VC10 Professional – Operations Manual
7
Aircraft overview
The VC10 and Super VC10 are both low-wing monoplanes with a pressurised fuselage. Each has a typical
landing gear set-up consisting of a nose-wheel and two under-wing double bogey sets. The wings are swept
back approximately 35 degrees and are described as a ‘clean wing’. Slats on the leading edge improve handling
at low speeds. On top of the wing sit a set of spoilers, while the flaps sit on the trailing edge. Those looking for
the engines in the traditional location will instead find them attached to the tail. For the Super VC10, the wing
chord was extended to allow for the increase in size and weight of the extended fuselage.
Both variants welcome passengers on board via the front or the rear doorway on the left-hand side of the aircraft,
with the opposite doors used for ground crew entry. The Super VC10 also has two over-wing emergency exits,
compared with just the single exit of her little sister.
Up front, the flight deck is spacious by modern standards, with room for a crew of four plus an observer if
required. The crew typically consists of a Captain, Co-pilot, Flight Engineer and a Navigator. A typical VC10
configuration with a first class cabin could accommodate 109 passengers, while the Super VC10 could hold up
to 174.
The four engines are fitted to the tail and provide both the VC10 and Super VC10 with its iconic ‘T-tail’ look.
Rolls-Royce built the Conway 540 engines, a common engine of the time which was used on Boeing’s 707 and
the Douglas DC-8. The VC10 was the last aircraft to make use of the Conway, with the RCo.43 variation used
exclusively for the Super VC10. The RCo.43 offered a modest increase in power, producing 21,800 pounds of
thrust as compared to the Standard VC10’s 20,370 pounds of thrust from the RCo.42. To start either engine, an
external air source is required to turn the HP compressor. If no external source is available, a single engine can
be kept running, providing bleed air to start the remaining three.
In the cockpit, throttle levers are fitted to the Pilot and Engineer stations and reverse thrust is fitted to the
outboard engines on each side (No.1 and No.4).
The fuel system differs between the Standard and Super VC10. Both aircraft have two main tanks per wing
alongside a centre tank. Two additional vent tanks are fitted in the wing tips. The Super has an additional tank
fitted inside the tail fin. In operation, the aircraft uses the outer wings for fuel with the centre tank used to
maintain the aircraft’s Centre of Gravity (CoG). This means that despite the aircraft having up to seven tanks, only
the two inner sets of wing tanks are used to supply the engines. If the crew need to dump fuel, it is expelled
from the rear of tanks 1A and 4A, located in the wings.
AC power (200-volt, 3-phase) is generated by four generators, one fitted to each engine. Under normal
conditions generators 1 and 3 operate in parallel (system A) and generators 2 and 4 also operate in parallel
(system B), providing two independent AC systems. The systems can be interconnected in the event of a failure.
Two independent 28-volt DC systems, each with a 24-volt battery, are supplied by two TRUs.
Two hydraulic systems (A and B) are powered by four engine-driven pumps (EDPs), system A by EDPs 1/2 and
system B by EDPs 3/4. The systems are independent but can be interconnected. The hydraulic systems operate
the landing gear, flaps, slats, spoilers/speedbrakes, tailplane trim, wheel-brakes and nose-wheel steering.
The control surfaces are power-operated:
• Longitudinal control is by four electro-hydraulically powered elevators and a hydraulically powered
variable-incidence tailplane.
• Lateral control is by four electro-hydraulically powered ailerons supplemented by six hydraulically
operated spoilers.
• Directional control is by three electro-hydraulically powered rudders and the aileron/spoiler combination.
The spoiler sections normally operate differentially with ailerons but operate together when used as
speedbrakes.
Hydraulically operated, electrically controlled Fowler-type flaps are fitted, comprised of five sections per side.
They normally operate together with the leading-edge slats but can be operated independently.
The aircraft is fitted with hydraulically operated tricycle landing gear; the four main-wheel bogies retract inwards
and the twin-wheel steerable nose landing gear retracts forward. When retracted, the landing gear is totally
enclosed by doors.
Hydraulically operated brakes, operated by toe pedals, are fitted. The normal system operates via anti-skid units
which are isolated when the standby system is in use.
Summary of Contents for Standard VC10
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