For Anyone in the Derby Area Who Likes Ugly Aeroplanes......

[AndyG]

I suppose..........technically............they are Airbus Spitfires now a days as all the design right etc. have been passed down the line and will rest with them

Not Airbus surely Garry; BAe Systems Spitfire doesn't have a mych better ring to it though - the BAe Systems Camel, no doesn't work either.

[Garry Russell]

I'm still trying to get used to BAC VC 10

[Chris558]

The nose looks Comet-ish, slightly Vanguard-ian. Surely you don't think they're ugly Garry?

[DaveB]

The nose looks Comet-ish, slightly Vanguard-ian.

You've not just got in from the pub have you Chris

ATB

DaveB

[Garry Russell]

Personally I think the Comets nose the ugliest ever fitted to a jet.............the main reason why I never liked the Caravelle

OK in BOAC and BEA where the windscreen is covered but not otherwise

I don't like blunt noses

[Chris558]

Mmm. Let's be 'nosey' for a bit! I like the VC10 nose more than the Comet - you have the windcreen angle and then below it, the angle changes just slightly, brilliant. The Vanguard nose is certainly distinctive...but a little strange. A VC10 nose on that would have looked much better (time for photoshop!) The Nimrod, whilst similar, is quite ugly.

The Trident nose is nice, as is the Britannia -a bit Concordey! I also like the upward sweep (the underside) of the Belfast nose which is similar to the Airbus A300. Also like the broad Beverley /Argosy noses!

[Garry Russell]

I always found the nose of the Trident a bit dolphin looking and rather sweet

I prefer the Nimrod to the Comet....the odd shape of the windscreen I find off putting......long forward panes and small side pane.a bit larger on the Nimrod as the back one is extended rearwars and much enlarged on the later Caravelles.

The Britannia as with other type has a front end a bit like the Statocruiser but there is an un pressurised forward portion improving things and on the Brit the join is below the windscreen causing the ledge (Similar happens on the IL-18). On The CL-44 D4 they increased the windsreen to take up most of the ledge and up into the eyebrow area making the whole areoplane look quite different.

The Brit was quite a hard shape to get right becasue of that.

Oddly enough the Viscount forward fuse is almost the same shape as the Comet but a hole is left in the roof through which the pilots heads stick out and that is covered by a blended bomber type hood with just the front glazed giving it's unique shape at the front.

But look at a pic of a fuse on the line before the hood was added gives a whole different perspective on the type.

The VC 10 windscreen and nose although different to the Vanguard are similar enough to show the lineage stemming from the Van Jet
Almost just a refined smoothed out streamlined version of the Vanguard front end for although there is no crease along the VC 10 fuse, it is still a double lobe but with blended sides.

The 7L87 is just the first of the next generation aof similar basic shape and looks, the A.350 is in the same league and that is the way forwards now.

But like most folks..I'm just stuck in 'My time'

[Chris558]

Don't like the CL-44 in comparison. But just imagine if the VC10 had a more conventional nose, or a Britannia nose - its looks would diminish.

The Dakota is one I missed - again, that upward sweep but flat top side, very elegant.

The V-1000 also 'stole' the Comet nose - btw, there is an interesting feature on that in the current 'AIRCRAFT' mag. How different things might have been with that in service by the late '50s..?

[DaveB]

Enough noses already!

Yes.. if you wander around (and I use the word from an informed perspective) a Vanguard flightdeck then wander around the flightdeck of a VC10.. there is absolutely no doubting the lineage. From the way you are seated to the 'general' window shape and arrangement to the pilots main panels.. it is very easy to see that one came from the experiences gained on t'other. The Vanguard flightdeck was THE flightdeck of the day and very much liked by FD crews. Now.. when you look at the Viscount FD and compare it to the Vanguard.. you could be forgiven for presuming the aircraft were built by different companies Fortunately.. none of the FD's listed are as completely gross as the Britannia's.. for all it's size

ATB

DaveB

[Garry Russell]

Noses seem to be running a bit atm