RAF A330MRTT Voyager designation question

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walter

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The RAF ordered aircraft as Voyager KC2 and KC3, depending on the equipment.
Did I miss something, but was there a Voyager KC1?
 
Possibly because there was a Stinson Voyager in pressed service with the RAF during WW2.

OK, OK, daft I know, but you know how pedantic the designation boys are.

Chris
 
Someone will probably correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the C.1 designation might belong to one unmodified A330, G-VYGG, operated by AirTanker Services on a twice weekly service to the Falklands.
 
Air Tankers announcement of RAF core fleet completion:
ZZ338 arrival completes the RAF Voyager core fleet
by Jon Salmon | May 29, 2014
AirTanker has today [29 May 2014] taken delivery of ZZ338, the ninth aircraft delivered under the Future Strategic Tanker Transport (FSTA) RAF Voyager programme - completing the core fleet.

Flying into RAF Brize Norton this afternoon, the militarily converted Airbus A330-200 joins the seven strong Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet now based at RAF Brize Norton.
This includes two two-point capable and five three-point capable tankers, in addition to the aircraft operated by AirTanker on the Civil Aircraft Register as part of the programme from the Oxfordshire airbase.

ZZ334, a three-point tanker, has completed the military conversion programme and is currently in Spain as part of the UK’s commitment to support the A400M flight test programme.
Phil Blundell, CEO, AirTanker said, “The arrival of the ninth aircraft means that the RAF now has access to the most capable tanking and air transport fleet in Europe

“We will continue to work in partnership with the RAF to refine this service, however, the delivery of the ninth Core fleet aircraft into RAF Brize Norton, nonetheless represents a sizeable achievement.”

A three-point tanker, ZZ338 comes with an upgraded fuselage refuelling unit (FRU) and will begin operations with the RAF once transferred to the Military Aircraft Register (MAR).
Alongside its tanking role, Voyager is able to perform air transport and aeromedical evacuation simultaneously, carrying up to 291 passengers or 40 stretchers, providing a step-change in capability.
The fleet has to date flown a total of 9,750 hours and carried over 172,000 passengers. In its tanker role, Voyager has offloaded over 4,000 tonnes of fuel to receiver aircraft in 230 sorties, including in support of Typhoon and UK air defence.
AirTanker secured clearance to begin air-to-air refuelling operations with Typhoon and Tornado in summer 2013, followed by the start of operations in support of the Afghanistan air-bridge in December.

The FSTA contract will see the delivery of 14 aircraft to the RAF, including the nine-strong core fleet and a five aircraft ‘surge capability’.
When not required by the RAF this surge fleet capability is available to AirTanker for release, with its agreement, for other purposes. This could include release to the civil market, less its military equipment or to partner nations in a military capacity with the MOD’s agreement.
Click to expand...
The five aircraft that are to form the 'surge capability' are candidates for a Voyager C1 designation?
 
I don't believe there is any C.Mk. 1 designation allocated. The non-tanker aircraft are on the civil register as contractor-owned /contractor-operated assets and are not eligible for military serials or designations.

The tanker designations started at '2 for ease of reference in refueling operations.

I wish the chaps in charge of designations were pedantic...
 
Are you trying to say that the two-point tankers are the KC.2 and the three-point tankers are KC.3?

Madness! Madness! That is far too sensible and I refuse to believe the MoD would condone such transparency.

Chris

PS whoever thought that up should get an OBE. Mind you they probably had one already.
 
I did some more digging and as far as I can determine the non-tankers are not referenced any differently to other chartered civil aircraft e.g. Titan or Atlas 767s, so no designation was issued.

Air Tanker could swap them for Il-96s and the MoD would be none the wiser so long as the pax & cargo capacity didn't change...

On that theme, you might be interested in Titan's load-planning spreadsheet for their 767 G-POWD ( link on the right-hand side here ). You can see what audience they have in mind:

Code: 
...
B	Baggage
C	Cargo
M	Mail
CMB	Comb (B/C/M)
DIP	Diplomatic Mail
W	Weapons
BA	Body Armour
FAK	Flyaway Kit
...
 
Gentlemen :) :)
Thank you for the very detailed replies. For the time being I will asume that, at least officially, the Voyager C1 designation was not issued.
As a side note, I understand that the first contract for lease of one of the "surge fleet" aircraft was signed by Thomas Cook a couple of days ago.
Best, Walter
 

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