C.Andrews Vickers Aircraft since 1908 (Putnam)

The Viking Amphibian

   In December 1918 a project design was drawn up by Pierson for an amphibian flying-boat, to have its engine mounted above the hull deck under the centre section of the top wing. In order to provide crew and passenger accommodation forwards a pusher propeller was essential. This had to be of restricted diameter for hull clearance and, consequently, with wide blades to absorb the power.
   To ease production in a class of aeroplane not previously built by Vickers (although they had the experience of S. E. Saunders and Co of Cowes, Isle of Wight, then Vickers' subsidiary, to rely on) and to provide a simple manually retracting land undercarriage, a hull with almost vertical sides was decided upon. This resulted in a narrow-beam planing bottom, as contrasted with the wider beam featured in the Linton Hope type of hull with sponsons, a design successfully exploited by the Supermarine Aviation Company, then a competitor of Vickers in this class. This narrow beam led to a measure of hydrodynamic instability, and various changes were made in the hull design to improve water-planing efficiency, through the various marks of Viking. Only in the last versions, named Vulture and Vanellus, was any serious attempt made to flare the sides of the hull to provide a wider planing bottom. The report of Vickers' water test-tank at St Albans, established in 1912 for testing ship models, disclosed a tendency of the Viking to porpoise, a phenomenon caused by the crests of the waves, formed by the front step, striking the chine aft.
   The Viking prototype, the Mk I, was built in two months in a Weybridge dance hall, which had been used during the first world war by Vickers as a woodworking shop, and was completed at Brooklands. Female labour was principally employed. The aircraft flew at Brooklands in landplane form in late 1919 and was registered as G-EAOV.
   Construction was conventional, with spruce wing members and elm timbers in the hull, which was covered with the patent Saunders Consuta copper-wire sewn plywood. A neat cabin was provided, with dual wheel control, and seats for four passengers. Pierson had studied a Norman Thompson NT2B single-engined flying-boat, exhibited in Harrods of Knightsbridge as a civil aeroplane, and fitted with a cabin. The Vickers design office was then (1918) located at Imperial Court, Basil Street, close to Harrods.
   Late in the design stage some difficulty was encountered in choosing a suitable engine. After considering the 200 hp Wolseley-built geared Hispano Suiza, Pierson eventually decided to fit the 275 hp Rolls-Royce Falcon. Apparently one of the problems of the Hispano Suiza was how to embody a satisfactory air intake in a pusher arrangement, although earlier series of the same engine had been installed in the Vickers F.B.26 and the Royal Aircraft Factory's F.E.9 and N.E.I, all pusher propeller aircraft. The greater power of the Falcon was also desirable, and in subsequent marks further increases of engine power were found necessary; the Viking in its earlier versions was underpowered.
   On 18 December, 1919, Sir John Alcock, then Vickers' chief pilot, was flying the Viking I, G-EAOV, solo to the Paris Aero Show when he ran into thick fog near Rouen, and in attempting a forced landing he struck a tree in an orchard. The aeroplane was wrecked and Sir John was killed, only a few months after he and Whitten-Brown had created air history by flying across the Atlantic. It was a premature ending to a brilliant flying career which began in the pioneering days at Brooklands aerodrome.
   The Mk II Viking appeared later in 1919 and contained a number of modifications. It was powered by a Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII of 360 hp, mounted independently of the wing structure on a pylon mounting. The wheelbase was widened and undercarriage details improved, with increased-diameter wheels, and the wing area was increased and a third rudder added behind the central fixed fin. To overcome the tendency of the prototype to dig its bows into the water during take-off the nose of the Mk II was made more blunt. The re-entrant curve of the planing bottom between the steps was modified to try to solve the wave crest problem, and behind the rear step an oleo-pneumatic tailskid cum water-rudder was fitted. Stan Cockerell, who had taken the place of Sir John Alcock as chief pilot (later joined by Capt Broome), flew the Viking II, registered G-EASC, at Cowes in June 1920, and it was displayed at the Aero Show in Olympia that year. In August it won the Antwerp Seaplane Trials.
   As a result of Cockerell's report, further modifications were made in the Viking Mk III, which was entered for the Air Ministry Competitions for civil aircraft held at Martlesham Heath and Felixstowe in September and October 1920. Registered G-EAUK, the Viking III won the competition for amphibians and the first prize of ?10,000. The Supermarine entry was such a close runner-up that the second prize was increased from ?5,000 to ?8,000. (Later on, in 1928, Vickers acquired the Supermarine Aviation Company.) In the official report of the Competitions was a suggestion that the tendency of the Viking to porpoise might be cured by altering the position or shape of the step, and also that the shape of the bows should be modified to keep down spray and sea. Flown by Cockerell, the performance of the Viking III was assessed as very good, and the judges were obviously impressed with the safety of the boat type of amphibian.
   The main differences between the Mks II and III were the fitting of a still more powerful engine, the 450 hp Napier Lion, the lengthening of the nose while retaining the same shape of bows, a redesigned tailskid cum water-rudder, a further increase in wing area by introducing a slightly wider chord and, to counter greater engine torque, a small rectangular fin was added above the upper tailplane.
   On 6 February, 1921, Cockerell began a series of tests with G-EAUK to determine the feasibility of passenger services from the River Thames, in the heart of London, to the River Seine, in Paris. These journeys took only two and a half hours, which bears comparison with elapsed times between the city centres of the two capitals today. Sir Frederick Sykes, Controller of Civil Aviation in Britain, and M. Laurent Eynac, his French opposite number, tested the service for themselves in April 1921. Subsequently, the Viking III went for trials on the aircraft carrier HMS Argus for which it was allocated the service number N147. The deck-handling and operating trials were quite satisfactory, the aeroplane taking-off easily and landing with no external aids except the deck-arrester wires.
   As a result of these successful tests, covering a wide range of operational use both off the water and from land aerodromes, firm interest was created, and a production line was started at Weybridge of the Viking Mk IV in three main variants: fleet spotter, military and commercial. Some were fitted with folding wings, notably the fleet-spotter variants, where stowage space was a limiting factor.
   The production Viking Mk IVs embodied further improvements from their experimental predecessors. The nose was made even more blunt, the beam of the hull was increased by one foot and the rear step was moved back also by one foot. The wheels were fitted with brakes and the tailskid cum water-rudder assembly again modified. The span was increased by 4 ft to 50 ft overall, and the loaded weight went up from the 4,500 lb of the Mk III to nearly 6,000 lb. Some Mk IVs retained the 46-ft span.
   To promote quick take-off from restricted water areas a new high-lift wing-section, the T64, was made optional, in place of the Royal Aircraft Factory 15 standard wing-section. This new high-lift section had been developed from propeller design and had a flat undersurface similar to that later known as Clark Y. It had one drawback, a vicious tip stall. This, combined with the couple caused by the high thrust-line and the low drag component of the hull, made the Viking IV with the T64 wing-section a specialist type to fly. With the engine on, it was nose heavy; with the engine off, it was tail heavy. To inexperienced pilots, especially those accustomed to landplanes, the Viking presented quite a problem in avoiding the flat spin which was the bugbear of aircraft of comparatively slow speed. In addition, handling on or near the water in halation approach conditions on a mirror surface sea was then a little-practised technique (when actual height and horizon were difficult for positional assessment by the pilot).
   In spite of all these difficulties, the Viking in production form rendered good service throughout the world in greatly differing operating conditions. Twenty-six examples of the Mk IV were sold. The first was the Vickers Type 54 for the French Navy, a commercial version with enclosed cabin but with provision for conversion for military duties 'with minimum of inconvenience', to quote the contract. It bore the French registration F-ADBL and was delivered on 27 September, 1921.
   During 1922 the Viking production line was busy with orders for the Dutch Forces in the East Indies (10), the Imperial Japanese Navy (2), the Russian Trade Delegation (1) and Laurentide Air Services (Canada) (1). One was used for demonstration in Spain and registered G-EBED. It was subsequently sold to Capt Leslie Hamilton, who used it on charter to Capt Lowenstein, and also as an air taxi operating from the St Moritz winter sports centre in Switzerland, where it landed in soft snow on the hull and took-off from hard snow or ice with the wheeled undercarriage.
   The Dutch Vikings were non-folders with Raf 15 section wings and Consuta-covered hulls. High-compression Napier Lion engines were fitted which ran on a benzol mixture, but reports indicate that some difficulty was experienced in starting, from which peculiarity German high-compression aero engines had also suffered. This was a matter for experienced ground engineering, while the sensitive fore-and-aft trim was a matter for experienced piloting. One of the two crashes of Vikings in Java was attributable to the fact that the pilot had never flown a flying-boat, while the other was caused by faulty maintenance in tropical sea conditions resulting in loss of rigging efficiency in the airframe and corrosion in the metal fittings. With long-range tanks, the range of the Dutch Vikings could be increased to 925 miles.
   The Japanese Vikings were test flown by Maj H. G. Brackley off the carrier Hosho in March 1933 on acceptance trials. They were ordered as fleet spotters with T64-section wings, but the proposal to fit a 37-mm cannon for anti-submarine patrol was not proceeded with. In this connection both the Swedish and Italian navies considered slinging an 18-in-diameter torpedo aboard the Viking, but this proposal also was not pressed to a decision or an order. The Laurentide Viking for Canada was fitted with a Rolls-Royce Eagle IX and was rather underpowered. It was used for most of its time in Eastern Canada.
   The Viking IV for the USSR was delivered in September 1922 and on arrival was sent for service in the Leningrad region. It was one of the first with a hull planked in SCT plywood made by the Tucker Armoured Plywood Company of Crayford. The initials SCT stood for 'securely cemented together', and the material consisted of two layers of Honduras mahogany board glued diagonally at right angles to each other; whether this produced any technical advantage over the Consuta planking does not seem to have been recorded. G-EBED, the Viking IV bought by Leslie Hamilton, also had the SCT-planked hull and wing-tip floats.
   A special Viking IV registered G-EBBZ was prepared for Sir Ross Smith, commander of the Australian Vimy flight of late 1919, for a round-the-world attempt in 1922. It was a non-folder of the commercial version but with open cockpits. Various detail modifications were made, including some non-corrosive fittings, such as stainless-steel exhaust manifolds, and passenger space was taken up by stores and long-range tanks. After a preliminary test flight by Cockerell, at Brooklands on 13 April, Sir Ross Smith, with his mechanic of the Australian flight, Sgt Bennett, himself took the Viking up. At about 2,000 ft he stalled during a sharp turn and a fiat spin developed. Ross Smith opened the engine up and this action seemed to correct the spin. The engine was again shut down and the spin restarted at too low a height to be corrected a second time. The aeroplane crashed into the back of the Byfleet banking of the motor track near the River Wey and both occupants were killed. Sir Keith Smith, who had been delayed on his train journey from London and had intended to participate in the flight with his brother, was an eye-witness of the accident. The cause was thought to be the pilot's unfamiliarity with the aeroplane, particularly in regard to the engine on/off condition, and the tendency of the T64-section wing to tip stall.
   Further orders for Viking IVs were received in 1923. This type of aeroplane seems to have been one of the first, certainly of Vickers design, to which the practice now called custom-built was applied. For example, one fleet spotter, ordered for the United States Navy in 1922 and delivered in February 1923, had the T64 wing section with the original span wing of 46 ft. A Lion engine was fitted in the American Viking, but the two Vikings delivered a week later to the River Plate Aviation Company, Argentina, were powered with the Rolls-Royce Eagle IX and were of the commercial type, with 50-ft span wings and the gap between the upper and lower wings increased by one foot, as well as having the Raf 15 wing section. One had an enclosed cabin and the other had open cockpits; both were fitted with large service fuel tanks mounted on the top wings. These two Argentine Vikings operated a regular service between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and the service was so popular that it was difficult for intending passengers to get a seat. A high load factor was therefore obtained, but in spite of this the service had to be subsidised, and eventually the Vikings were withdrawn when financial support from the Argentine Government was cancelled. The only criticisms of the aircraft were that take-off was difficult in calm water conditions and that the wheels and tyres did not stand up to heavy duty. The Viking IV was undoubtedly underpowered with the 360 hp Eagle when loaded to nearly 6,000 lb.
   The four Vikings delivered to the Argentine Navy in May 1923 were Lion-powered with full-span T64-section folding wings and were serialled R3, R4, R5 and R6. At the same time the Royal Canadian Air Force took delivery of two Viking IVs with Rolls-Royce Eagles, mainly to be used for starting a forestry fire patrol service and for survey work. Skis were fitted during winter operation. A proposal to fit Leitner-Watts metal propellers to these Vikings was not pursued. As a result of the successful introduction of Vikings for special service in Canada, a batch was made at the Canadian Vickers works in Montreal, and further specialist designs emanated from that source in their own right (see page 489). Canadian Vickers thus became one of the pioneer organisations in aircraft manufacture in Canada.
   Two other Vikings were delivered in April 1922. These were to an Air Ministry requirement but with the special equipment used in RAF operation, and to comply with conditions laid down in the specification they were classified as Mk Vs. They were given the serial numbers N156 and N157, and were attached to 70 Squadron in Iraq, more or less in an exploratory exercise to determine the utility of amphibian aircraft in areas like the Middle East. Several discoveries were made. One was the frailty of aero wheels and tyres at that time in tropical conditions, although the RAF Viking Vs had oleo-sprung undercarriages, an innovation in the Viking amphibian. A hulled aeroplane with its short undercarriage was found difficult to operate off irregular desert surfaces because of insufficient clearance between the bottom of the hull and the ground, a penalty imposed by the amphibian configuration. In spite of these limitations, the Viking Vs fulfilled their purpose in adding to the experience being built up by the engineering branch of the Royal Air Force overseas. Particularly there was an awareness of the need for metal-framed aeroplanes to avoid loss of rigging truth inherent in wooden aircraft operating under tropical conditions, a factor encountered already with other Vickers wooden aircraft.
   The Viking never seemed to suffer unduly from water soakage in its wooden hull, probably because on the average it spent half its life out of the water, thus allowing the intake of moisture to dry out. This was an unsuspected bonus of the amphibian configuration as compared with the wooden-hulled sea-going flying-boat operated only from marine bases. The design fully justified the ideas which had led to the formation of the original project. Its varied service in many parts of the world was a vindication of its name, Viking.

Viking Amphibian

   Mk I Mk III Mk IV Mk IV
   (G-EAOV) (G-EAUK) Type 55 Type 69
Engine: One 270 hp One 450 hp One 450 hp One 360 hp
   Rolls-Royce Napier Lion Napier Lion Rolls-Royce
   Falcon III Eagle IX
Span: 37 ft 46 ft 50 ft 50 ft
Length: 30 ft 32 ft 34 ft 2 in 34 ft
Height: 13 ft 13 ft 14 ft 14 ft 2 in
Wing Area: 368 sq ft 585 sq ft 635 sq ft 635 sq ft
Empty Weight: 2,030 lb 2,740 lb 4,040 lb 4,020 lb
Gross Weight: 3,600 lb 4,545 lb 5,790 lb 5,650 lb
Max Speed at sea level: 104 mph 110 mph 113 mph 100 mph
Climb to: 6,000 ft/12 min 6,000 ft/5.2 min 3,000 ft/3.2 min 5,000 ft/15 min
Range: 340 miles 420 miles 925 miles with -
   at 85 mph at 90 mph long-range tanks

G.Duval British Flying-Boats and Amphibians 1909-1952 (Putnam)

Vickers Viking I (1918)

   In 1918, the Vickers Company decided to make a radical departure from their usual landplane products in the construction of a flying-boat amphibian, the first British machine to be designed as such. Aimed at the post-war market and intended for world-wide operation in undeveloped areas, the machine was designed by R. K. Pierson and built at Weybridge in 1918 as the Vickers Type 54 Viking I. A two-bay biplane, with dihedral on the lower mainplanes only, the Viking was powered by a single Rolls-Royce engine of 275 h.p., the Falcon III, mounted high in the centre section on splayed struts and driving a four-bladed propeller. The hull, built by S. E. Saunders of Cowes, had vertical sides and two steps, with a distinctive concavity in the keel between the steps. The hand-retracted main undercarriage wheels were pivot-mounted to the hull sides below the lower mainplane, and an enclosed cabin was provided for the pilot and three passengers. A combined tail-skid/water rudder was attached to the rear step, the entire hull being covered by ‘Consuta’ copper-sewn plywood, a Saunders patent. The biplane tail assembly incorporated twin rudders and a central fixed fin. In October 1919 the Viking received the civil registration G-EAOV after successful testing, and took off for a flight to Paris on 18 December with Sir John Alcock of Atlantic flight fame at the controls. Some time later, a French farmer, the only witness, saw the Viking crash after flying through thick mist near Rouen. Tragically, Alcock died from his injuries.


SPECIFICATION

   Power Plant: One pusher Rolls-Royce Falcon III of 275 h.p.
   Span: 46 feet
   Length: 32 feet
   Weight Loaded: 3,600 pounds
   Total Area: 505 square feet
   Max. Speed: 104 m.p.h.


Vickers Viking II and III (1920)

   Since the loss of the Viking I was attributed to weather conditions and not to technical failure, Vickers decided to begin the construction of two more Vikings in 1920 under the classification of Type No. 59. The first was the Viking II, similar to its predecessor but with open cockpits for the pilot and three passengers, a keel with less concavity between the steps, a wider wheelbase and a third rudder added in the centre of the tailplane gap. The engine fitted was a Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII of 360 h.p., and the hull constructed by Saunders of Cowes. Registered G-EASC, the Viking II was exhibited at Olympia in July 1920, and subsequently won the first prize at the Antwerp Seaplane Trials in August of the same year. It later crashed and was written-off. Its sister-ship, the Viking III, was produced with a slightly modified hull, to reduce spray, and a 450 h.p. Napier Lion IB engine which improved the performance but increased the all-up weight. To maintain the original wing loading, the wing area was increased, and the central fin and rudder made of larger area also.
   Registered G-EAUK, the Viking III, flown by Capt. S. Cockerell, was entered for the Air Ministry Amphibian Competition held at Martlesham Heath and Felixstowe in September 1920, winning the first prize of £10,000. The machine was acquired by the Air Council in January 1921, the serial allocation of N147 being painted upon the central tail fin while the civilian registration was retained. Between February and April 1921, Cockerell flew the Viking III on a number of trial flights from Doulton’s Hard, on the Thames between Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridges, to the river Seine in central Paris, the object being to test the possibility of a regular inter-city service. This plan had to be abandoned owing to the frequent poor visibility in the city centres, and the fact that no amphibian was available at the time with the pay load capability to make the service an economic proposition. During the first trial alightings on the Thames, the Viking touched down at Westminster and was taxied ashore at the House of Commons for inspection by Members of Parliament, an event unique to this day. The Viking III was finally scrapped in 1925, after a long and useful life.


SPECIFICATION

   Power Plant:
   Mk.I - One 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII
   Mk.II - One 450 h.p. Napier Lion IB
   Span: 46 feet
   Length: 32 feet
   Weight Loaded:
   Mk.I - 4,545 pounds
   Mk.II - 4,900 pounds
   Total Area:
   Mk.I - 505 square feet
   Mk.II - 545 square feet (increased chord)
   Max. Speed:
   Mk.I - 110 m.p.h.
   Mk.II - 121 m.p.h.
   Endurance: 3 hours


  

Vickers Viking IV (1921)

   A development of the earlier Vikings, the Viking IV had an increased wing span and length, being equipped to carry six persons including the pilot and powered by a single 450 h.p. Napier Lion engine. The majority of the total production of thirty-two Viking aircraft were variants of the Mk. IV, some of which were fitted with the 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, and all but two machines found purchasers overseas. These two, with Lion engines and identified as Vickers Type 60, were registered in the United Kingdom as G-EBBZ and G-EBED. At the beginning of 1922, Sir Ross Smith and his brother, Keith, lately of the magnificent Vimy flight to Australia, began to plan a round-the-world flight, and Viking IV G-EBBZ was registered to Sir Ross for this purpose. On 13 April, 1922, ’BZ was air tested by Capt. Cockerell with Sir Ross and Lieut. Bennett as passengers, and after landing the machine, Cockerell got out, leaving Sir Ross to make a further trial flight. At a height of 1,000 feet the Viking commenced a turn, then went into a spin. Two attempts at recovery were seen to be made, but the machine was too low and crashed into some tall trees near the Brooklands aerodrome, both occupants being killed. Thus, by a tragic twist of fate, the two pilots who had gained fame and knighthoods on Vimy flights, Sir John Alcock and Sir Ross Smith, both lost their lives in a Viking.
   The remaining British-registered Viking IV, G-EBED, after demonstration in Spain, was operated on a winter sports passenger service by Leslie Hamilton, flying between Croydon, St. Moritz and Nice in the first three months of 1926, being finally scrapped in December 1929. Ten machines, known as the Type 55, were purchased by the Royal Netherlands Indies Army Air Corps, eight being delivered on 20 January, 1922, and the final two a year later. Another batch, fitted with the 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle and known as the Type 73, were sold to the Argentine Navy. These had seating for four persons in two cockpits forward of the mainplanes, with gunner’s cockpits in the bows and aft of the mainplanes. A French-owned machine, registered F-ADBL, had a Lion engine and a cabin similar to the Viking I. The Viking IV was later built under licence in Canada, beginning a whole series of Canadian Vickers flying-boats, mostly designed for forest fire patrol and air survey work. The machine was also sold to the U.S.A., Japan, Spain, and Russia.
  

SPECIFICATION

   Power Plant: One 450 h.p. Napier Lion, or one 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle
   Span: 50 feet
   Length: 35 feet
   Weight Loaded: (Lion) 5,600 pounds
   Total Area: 594 square feet
   Max. Speed: 105 m.p.h. Cruising - 90 m.p.h.
   Endurance: 4-75 hours at 90 m.p.h.
   Armament: One or two machine-guns on military versions, with light bomb load.

A.Jackson British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.3 (Putnam)

Vickers Viking Amphibian

   The prototype Viking, G-EAOV, was a four seat cabin amphibian of wooden construction designed by R. K. Pierson and powered by a 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III mounted under the top centre section driving a four bladed pusher airscrew. It was first flown at Brooklands in October 1919 but crashed while making a precautionary landing in fog near Rouen while en route to the Paris Aero Show on 18 December 1919 flown by Sir John Alcock of transatlantic fame who was killed.
   The Viking Mk.II, G-EASC, with 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII, increased wing span, wider undercarriage track and three rudders, was first flown at Cowes by Capt. S. Cockerell in June 1920 before exhibition at the Olympia Aero Show in July. In August it gained first prize in the Antwerp Seaplane Trials but was then withdrawn from use in favour of the Viking Mk.III, G-EAUK, with 450 h.p. Napier Lion, longer nose and wide chord wings, which won the £10,000 first prize in the Air Ministry Amphibian Competition held at Martlesham and Felixstowe in September 1920. In January 1921 it was sold to the Air Council as N147 and wearing both this and its civil marks, made trial landings on the Thames at Westminster on 7 February and 17 March, and on the Seine in Paris on 29 April, to test the feasibility of a service between city centres.
   The successful performance of G-EAUK led to orders for the Viking Mk.IV production version, 28 of which were built, some with folding wings. The first, Type 54 F-ADBL, delivered to the French Navy in October 1921, was followed by eight Type 55 (and two further crash replacements) with increased span for the Dutch East Indies Air Force; two Type 58 for the Imperial Japanese Navy and a third, serial A6073, for the U.S. Navy; two Type 59 tested by the R.A.F. in Iraq as N156 and N157; one Type 64 for Russia; two Type 73 with cabin tops for the Buenos Aires - Montevideo service of the River Plate Aviation Co. Ltd.; four Type 84 for the Argentine Navy; and two Type 85s, G-CYES and ’ET, for Royal Canadian Air Force forestry patrol work, for which six more, G-CYEU to ’EZ, were built by Canadian Vickers Ltd. at Montreal.
   Type 60 G-EBBZ was a special Viking Mk.IV with long range tanks for Sir Ross Smith’s round-the-world flight. After Capt. Cockerell made the first flight at Brooklands on 13 April 1922, Sir Ross took-off in it with his mechanic Sgt. Bennett but spun off a turn into the Byfleet banking and was killed. The only other British registered machine, Type 67 G-EBED, was demonstrated in Spain in 1922 4nd chartered to Belgian financier Alfred Lowenstein for flights between Croydon and Nice between January and March 1926. In the following July it was sold to Capt. Leslie Hamilton who ran a winter sports taxi service with it from St. Moritz.
   One Type 69, G-CAEB, with 360 h.p. Eagle VIII, delivered to the Laurentide Air Service in June 1922, was based initially at Remi Lake, Moonbeam, Ontario but moved west in 1929 for survey work in the Vancouver area with Aero Mineral Locaters Ltd. and was written off there in an accident on 16 September 1932 after a long and useful fife.


SPECIFICATION
   Manufacturers:
   Vickers Ltd., Vickers House, Broadway, Westminster S.W.l; and Brooklands Aerodrome, Surrey
   Power plants:
   (Viking Mk.I) One 275 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon III
   (Viking Mk.II and IV) One 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII
   (Viking Mk.III and IV) One 450 h.p. Napier Lion

Viking Mk.l Viking Mk.III Viking Mk.IV Type 60 Viking Mk.IV Type 69
Span 37 ft. 0 in. 46 ft. 0 in. 50 ft. 0 in. 50 ft. 0 in.
Length 30 ft. 0 in. 32 ft. 0 in. 35 ft. 0 in. 34 ft. 0 in.
Height 13 ft. 0 in. 13 ft. 0 in. 14 ft. 0 in. 14 ft. 2 in.
Wing area 368 sq. ft. 585 sq. ft. 635 sq. ft. 635 sq. ft.
Tare weight 2,030 lb. 2,740 lb. 3,728 lb. 4,020 lb.
All-up weight 3,600 lb. 4,545 lb. 5,600 lb. 5,650 1b.
Maximum speed 104 m.p.h. 110 m.p.h. 105 m.p.h. 100 m.p.h.
Initial climb 500 ft./min. 475 ft./min. 950 ft./min. 350 ft./min.
Range 340 miles 420 miles 925 miles 500 miles.

   Production:
   Twenty-eight Viking Mk.IV (with export C. of A. dates):
   Type 54 (c/n 1) F-ADBL, 10.10.21; Type 55 (2-9) Dutch East Indies, 23.12.21; Type 58 (10) U.S. Navy Bu A6073, 24.3.22; (11-12) Japan; Type 59 (13-14) N156, N157; Type 60 (15) G-EBBZ; Type 64 (16) Russia, 14.11.22; Type 67 (17) G-EBED; Type 69 (18) G-CAEB, 20.6.22; Type 73 (19-20) River Plate Aviation Co. Ltd., 6.4.23; Type 55 (21-22) Dutch East Indies, 13.4.23; Type 84 (23-26) Argentine R-3 to R-6; Type 85 (27-28) G-CYET, G-CYES, 25.5.23.

K.Molson, H.Taylor Canadian Aircraft since 1909 (Putnam)

Vickers Viking IV

   In late 1922 the CAF called for tenders on a flying-boat to replace the Curtiss HS-2L, and a prime requirement was that the aircraft was to be built in Canada. Two tenders were received, one from Laurentide Air Service of Montreal, and the other from Canadian Vickers, also of Montreal.
   Laurentide Air Service’s unsuccessful proposal was a flying-boat with a Linton Hope type hull designed by Major D. C. M. Hume.
Canadian Vickers proposed the parent company’s Viking IV. The contract was awarded on 23 February, 1923, for eight Viking IVs, and almost certainly a large factor in granting the contract was that some were wanted for operations the next summer and the Viking IV was already being made in Britain. The first two machines were to be shipped, without engines, from England and the final six to be made by Canadian Vickers.
   The Viking IV was the fourth in a family of single-engined amphibious flyingboats developed since the war and, although the Viking III had won an Air Ministry prize for amphibians, the Viking IV was the first to go into production. It was made in a surprising number of versions, none of which received a differentiating designation. It could be obtained with either a 46 ft (14-02 m) or a 50 ft (15-24 m) span wing. The standard wing was of RAF 15 section, but one of high-lift T34 section could be supplied, although it was potentially lethal for an unwary pilot. If required, the wings could fold forward for convenient stowage. The passengers and crew could be housed either in a cabin or in open cockpits. The 450 hp Napier Lion was the standard powerplant but the 360 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle was an alternative. Also, the elevators were found to be inadequate on aircraft with the 50 ft (15-24 m) wing span and had to be increased in chord.
   The Viking IV chosen by the CAF had the 50 ft wing with the RAF 15 section and without wing-folding. The crew was housed in open cockpits, but an additional camera position was provided in the nose and the wide-chord elevators fitted. The Rolls-Royce Eagle version was chosen, primarily for reasons of economy, and the CAF already had some Eagle VIIIs in stock which were fitted until replaced by Eagle IXs. With the Eagle, the Viking IV was considerably underpowered and this was to continue to plague its crews.
   The Viking IV hull was constructed with the main longitudinal members of American elm, intermediate longitudinal members and transverse frames of spruce, and was planked with two-ply mahogany. The amphibian gear was manually operated, and a steerable tailskid was fitted. The wing and tail surfaces were of conventional wooden construction. The engine was supported by faired tubular-steel struts while the interplane struts were of wood.
   The two British-built machines were assembled by Canadian Vickers and the RCAF’s engines installed. They were first tested on 15 and 24 June, 1923, respectively. The first Canadian Vickers built Viking IV, G-CYEU, was completed in July, a creditable performance for the construction of its first machine. A launching ceremony was held on 25 July, 1923, attended by various dignitaries, and the launch was made by Mrs G. J. Desbarats, wife of the Deputy Minister of National Defense. Immediately afterwards the prototype was flown for the first time, from the St Lawrence by Wing Cmdr J. L. Gordon accompanied by Wing Cmdr E. W. Stedman as technical observer. Two more machines were completed in August, two in October and the last in November.
   The Viking IVs were put into service immediately and were used at a number of RCAF bases but primarily in Manitoba. Their main duty in their early years was survey and their secondary duty transport work. When the Canadian Vickers Vedettes and Fairchild FC-2s entered service, the Viking IVs were assigned entirely to transport.
   In RCAF service the amphibian gear was very seldom used for landing - there were few aerodromes - but it was normally left installed as a convenient beaching gear. Although five seats were provided, they were normally limited to carrying three people, the pilot and two others, apparently in deference to the low-powered Eagle engine.
   The Viking IVs were soon found to have poor characteristics in the water, Group Capt J. S. Scott wrote Canadian Vickers in August 1924 as follows: 'In taking off the Viking requires too long a run for our requirements and in any kind of a moderately rough sea it requires great skill - to get the machine off the water. When taxi-ing in any kind of a rough sea it is very difficult to control the direction besides the difficulty of preventing the cockpit from filling up. So far we have been unable to find a way to land the Viking consistently without porpoising.' However, later handling instructions noted that an alighting could be made without porpoising if a fast level alighting was made; but it was then immediately cautioned that this procedure should not be used because of the danger of taking the bottom out of the hull.
   Three-blade Leitner-Watt ground-adjustable pitch propellers were proposed to be fitted in an attempt to improve the Viking IV’s performance, and at least one. 'EZ, had such a propeller installed. This programme was cancelled after the near-catastrophic failure of a Leitner-Watt propeller experimentally fitted to the Napier Lion powered Viking IV, G-CAEB. of Laurentide Air Service.
   In an attempt to increase the Viking IV’s power at low cost, the engineering of a 400 hp Liberty engine installation was completed by the RCAF in October 1924. While no official record or photographs have been found, the late Alan Ferrier wrote that he supervised its installation at Victoria Island, Ottawa, and that it was test flown by Wing Cmdr A. B. Shearer, with himself as observer, in the spring of 1925. The only Viking IV stationed at Ottawa was the British-built G-CYES and it was written off on 2 August, 1925. No other Liberty installation is known.
   In the third year of service some structural problems arose. On 22 July, 1926, 'EY was being landed at Kashabowie Lake, Ontario, by Fl Off A. L. Morfee, when a tip float dug in and the hull broke in two. On 31 July, 1926, the hull of ’EW broke in two while being taken off by Pilot Off E. J. Durnin at Victoria Beach, Manitoba. Finally, on 11 July, 1927, the hull of ’ET, a British-built machine, failed in the air, killing Pilot Off W. C. Weaver, AC1 J. T. Eardley, and F. W. Wrong, a Dominion Land Surveyer. A structural test made on ’EU at Winnipeg practically duplicated the failure in ’ET. A modification strengthening the hull locally was installed and no further failures had occurred when the last remaining Viking IV was struck from strength in May 1931.

   One 360hp Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII or IX. Span 50ft (15-24m); length 34ft (10-36m); height 15 ft 1 in (4-6 m); wing area 594 sq ft (55-2sq m). Empty weight 3,750 lb (1,701 kg); loaded weight 5,600lb (2,541kg). Maximum speed 102mph (164km/h); cruising speed 80mph (128km/h); climb 1,000ft (305m) in 1-9min; service ceiling 9,000ft (2,743m).

L.Andersson Soviet Aircraft and Aviation 1917-1941 (Putnam)

Vickers 64 Viking IV

   The Vickers Viking amphibian could be fitted with an enclosed cabin for eight passengers or as an open four-seater for reconnaissance and bombing. It was a single-engined pusher biplane with biplane horizontal tail surfaces. The mainwheels could be folded forwards against the hull. Argentina, Canada, France, Japan (two only), the Netherlands East Indies and the USA (one only) ordered Vikings for their air forces and navies.
   One example furnished as a six-seat passenger transport (c/n 16) was ordered under contract LK220S by the Russian Trade Delegation at Reval and delivered on 8 September 1922 to Leningrad. It was assembled and test flown in October. After a short period with the 1st Razvedivatel'nyi gidroaviaotryad in Leningrad the Viking was transferred to the 4th Razvedivatel'nyi gidroaviaotryad (later 4th Otdel'nyi morskoi razvedivatel'nyi aviaotryad) at Sevastopol by L I Giksa in May 1923 and two years later to the 2nd Otdel'nyi morskoi istrebitel'nyi aviaotryad at Odessa. It was then used by the 1st Morskava minonosnaya eskadril'ya at Sevastopol for a short time before being destroyed in a crash when flown by P P Sorokin late in 1926.

   450hp Napier Lion II
   Span 15.24m; length 10.36m; height 4.32; wing area 60 nv
   Empty weight 1.850kg; loaded weight 2,630kg
   Maximum speed 170km/h; ceiling 4,300m; endurance 4hr; range 650km

Журнал Flight

Flight, December 25, 1919.

The Paris Aero Show 1919

Vickers. - At the time of writing, the Vickers Viking is fog-bound at Brooklands, and the only exhibits on this stand are a Vickers Vimy-Commercial cabin, a number of B.L.I.C. magnetos and a series of scale models of Vickers aeroplanes and airships.