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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 0295.PDF
MARCH 6TH, 1947 Fhe Royal Aircraft Supplementary Details of King's Flight Vikings : Flight Personnel altitude. At the latter speed, the still-air range is 1,000 miles with 6,390 lb of payload. The Viking is particularly suitable for operation in regions where airfields are not in the gigantic junction class. At its normal all-up weight of 34,000 lb, with a wind velocity of 5 m.p.h., take-off conditions are: unstick in 500 yards and clear 50ft in 850 yards. At a landing weight of 31,500 lb the aircraft can be brought to rest from clearing 50ft in a distance of 850 yards, of which 425 yards is ground run. L Extreme Quietness People who have flown in the normal standard Vikings will know that these aircraft are extremely quiet, but the three passenger Vikings of the King's Flight are exceptional in this quality ; it is no exaggeration to state that these aircraft have, in all probability, the lowest cabin noise level ever achieved. Four thicknesses of Fibreglass blanket are applied to the walls and roof, and further to interrupt ^ transmission the rebates in all door openings are fitted with a sealing strip against which the door closes. The bottom edges of the doors are similarly treated. The doors themselves, and the bulkhead partitions, are of sandwich construction with two- fLeft) A. Cdre. E. H. Fielden, C.V.O., D.F.C., A.F.C., Captain of the King's Flight, and, during the tour, commodore of the King's aircraft. (Below). The King's Viking, VL. 246, showing whip aerials for, 1-to-r, V.H.F., Gee, and D.F. sense. Di-poles for receiving Rebecca can be seen on each side of the nose ; whilst the quadrantal fairing under the nose shields the trailing aerial. Note the inboard exhaust tail pipes which contribute to the overall quietness. ply skins glued to a honeycomb core membrane of Dufay- lite impregnated paper. Great strength and rigidity with extreme lightness and poor conduction properties make this a particularly attractive form of internal structure for air- craft. CTven adequate insulation to the fuselage walls and roof surfaces, and to the cabin floor, further reduction of noise level is almost wholly dependent upon compartmen- ting the fuselage volume, and taking steps to prevent sound transmission from one com- partment to another. In this lies the secret of the Royal aircrafts' quietness. Artificial lighting, devised by Rotax, Ltd., is centred on multiple sets of fluorescent mercury-vapour tubes carried in the central ridge-trunk of the roof, the excellent diffu- sion characteristics of this form of light unit being fur- ther enhanced by ribbed Perspex enclosing covers. Colour values are not distor- ted by the latest form of fluorescent lighting, and the soft pinkish-white radiance does, in fact, make the state- rooms appear, if anything, more inviting than ever. To supplement the main source of artificial light, indi- vidual reading lights for each chair are embodied in the shallow duct running above the windows, the fittings also incorporating steward - call buttons. Adjacent to the reading lights are small punkah louvres for the oer- These silver-sprayed accommodation steps are collapsible for stowage in the freight hold ; the side valances are sprayed neoprene sheet.
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