With my head in the clouds - Part 1

Super VC-10 G-ASGC, now preserved at Duxford Air Museum, hurtled across the North Atlantic at a speed that was just below the maximum the aircraft was allowed. The Flight Engineer was in his element and spent the night fine-tuning the engines to keep the speed spot on. After a short time the Chief Steward came onto the flight deck and announced that the dinner service was complete and that the passengers were now all bedded down for the night. "I am sorry to spoil your rest break but we will be landing in just over two hours," I said. "What are we flying? A bloody Concorde or something! I will have to wake them up for a full English breakfast in one hour," he replied. "Scrub the breakfast and give them champagne for landing," was my response. We landed at Prestwick on the Scottish west coast after just five hours and one minute from take-off at JFK. The scheduled time was six hours and twenty minutes so this was some achievement and to this day has never been beaten by a scheduled aircraft.