VC10: Icon of the Skies (Paperback)
BOAC, Boeing and a Jet Age Battle
Imprint: Pen & Sword Aviation
Pages: 256
ISBN: 9781399077378
Published: 8th November 2022
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Other books have charted the VC10 in airline life, but this book blends that story with a well-researched tale of corporate and political power play. It asks; just what lay behind the sales failure of the VC1O?
Politics played an important part of course, as did BOACs tactics, and a who dunnit cast of politico-corporate events and machinations at the highest level of society during the dying days of Empire in 1960s Britain. Key players in the story, from Tony Benn to famous test pilot Brian Trubshaw (Concorde), are cited and quoted.
The VC10 was the nations biggest jet airliner of its age and regarded as the worlds best looking airliner. It was safe, fast, and designed to take off from short runways in Africa and Asia, at the request of its main operator BOAC - the airline that would later go on to become todays British Airways.
The VC10 and the larger Super VC10 were beloved by pilots and passengers alike and became icons of the 1960s. They were hugely popular all over the world; East African Airlines made its name with Super VC10s, and so too did Freddie Laker with his famed VC10 fleet.
Yet the VC10 was eclipsed by Boeings 707 which sold by the hundreds, despite the fact that the 707 was less capable and could not initially operate from the runways of the Commonwealth and old British Empire routes, as the VC10 undoubtedly could.
The men of the Vickers Company who created the VC10 would later go on to engineer Concorde and, of course, the rest is history. But the era of the VC10 was pivotal and, by exploring this historical period in depth and highlighting all the various impediments that stood in the way of success for the VC10, Lance Cole adds an important layer to our understanding of twentieth century history.
As featured in
The Bookseller
August 2022
The book is easy and fascinating reading with all the technical descriptions and stories around the VC-10’s life and is provided with many photos and drawings. I also like the fact that Lance Cole is explaining in a clear way the whole picture of what happened around the development and production and the politics involved that played a big part in the VC-10 ‘s life. Recommended!
Aviation Book Reviews
Read the full review here
An interesting breakthrough on the aeronautical world and the British society of the 1950s and '60s,
JP4, November 2017 - reviewed by Marco de Montis
This is an enthusiast's book written by an enthusiast - albeit a well-informed and diligent researcher.The technical evolution of the VC10 is superbly detailed and full of insight.
Aerospace October 2017
An enjoyable and interesting book that gives a clear picture of the British air transport world since ‘20s to ‘60s.
Freelancer, Marco de Montis (review via Amazon)
Click here to read the full review
I enjoyed this book very much, it is an entertaining and stimulating read – not just for VC10 enthusiasts but also for anyone interested in the history of aircraft manufacturing and airline operation in Britain.
Ulster Airmail magazine – reviewed by Guy Warner
This well-written and readable book tells two parallel and frequently-intertwined stories. One concerns the design and development of an aircraft; the other, the machinations, confusions and incompetency’s which repeatedly altered, stalled and frustrated the development of that particular machine. The author well-summarises the situation when he states that ‘This is the story of not just an airliner, but also the airline industry, an airline and the nation and society it served’.
NZ Crown Mines
British flag carrier BOAC, later BA, effectively and deliberately sabotaged the commercial success of the VC10 because it
Firetrench
wanted to buy Boeing airliners. The author has provided an excellent account of the political battles and the commercial skulduggery, the
impressive service of the VC10s with those airlines that had the wisdom to buy it, and its outstanding service as a transport and tanker with the RAF. Much Recommended.
Read the full review here.
This is a really interesting book and should be on the bookshelf of any civil aviation fan – particularly those interested in early jet development, or British aviation history. It taught me a lot about the VC10 and the politics surrounding the early years of jet aircraft development.
Airport Spotting Blog
Read the full review here.
Enjoyable and informative.
Anthony Hart
Lance Cole’s latest book tells the story of the VC10. An aircraft that had it all, speed, power, comfort for its passengers and stunning good looks. An aircraft that did everything that was asked of it and more. So then, just why when compared to its main rival the Boeing 707 did it sell in such small numbers? The answer simply put was that both the aircraft, and the talented, dedicated men who worked on it where betrayed by men of power. But I am not qualified to tell that story, Lance Cole is and I believe he has. Not only told the story, but told it in a way that is both engaging, readable and thoroughly enjoyable. The text is complimented with a good selection of photographs and diagrams. If your interest in aviation extends to just how far the decisions of corporate power, and inept politicians can reach, then I can’t recommend this book enough.
Enjoyable and informative.
Anthony Hart
Lance Cole’s latest book tells the story of the VC10. An aircraft that had it all, speed, power, comfort and stunning good looks. An aircraft that did everything that was asked of it and more. So then, just why when compared to its main rival the Boeing 707 did it sell in such small numbers? The answer simply put was that both the aircraft, and the talented, dedicated men who worked on it where betrayed by men of power. But I am not qualified to tell that story, Lance Cole is and I believe he has. Not only told the story, but told it in a way that is both engaging, readable and thoroughly enjoyable. The text is complimented with a good selection of photographs and diagrams. If your interest in aviation extends to just how far the decisions of corporate power, and inept politicians can reach, then I can’t recommend this book enough.
Tony Hart
About Lance Cole
Lance Cole has been a motoring and aviation writer and PR for over 30 years. He is also an internationally published photographer, illustrator and designer. The author of over 20 books, he has a parallel career as a news correspondent and TV camera-journalist. But it is old cars and their design and driving that fascinates him. He has driven Saabs all over the world and contributed to Saab design when he was a young design student. Lance wrote Erik Carlsson’s obituary for the Daily Telegraph.
Lance currently lives in England but yearns for a return to the outback of Australia where old cars rule.
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