BAC One-Eleven suffered disasters in service, strong passenger demand had been demonstrated for jet propulsion. Several manufacturers raced to release passenger jets, including those aimed at the short-haul market, such as the Sud Aviation Caravelle. In July 1956, British European Airways published a paper calling for a "second generation" jet airliner to operate beside their existing turboprop designs. This led to a variety of designs from the British aerospace industry. Hunting Aircraft started design studies on a jet-powered replacement for the successful Vickers Viscount, developing the 30-seat Hunting 107. Around the same time, Vickers started a similar development of a 140-seat derivative
Vickers VC10 build a prototype which they designated the "Type 1000" (Vickers V-1000), followed in June 1954 by a production order for six aircraft for the RAF. The planned civil airliner was known as the "VC7" (the seventh Vickers civil design). Development was prolonged by the need to meet the RAF's requirements for short take-off and a self-loading capability. Work started on the prototype but by 1955 the aircraft's increased weight required a more powerful engine, causing BOAC to question the engine development cycle. In 1955, the government cancelled the RAF order in a round of defence cuts. Vickers and the Ministry