xvtonker Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 A 'what if' AEW VC-10. Marconi avionics eventually managed to get the pulse-Doppler radar system working, but it was realised that the HS Nimrod was not a suitable platform. The Vickers Super VC-10 however, lent itself very nicely and, with the addition of RB-211 engines instead of Conways, formed the UK's airborne defence network operating out of RAF Waddington as part of the AEW Wing. Based on the Roden VC-10 K-3 tanker with a couple of Eastern Express Tristar RB-211 engines & an S&M Models OR381 VC-10 MR1 pod converted to represent the APU pod. The nose & tail radomes were fashioned from plastic card formers & filler then moulded in resin. The wingtip ECM pods were scratch built from sprue. The aircraft is finished in Barley Grey/Light aircraft grey and is built as an aircraft of the RAF Waddington AEW wing. XVTonker 45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 A very neat conversion and credible alternative to the Nimrod. However I fear you may find a mob of VC10 devotees rapidly making for your door with torches and pitchforks for spoiling the Queen of the Skies' classic lines 1 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abandoned Project Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 Absolutely fantastic! Genius idea. 1 hour ago, Richard E said: I fear you may find a mob of VC10 devotees rapidly making for your door with torches and pitchforks for spoiling the Queen of the Skies' classic lines I thought that the Boeing 747 holds the title of "Queen of the Skies" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truro Model Builder Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 4 hours ago, Abandoned Project said: Absolutely fantastic! Genius idea. I thought that the Boeing 747 holds the title of "Queen of the Skies" ? Heretic! I have known men to have their tongue removed for less! There is but one Queen of the Skies, and she came from Weybridge, not Everett. 2 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 You have an awesome imagination and this appears credible in that, powered with the RB211, the additional weight shouldn't have been an issue. The radar fairing aerodynamics worked on the Nimrod so should have worked on the follow-on VC-10 conversion. The APU pod suggests an APU too large to fit inside the airplane. Am I correct? Very nice looking model! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qn30jEkPz7 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 On 02/07/2020 at 16:08, Richard E said: However I fear you may find a mob of VC10 devotees rapidly making for your door with torches and pitchforks for spoiling the Queen of the Skies' classic lines It is an awesome achievement to make a VC10 look ugly. An impressive model and conversion 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo NZ Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 On 03/07/2020 at 03:02, xvtonker said: A 'what if' AEW VC-10. Marconi avionics eventually managed to get the pulse-Doppler radar system working, VTonker That wasn't a "what if", It actually did work well - just before it was cancelled. From a folder from the time, a couple more AEW "what ifs" (no the Porsche isn't one....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) Many years ago, I worked in the warehouse in Wembley that GEC used to house its AEW system. All the permanent staff in the factory had worked on the system for years and one told me that, once matured, it would have been more effective than the American AWACS birds. IIRC, £600 million had been spent by the Thatcher government - always struck me as a lot of bread to spend on a project that is then cancelled. I appreciate that this is not the only example of HUGE military expenditure simply being flushed down the toilet. Towards the end of my time there, we had a large delegation of Chinese gentleman look around the factory and view the system. One gentleman asked a great many questions about how humidity-resistant the components were. Suffice it to say that the Chinese went with their own AEW system in the end. It was quite an interesting place to work. Chris. Edited July 15, 2020 by spruecutter96 Amending information. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo NZ Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 3 hours ago, spruecutter96 said: Many years ago, I worked in the warehouse in Wembley that GEC used to house its AEW system. All the permanent staff in the factory had worked on the system for years and one told me that, once matured, it would have been more effective than the American AWACS birds. IIRC, £600 million had been spent by the Thatcher government - always struck me as a lot of bread to spend on a project that is then cancelled. I appreciate that this is not the only example of HUGE military expenditure simply being flushed down the toilet. Towards the end of my time there, we had a large delegation of Chinese gentleman looks around the factory and view the system. One gentleman asked a great many questions about how humidity-resistant the components were. Suffice it to say that the Chinese went with their own AEW system in the end. It was quite an interesting place to work. Chris. Wembley? When I worked on the test system it was in Radlett, in the old Jetstream production hanger. Interesting about the Chinese, we had already developed and built a new radar package for their MiG-21s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Brown Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Love the build, but I'm one of the blokes who worked on the VC10 and loved it's beautiful lines and Conway's sounds! I'm torn! Well done on inspired, high quality build though! Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 10 hours ago, Jo NZ said: Wembley? When I worked on the test system it was in Radlett, in the old Jetstream production hanger. Interesting about the Chinese, we had already developed and built a new radar package for their MiG-21s. Yep, Wembley. This was a few years after the system was cancelled. I have wondered if anything happened to it. Now in land-fill or gathering dust in a forgotten warehouse? Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo NZ Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 11 hours ago, spruecutter96 said: Yep, Wembley. This was a few years after the system was cancelled. I have wondered if anything happened to it. Now in land-fill or gathering dust in a forgotten warehouse? Chris. Ah - that must have been late eighties then. Most of us got made redundant in 1987.... I was so disgusted with the the whole thing (GEC made a mint out of the cancellation) that I forgot about the bad times. Did you have a rig on computer flooring with dummy fuselage sections? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruecutter96 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Jo NZ said: Ah - that must have been late eighties then. Most of us got made redundant in 1987.... I was so disgusted with the the whole thing (GEC made a mint out of the cancellation) that I forgot about the bad times. Did you have a rig on computer flooring with dummy fuselage sections? I would have thought it was sometime in the 90's (my memory is a bit hazy on the exact date). There was no dummy-fuselage rig that I can remember. There were the scanner units under large tarpaulins and a load of consoles and support gear grouped in the two main rooms. I think I worked there for 4 or 5 months (again, hazy). Our warehouse was on a massive GEC industrial-estate. Chris. PS: I remember one of the permanent staff was called Phil. I only remember his name because we found him pretty pompous and self-important. Edited July 16, 2020 by spruecutter96 Amending information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 On 7/7/2020 at 9:41 PM, SAT69 said: The radar fairing aerodynamics worked on the Nimrod so should have worked on the follow-on VC-10 conversion. The APU pod suggests an APU too large to fit inside the airplane. Am I correct? Very nice looking model! You’d be surprised. Sometimes a very small change in shape can have a significant effect on aerodynamic performance and/or handling, a classic example being the Jet Provost Mk. 5. As built the aeroplanes did not have wingtip tanks and it was found necessary to fit a small strake either side of the nose to assist in spin recovery; when some examples had wingtip tanks added as Mk. 5b navigator trainers it was found that the strokes could quite happily be lived without. The APU in RAF VC-10s was located at the rear of the tailcone so, on the AEW version, would have to vacate that space to make way for the radar. VC-10s were built with a hard point under the starboard wing to permit ferrying of a spare/dead engine in a streamlined fairing (not all were built with the main deck freight door and strengthened floor) so using that capability to house an APU/baggage/ESM/whatever pod makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 On 7/2/2020 at 5:27 PM, Abandoned Project said: I thought that the Boeing 747 holds the title of "Queen of the Skies" ? Only in its dreams!🤣🤣🤣 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 That's awesome work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted August 19, 2020 Share Posted August 19, 2020 Excellent build and concept, well done ! Wulfman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xvtonker Posted August 21, 2020 Author Share Posted August 21, 2020 On 7/15/2020 at 6:44 AM, Rick Brown said: Love the build, but I'm one of the blokes who worked on the VC10 and loved it's beautiful lines and Conway's sounds! I'm torn! Well done on inspired, high quality build though! Rick Rick, I was fortunate to be part of a round the world detachment with a VC-10 K.2 supporting our Victor K.2 of 232 OCU. We flew all the legs on the VC-10 an absolutely amazing experience. I was also lucky enough to be on the flight deck during take-off from RAF Akrotiri, something I will also treasure. XVTonker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 Good attention to detail and credible conversion, however I 'liked' it through gritted teeth 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Head in the clouds. Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 Oh I do like that, no mater what you do to a VC10 it always looks a bit....Thunderbirds. Fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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