| Viking | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vance Viking 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile February 1933 | |
| Role | Racing aircraft |
| National origin | United States of America |
| Manufacturer | Vance Aircraft Company |
| Designer | Claire K. Vance |
| First flight | July 1932 [1] |
The Vance Viking, also called the Vance Flying Wing Express, and the Texas Sky Ranger, was a single seat cargo and racing aircraft. [2]
Claire K. Vance founded the Vance Aircraft Corporation to build the "Flying Wing" design. [3] The aircraft was designed though a series of hand-carved wooden models before drawings were made, with the intention of it being a high speed, high altitude air-freighter with storage in thick wing lockers. Its short air racing history was interrupted by the 1932 death of its designer Claire Vance [4] who struck a fog-covered mountain at Rocky Ridge. [5]
The "Flying Wing" was a conventional long-range aircraft for the period with the exception of the two large booms aft of the cockpit supporting the twin tail surfaces and twin rudders, rather than a conventional fuselage. The tandem seat aircraft was converted to a single pilot aircraft that featured a radial engine and conventional landing gear (one tailwheel for each boom). Fourteen fuel tanks totaling 1,200 U.S. gallons (4,500 L; 1,000 imp gal) were interconnected inside the cantilevered mid-wing. The aircraft was of mixed construction, with an aluminum-covered welded steel tube fuselage. The wing used wooden wing spars with plywood covering. A forced air induction system was built into the wing roots with exhausts mounted near the trailing edges. [6]
In 1932 the Viking dropped out of the Bendix Trophy race following fuel system issues. [7] In 1933 it was entered, but did not compete in the Bendix Trophy race. [8]
In 1934 Lt. Murray B. Dilley purchased the aircraft and production rights from Claire Vance's estate for $10,000 with the intention of racing the aircraft in the 1934 England-Australia MacRobertson Air Race. [9] Dilley only paid $2500 of the amount owned, and abandoned the aircraft in the desert near Palm Springs, California. During 1936 The Flying Wing was bought at auction in 1936 for $2500 by the Mason Aircraft Corporation. Clyde Pangborn planned on using the aircraft for a Dallas, Texas to Moscow Flight. [10] Later the aircraft was returned to tandem configuration, a radio compass was installed, it was re-painted red and white and christened "The Texas Sky Ranger". Roland W. Richards sponsored the aircraft as part of a publicity campaign for the Texas Centennial Exposition to fly to New York, Paris, visit London, Amsterdam, Madrid, and Brussels and then return on a non-stop Paris to Dallas flight with Pangborn and Mony Mason as pilots. [11] Mason backed out by not meeting a commitment, but the flight was planned to continue independently with Pangborn with newspaper sponsorship. [12]
Data from Flight
General characteristics
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Avionics
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