Description

The Vickers VC-10 is a mid-sized, long-range British jetliner that first took to the skies in 1962 at Brooklands, located in Surrey. The VC-10 was designed to serve the needs of the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) with the intend of connecting “the empire on which the sun never sets”. In traditional British fashion the aircraft had amazing capabilities, such as short distance take off. It was also capable at operating in hot and high climates, making it an ideal choice for operations in the underdeveloped airports. The avionics and flight deck technology were a ‘masterpiece’ intended to enable a fully automatic zero-visibility landing, although the ‘super autopilot’ was removed in future variants as proven to be inefficient. For 41 years The VC-10 held the world record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic achieved by a subsonic jetliner.

A total of 54 VC-10 aircraft of all variants have been produced by Vickers. The tag in your possession was crafted from the late series aircraft (one of three last ones ever made), initially built as Super VC-10 for East African Airways, who signed a contract for three frames. First flight took place on 21st of March 1967 and the aircraft was delivered to EAA on 31st of March as 5Y-ADA. It remained in active service with EAA until 1977 and was later sold to the Royal Air Force in 1978. The Super VC-10 was then modified by RAF into the K3 Tanker and entered service with the 101 Squadron as ZA148 with the distinguished letter ‘G’ on the tail fin. At ‘101’ the K3 had quite a remarkable career starting from taking an active part in the Gulf War and celebrating the late Queen Elizabeth II 80th Anniversary in its spectacular Fly past. Additionally, the aircraft wore the names of RAF personnel George Thompson VC, Guy Gibson VC, and William Rhodes-Moorhouse VC. ZA148 retired from the RAF in 2013 and the Classic Air Force took ownership of the aircraft. They did their best to preserve the aircraft until it was finally scrapped in 2023. As a result of the great efforts of St Athan aviation enthusiasts, the forward section of ZA148 was carefully stored at the South Wales Aviation Museum, from where  ZA148 parts were secured to be crafted into the tags for enthusiasts around the world to enjoy.