrier as well as a passenger airliner. She was delivered to her first owners, East African Airlines in 1967 and operated with them with the registration 5Y-ADA until 1977.

After her civilian career, ZA148 was converted to ‘K3’ in-flight re-fuelling tank configuration and commenced her service career in 1984 with the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) based at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire where she participated in testing, trials and development programs for 2 years alongside VC10 K2 “ZA141”.