Vickers VC10

The Vickers VC10 is a narrow-body jet airliner built by the British manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs, introduced into service in 1964 with four engines mounted in pairs at the rear of the fuselage rather than under the wings, a configuration chosen to keep the wings aerodynamically clean and to let the aircraft operate from the shorter, higher-altitude runways common on some of British Overseas Airways Corporation's African and Asian routes. Despite strong passenger popularity for its quiet cabin, the VC10 sold in far smaller numbers than rival airliners from Boeing and Douglas, and commercial production ended in 1970, though a military tanker and transport version continued flying with the Royal Air Force for decades afterward. It is remembered as one of the last British-designed airliners to compete directly against American manufacturers.