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23/08/2023 1:37 pm
The fastest subsonic crossing of the Atlantic -5 Hours 1 minute, The fastest jet airliner ever and by most accounts the most comfortable. With 51 years' active service.
Topic starter
23/08/2023 6:57 pm
The fastest subsonic crossing of the Atlantic -5 Hours 1 minute, The fastest jet airliner ever and by most accounts the most comfortable. With 51 years' active service.
It's beautiful Vicker's airliner ! It is also ironic that the Convair 800/990 Coronados were also advanced aircraft (although unfortunately somewhat passenger-limited) and, under test, one actually broke the sound barrier (by a small amount) although it was not really meant to be a supersonic airliner..
In automobiles and airplanes, it doesn't always pay to be too far ahead of the game !
Charles Rockett reacted
24/08/2023 5:27 pm
Wouldn't the Concorde be the fastest jet airliner ever? Maybe Charles meant to say fastest subsonic jet airliner.
Charles Rockett reacted
Topic starter
24/08/2023 9:55 pm
The U.S. designed Boeing (also also the rival Lockheed) supersonic transports were meant to be faster than all the rest at that time ...... reportedly Mach 2.7. The U.S. Convair Coronado 990 jetliner just broke the sound barrier under test, but it was not meant to normally be a supersonic airliner.
Charles Rockett reacted
25/08/2023 1:28 pm
@mikedetorrice Add the Tupolev Tu-144 which flew in (brief) service and was slightly faster than the Concorde.... The Convair 990 had the wing blisters to counter the buffeting as you approached Mach 1.
Now, back to cars? 
Michael Majdalany
San Francisco, CA
Charles Rockett and Karl Schnelle reacted
Topic starter
25/08/2023 1:52 pm
The Tu-144 was definitely ill-fated ! Supposedly, the tail-lights/tail fins of the 1948 Cadillac were inspired by the Lockheed P-38 twin-tailed interceptor aircraft that Harley Earl saw. Aircraft themes were said to suggest many automobile design ideas. Later, of course, rocket and missiles were the inspiration, with Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Galaxies, etc, etc coming to mind. It's a great source of style ideas for car designers !
26/08/2023 8:28 am
@mg-harv Indeed Harv', that is what Charles meant to say. Thanks for the prod.
John Kuvakas reacted
26/08/2023 9:23 am
@mikedetorrice Hi Mike, at the risk of being a bore, I post a thread on KEY.AERO site regarding the VC10 beaking the sound barrier. At this point I am incredibly busy to do any detailed research plus it seems much is dependent upon spoken word rather than FÉDÉRATION AÉRONAUTIQUE INTERNATIONALE verrified records. Nevertheless, the thread gives an indication of the sorts of unofficial reports thet would have typically been heard in RAF and Vickers circles during the 1980s and 1990s. It might also be borne in mind that trying to break speed records with Her Majesty’s VC10s would have represented serious misconduct. Sadly the second link in “Archer’s “ post - which it would appear might be difinitive, appears to be inoperable.
By: HP111 - 28th March 2014 at 09:06
If I remember correctly, there was an article once in Flight about a reporters trip in an RAF VC10 where he reported that at one point the mach meter rose to "an interesting" 0.97. I guess such speeds were not uncommon, but I don't know.
Regarding the thread itself, it might be useful to first define "fastest".
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By: TonyT - 28th March 2014 at 12:42
Yup, there was also rumours a VC10 broke the sound barrier too...
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By: Archer - 28th March 2014 at 15:02
Are we talking about Mach number, indicated airspeed, true airspeed or ground speed? There is no clear maximum as you need to define which speeds you're comparing first. Have a look at this article for the official records held by the VC10: http://www.vc10.net/Memories/Recordsetting.html
Maximum recorded speed for the VC10 is M0,96 and that was during this incident: http://www.vc10.net/History/incidents_and_accidents.html#G-ASIX%20The%20Andes%20incident
There may have been occasions where it went faster, but that won't be recorded anywhere and is therefore impossible to prove.
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By: Slipstream - 28th March 2014 at 15:28
IIRC I was told whilst on 101 sqn that the VC10 was the fastest airliner in terms of cruise speed wrt mach number of 0.85. What the Vne of the VC10 or Convair was I don't know.
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By: ozplane - 28th March 2014 at 18:32
When I was working in Kenya in the 70s, I well remember talking to one of the East African pilots (whose name I had better not mention) and he was the acceptance pilot for the last of the East African Airways aircraft. Apparently he and the Vickers pilot decided to "see what she'll do" and had a very swift run down the South coast during which they allegedly saw Mach 1.01 in a shallow dive. I have no reason to doubt his word as he was just the sort of chap to try it.
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By: Gin Ye Daur - 9th May 2014 at 23:06
Hi All,
My Father was on one of the first air tests/famils when the 'Ten' came to Brize Norton during the early 1960's, he took this photo in the cockpit during his flight, if you look closely at the Mach meter, above the co-pilots left shoulder, you can just see the needle creeping over Mach 0.9!
Martyn
GYD
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