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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1954.PDF
OCTOBER 4TH, I945 FLIGHT 365 L/D at 33-5°o is 14.85 and at 31,600 lb. is 14.02. Figures itvhich bespeak an aerodynamic efficiency of an extremely high order. A determination of the probable direct operating costs of the Viking is, I think, worth while. It is not easy since Vickers themselves are not prepared to state what the purchase price of the machine is likely to be, and one cannot cavil at this considering the unfortunate state of flux which obtains at present. Nevertheless at the risk of being quite mistaken, and purely for the purpose of evolving some sort of approximate operating cost, I hazard a guess that the figure may be somewhere about £40,000. This figure is, I believe, pessimistic, but equally is not beyond the bounds of future standards. Normal Range It would appear probable that the 1,000 miles still-air range might be the more representative field of work for the Viking, this embracing most of the Continent as well as being a norm for the majority of air routes in other parts of the world. Such being the case, it is.felt that the adductions of cost are best made upon this basis. For a still-air range of 1,000 miles and a cruising speed of 252 — m.p.h., we may assume a block- kto-block airspeed of 247 m.p.h., which produces a flight time of 4.05 hours for the 1,000-mile trip. If, then, we base our estimate of the machine's working life upon its doing one return trip per day, six days a week, we find that it flies 8.1 hr./day, 312 days/year, giving an annual flying time of 2,527 hours. Crew are assumed to work an average of six flying ! hours per day giving a yearly ; total of 1,650 hours and making I T. 53 crews /aircraft /year. Salaries ; are taken as being: Captain, ! £1,500 p.a.; first officer, £1,000 p.a.; radio officer, £600 pa. ; and- stewardess £200 p.a., this totalling ^3,300, and resulting in a ere cost per aircra£fc"#*p"er anfium ^5,050. / X TABLE II—LOADINGS—21-Seat De Luxe Viking. lb. Empty weight . , . . 23,158 Flight crew (3) at 170 lb. 510 130 each Stewardess at 130 lb. Crews' baggage at 25 lb. each Fuel—435 gall, at 7.2 lb./gall. Oil—20 gall, at 9.0 lb./gall. Passengers (21) at 170 lb. eachPassengers' baggage at 55 lb. eachFreight and mail PERFORMANCE. Maximum W.M. cruising speed at io.oooit. . . 251 m.p.h.Cruising power/engine for 252 m.p.h. .. .. 1,040 h.p. Recommended cruising power/engine .. .. 79° h.p.Cruising power as proportion of me.to. power . . 51 per cent. Cruising consumption . . . . . . . . 91 g-P-h. Still-air range, 435 gall, fuel, 210 m.p.h. . . . . 1,000 miles. Still-air range, 650 gall, fuel, 210 m.p.h. . . . . 1,500 miles. Minimum cruising speed at 10,000ft .'. . . 160 m.p.h.Take-off distance to clear 50ft 850 yards. Time to climb to 10,000ft. . . . . . . 8 min.Service ceiling . . . . . . . . . . 25,000ft. Total distance to stop with engine failure at TO.. . .1,700 yd.Landing distance from 50ft. . . . . . . 850 yd. Depreciation is reckoned on a basis of 12J per cent, pel annum of the first cost and works out at £4,000, thus con- noting that the normal life of the aircraft is eight years. Maintenance, repairs, etc, for the aircraft is assumed to cost £2,000 pa., and for engines and airscrews every 400 hours to total £8,844 p.a. Insurance for the machine is based on an annual premium of 10 per cent, of the first cost and equals £4,000, whilst for the crew it is assumed to be £5 per cent, of salary and so totals £252.5 p.a. ; additionally, for pas- sengers and freight the overall pre-mium is taken to be £750 p.a. Four sets of tyres are allowed for each year and £1,120 is set aside for them, whilst landing fees are assessed at 35s. per landing, totalling £1,092 p.a. In addition to these qualified assessments the sum of £7,500 a year is included for other expenses. From the maker's tabulation of typical operational loadings for the de luxe version at 1,000 miles s.a.r., we derive the fuel load of 435 gall-> an(i oil load of 20 gall., and pricing these respectively at 2s. and 5s. per gallon, we are able finally to construct a table of estimated operating costs as in Table I. We have adduced the approxi- mate direct operating cost of the Viking to be £25.438 per flying hour, and on the basis of the passenger and his personal luggage cost- ing the same sum per pound weight as freight and mail, we can thus assess the payload cost per aircraft mile as being o.oo35d. per pound. At thi» figure the cost per passenger and bag- gage (225 lb.) is o.8d. per aircraft mile., and that of mail and freight 7.95 pence per ton- mile. These figures are, of course, extremely low but, demonstrably, are not so low as to be impossible. To carry the assumption to a logical end we should, of course, make allowance for the use 100 3,132180 3.57O 27,210 2,3pe payload: 7,025 34-235 lb- weight of 33,5001b.amottHts of fuel required assessme: The Vickers Viking is as graceful as it is economical. The return to aburnished silver surface is a joy after the dull-painted military types of the last six years. WEIGHT PERCENTAGES. 21-Seat De Luxe Version StructurePower plants Fuel and oil supplyPower services Furnishing, accommodationand fixed equipment . . Fixed protectionRemovable equipment . . Empty weight lb. 10,637 6,588 1.052 594 3,712180 395 23,i5« Per cent.Gross Wt 32.0 19.36 309 1.74 10.92 0.52 1.16 68.80
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