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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0294.PDF
FLIGHT This fine study of VL.246, the King's personal aircraft, shows up thepleasantly purposeful and clean lines of the Viking. The photograph was taken above the English snow-clouds before the four Royalmachines departed for the warmer and clearer skies of South Africa. ONE of the chief reasons underlying the choice ofVikings for the Royal Family's tour in South Africais the extremely high safety factor of this type ; not the least consideration being its ability to come to rest ina start-to-stop distance of 1,700 yards with an engine cut at takeroff. or, alternatively, to continue climbing on oneengine only. Further, in the event of a necessary landing with undercarriage up, "the immensely strong keel structureforming the floor of the freight hold is well able to act as a " skid " and prevent anything other than minor damage.In this connection a Viking which actually was belly-landed suffered a minimum of damage, the only components need*ing replacement being the airscrews. Another noteworthy feature of the Royal aircraft is thatevery scrap of material used in the furnishing and equip- ment has been rendered non-inflammable ; hand fire ex-tinguishers are fitted on each bulkhead, whilst, as a further anti-fire measure, bag-type and self-sealing .fuel and oiltanks are employed in substitution for the rigid tanks normally used in Vikings. On the performance side, the Royal aircraft should belittle different from standard Vikings except, perhaps, in the matter of range, for the crash-proof tanks are of slightlyreduced capacity as compared with the standard tanks. It may be recalled that the maximum continuous speed is270 m.p.h. T.A.S. at 10,000ft, and the recommended economical cruising speed 210 m.p.h. T.A.S., at a similar O WING to the disruption of our printing schedule by therecent fuel crisis, the complete article on the Royal Vikings could not appear, as designed, on February 20th ; instead, the colour supplement only was included in our February 13th issue. We accordingly give here the remainder of our appraisal.
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