B
ritish Caledonian Airways,
affectionately known as BCal, was
inaugurated in November 1970,
after a Scottish-based charter
airline known as Caledonian Airways took
over British United Airways (BUA), which at
the time was Britain’s largest independent
carrier. This followed implementation
of British government policy set out in
the 1969 Edwards report, introduced as
a counterbalance to what it saw as the
marketplace dominance by the state-owned
corporations (BEA and BOAC), which
between them had provided 90% of all UK
scheduled air transport capacity.
By creating a so-called ‘second force’
airline, the government set out to expand
Britain’s share of the increasing globalaviation market and thus BCal was formed.
The company traded under the Caledonian/
BUA banner until September 1971, and from
then on as British Caledonian Airways. Its
golden lion emblem on a blue background
would become famous the world over.
Although it is perhaps remembered
as being a major Vickers VC10 operator,
BCal only ever owned four of the type,
which it inherited from BUA. It would be
easy to believe there were at least twice as
many, given the amount of work they did- in addition to scheduled ights they also
carried out regular charters.
The company’s VC10s were powered by
the Rolls-Royce Conway RCo.42 bypass
turbojets, a new concept in powerplant
technology at the time and part of a
series of engines that also powered
various examples of the Boeing 707 and
Douglas DC-8. The VC10 was loved by
passengers and crews alike, with its rear-
mounted engines giving a quieter and more
comfortable ride than its competitors with
wing-mounted powerplants.
BUA operated long-haul routes to various
airports in Africa and Latin America, and it
was on these that the VC10s were most often
used. In addition to this existing work, BCal
was granted new schedules some of which
involved using the VC10s from its base at
Gatwick. These included ights to Kano and
Lagos in Nigeria, and in April 1971 Accra
(Ghana) became the designated ag carrier
on these services, replacing BOAC. It also
began ying to East and Central Africa.LIONS THAT ROARED
BRITISH CALEDONIAN VC10s
Barry Lloyd outlines the history of the
Vickers VC10 in British Caledonian service.
38 Aviation News incorporating Jets September 2018
BRITISH AIRLINERS SPECIAL