BRITAIN'S 'BUFF'?

摘要

As a conventional bomber the VC10 could be configured with three different bomb-carrying systems depending on the variant: internal carriage, multiple ejector racks and, for the initial iteration as a bomber, panniers. Vickers intended to fit the Military VC10 with bomb panniers based on a design developed for the Valiant. Originally intended to carry stores on the VC10 maritime reconnaissance variant, these aerodynamic panniers, unlike conventional stores pylons, could accommodate a wider variety of stores. Vickers called these 'cocoons', and they were fitted with Tambour doors that covered the entire the underside and worked like a rolltop desk, retracting into the front of the cocoon to expose the stores prior to release. The cocoons could carry up to eight 1,000lb (454kg) bombs apiece, with a full eight-cocoon load being 64,000lb (29,030kg), comparable with the Boeing B-52D 'Big Belly' modifications made during the Vietnam War.