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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1180.PDF
*34 FLIGHT JULY 29TH, 1948 The shapely underslung Nene nacelles blend well the Viking. (Right) Mr. J. Summers, chief test pilot, jacket/ess, and Mr. G. Edwards, chief designer, who took the aircraft to Paris. FIRST JETTRANSPORT The Nene-Viking's Debut and Commemorative Flight to Paris A MOST creditable and encouraging achievement by aBritish commercial aircraft was the flight from Londonto Paris and return made last Sunday by the Nene- Viking to coincide with and commemorate the pioneer Channelcrossing successfully completed by M. Bleriot 39 years earlier. Let no mistake be made about the significance "of this flight;both the Vickers Viking and the two Rolls-Royce Nenes with which it is powered, aie standard, well-tried products whichhave been combined for the first time to give this country an all-jet passenger transport. This particular aircraft, sponsoredby the Ministry of Supply, has been produced for development work, but' has now been flying for some months and is nofreakish prototype. The Neoes produce much more power than can be safely utilized by the airframe, which was originallydesigned for operation with medium-sized piston engines at quite low altitudes. The Nene-Viking is, therefore, not aneconomical proposition for the airline operator. From other points of view it would be a serious commercial product. Captain J. Summers accompanied by Mr. G. Edwards, thedesigner, took off from London at about 10.15 a-m- on Juty 25 and reached Villacoublay in 34 min 7 sec. They returned inthe afternoon in 36 min 30 sec. The distance is 222 miles, and the greatest speed reached at the top height of 12,000ft was415 m.p.h. The average speed was 394 m.p.h. At Paris, newspaper cuttings concerning the Channel flightin 1909, and letters from the Royal Aero Club, were handed to M. Bleriot's widow, to his son, M. Jean Bleriot, secretary-general of the F.A.I., and to the secretary-general of the ' French Aero Club. After a luncheon, letters in answer werecarried back to Air Marshal Sir Alec Coryton. Other important Paris-London flights which may be men-tioned for comparison have been made recently by S/L. Waterton, who flew a Gloster Meteor over in 20 min 11 sec,averaging &i8| m.p.h., and Capt. Shepherd in the Merlin/Nene Lancastrian which took 41 min and averaged 322 m.p.h. With the exception of the power plants and main undercar-riage, the Nene-Viking differs very little from the standard Mark iB. The gauge of mainplane and tailplane skin hasbeen increased and the elevators are metal covered. All other alterations are concerned with the engines, their controls andtest equipment. They include a rearrangement of fuel and oil systems, the installation of test equipment and tanks for jet-tisonable water ballast in place of the 24 passenger seats. The new engine nacelles are mounted completely below thewing surface, and this enables the jet efflux to be directed below the standard tailplane. The engine mountings are very simpleand consist of three pairs of Vee-tubes attached by quick- release pins and bushes to the wing leading edge member and the undercarriage suspension frames. Like the cowlings, theyare specially designed for quick removaj and replacement. The main undercarriage units are entirely different from thestandard Viking, and are in the form of pairs of small landing wheels carried on a twin leg assembly with two oleo pneumaticshock absorber legs, and further supported by knee-joint articulating links. One double-acting hydraulic jack on eachside causes the wheels to retract and take up their positions astride the jet pipe. This is the first occasion on which turbojets have beenmounted close in beside the fuselage of a transport aircraft, and for the first time it will be possible to accumulate valuabledata concerning high and low-frequency vibration and general noise level which will be of great importance in the develop-ment of later pure-jet airliners. Fuel for the Nenes is carried in two pairs of flexible bagtanks of 734 gallons total capacity, installed in the outer wings. The handling characteristics of the aircraft are reported tobe very satisfactory, and it has been discovered that there is a saving in profile drag of 15 per cent over the standard Viking. Due to airframe strength factor limitations, the maximumspeed of the Nene-Viking must be limited, and weather con- ditions have a considerable bearing on the safety limit selected.In smooth air (gusts up to 25ft/sec), the permissible top .speed exceeds that in rough air by more than 60 m.p.h. Data for the Nene-Viking Track (and nacelle centres) 22ft loin Take-off weight 34,000 lb Wing loading (at take-off weight) 38.5 Ib/sq ft Max. speed (smooth air) 409 m.p.h. Max. speed (rough air) , . 33^ m.p.h. Cruising speed (smooth air) 395m ph. Landing speed (touch-down) 92 in.p.h. Climb to io.oooft (at 34,000 lb) 3 min Service ceiling (both engines) 44,000it Service ceiling (one engine) 30,000 ft Take-off distance to 50ft (at 34,0001b., I.C.A.N.) .. 1,100yd Still-air range at 10,000 ft (395 m.p.h., 734 gal) . . 311 milfs Still-air range at 5,000 ft (371 m.p.h., 498 gal) .... 242 miles
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