C/n 862 - G-ASGL

Date
22 December 1967	First flight.
25 January 1968	Delivery to BOAC as G-ASGL.
5 July 1968	Operated flight BA505 from London to New York.
7 July 1968	Operated flight BA490 from New York to Bermuda, returning during the night as BA491.
4-5 September 1968	Operated flight BA797 from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, continuing to Colombo and Bombay.
1 April 1974	Ownership transferred to British Airways.
30 November 1974	Operated flight BA810 from London to Beirut and onwards to Tehran.
4 December 1974	Fuel starvation incident over South China Sea. Crewed by Captain Tony Frish, F/O P. Burns, F/O P. Vine and S/E/O H. Hall.
8 May 1980	Ferried to Prestwick for storage.
27 August 1980	Ferried back to Heathrow. BA needed the extra capacity due to the large scale NATO exercise 'Crusader' in September 1980.
29 March 1981	Last two revenue flights, enthusiasts charters from Gatwick. Crewed by Captain Roger Price, Senior First Officer Brian Horn and Engineer Officer Herbert Bailey.
30 March 1981	Last British Airways VC10 flight, with 137 passengers, including Chief Project Engineer Ernie Marshall, from Heathrow. Crewed by Captain William Outram, Senior First Officer P. Downing, Senior Flight Engineer W. Hughes.
3 April 1981	Ferried to RAF Abingdon for storage as BA9441P, by Captain William Outram. Hours flown at time of retirement: 46879 hrs. Last BA VC10 to leave Heathrow. Click here for more details.
3 April 1981	Sold to the RAF, ZD240 allocated.
10 April 1981	Registration G-ASGL cancelled.
23 October 1990	Ferried to Filton with gear and slats locked down after three months of work.
26 March 1994	First flight from Filton after conversion to VC10 K4 tanker.
1 July 1994	Delivered to 101 Squadron at RAF Brize Norton as ZD240 'M'.
4 August 2005	Withdrawn from service, final flight from RAF Brize Norton to RAF St. Athan. Total hours on the clock: 52194 of which 5315 hours in RAF service.
8 August 2005 - 19 September 2005	Servicable items removed during disposal process.
24 March 2006	Moved to scrap area at St. Athan.
Mid 2006	Airframe scrapped at RAF St. Athan

1. Carrying British Airways titles over the BOAC colourscheme, G-ASGL is parked at London Heathrow. The 747 in the background carries the new 'Negus' scheme.
2. It took a while for all the airframes to get the new British Airways colours.
3. Geoff Hall worked as cabin crew on G-ASGL and took this photo at Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
4. Judging by the Zambia Airways ground equipment, G-ASGL may be at Lusaka airport, Zambia.

1. Plenty of staff was present when the final BA VC10 flight was carried out on 30th March 1981.
2. G-ASGL framed by the British Airways Band that provided the musical accompaniment to this final sortie.
3-4. A commemorative brochure shows a painting commisioned for that final flight. The artist, Mrs V.P. Proctor, was one of the passengers.

1. In September 1982, G-ASGL has been at Abingdon for a while. Its new ZD240 registration has not been applied to the airframe, on other stored Supers it was marked just below and behind the flightdeck windows.
2. Seen here on the right, with ZD235, ex-G-ASGG, on the left, 'GL looks a lot less clean than in the previous photo.
3. By July 1995 the neglected airframe has a new lease on life, having been rebuilt to K4 specification at Filton. It is seen here carrying out a flypast at the airshow at RAF Fairford on 27th July 1995.
4. I'm guessing, but this photo may have been taken at Brize. ZD240 is showing off its Hemp colourscheme on 16th August 1995.

1. The day-to-day task for a 101 Squadron tanker was of course dispensing fuel. Peter Foster took this photo of ZD240 with the centreline hose trailed.
2. The Mk.32 pods under the wings were used for smaller receivers while the centreline hose was used to refuel other VC10s or similar sized transports.
3. By May 2000 ZD240 has the new overall grey colourscheme.
4. This photo was taken at RAF Mount Pleasant on the Falkland Islands on 13th February 2002.

1. ZD240 at the Waddington air show, 2 July 2005.
2. ZD240 at St. Athan undergoing spares removal.
3. View from the back end showing empty engine nacelles.
4. The next step for this airframe would be the removal of the undercarriage, after which the remaining structure would be cut up.

1. Later in 2006, ZD240 is lying outside with all the useful bits removed.
2. It would stay here in this state until the scrapman caught up with this airframe. Some other VC10 bits can be see in the foreground.

BOAC	Second version of BOAC 'Golden Speedbird' scheme, golden edge on cheatline removed and cheatline now arcs smoothly down towards the nose without the step of the previous scheme.
BOAC/BA	As above but with British Airways titles on the forward fuselage.
BA	First British Airways ('Negus') scheme, white over dark blue fuselage with grey wings. Top of fin and stabilizer in red with Union Jack section. British Airways titles and small Speedbird on front fuselage.
RAF	First RAF 101 Sqn 'Hemp' scheme. Grey undersides with hemp colours on top and fuselage sides. Toned down markings and large letter 'M' on fin.
RAF	All over grey scheme with large lightning flash down the side of the fuselage. Toned down roundels and fin flashes, code letter 'M' on fin.