My mother worked at the Bellanca Aircraft Factory in Alexandria Minnesota where they built the super Viking she was in the upholstery department and did all the interior.
SUPERB video by all measures. Bellanca, Curtis and the Wright brothers were the top pioneers of human flight. I've always been enthusiastically impressed with high-technology wood, fiberglass, and canvas aviation material engineering because of the nearly miraculous resulting Mosquito, Lancaster and Hughes heavy-lift amphibious Hercules. Wood is cellulose, a superb lightweight, abundant material comparable to steel, aluminum and other artificial fibers. As such, Bellanca, used wood instead of aluminum and lotsa steel, great aviation designers like de Havilland and Hughes, Bellanca's Super Viking is the American made, hand-made Corvette Stingray of GA AND the Criscraft of GA high production, commercial models too. OMGoodness! Whotta performer! The Bellanca folx and Super Vikings is/are definitely masterwork aircraft builders and I loved every second of this video. And there is, of course, Italian-style beauty seamlessly included in everything, with its impeccable performance, which is unmatched anywhere.
Never, that would be illegal! I did do a demo ride in 1977 with a guy who owned a large part of Bellanca. We didn't do a Hammer Head but did everything else. Holy crap!!!
My father had the Bellanca 260 Viking when I was growing up. It made him ill to have to sell it. That plane was a work of art, and a match in every regard for any plane in its class. It was fast, stable, dependable, and forgiving. N8507R I enjoyed the video very much. Thanks for posting!
As a young boy my family drove past the Alexandria,Mn. airport every week and I could see the Bellanca sign on their big hangar. Wow,what a beautiful airplane and fast. Great video ,Thanks
Wow!!! I remember the first time I saw a brand new Bellanca Super Viking when I was a kid... I was blown away by it's muscular looks! The owner gave me a walk around and was telling all about it's power and speed but when he mentioned that it was WOOD and FABRIC my smile dropped (LOL) He told me to press my hand on the fuselage and it gave a little... I said in my mind "I wouldn't fly in that thing!"... and this was in the mind of a certified AIRPLANE-AHOLIC.. normally If it had wings,I was in love but not this round!!! Flash forward to today... I WANT ONE!!!
Nice video! It appears to snap roll quicker than expected. I own the '79 7ECA. I was told that it was one of Bellanca's demo planes' at Oshkosh. Thanks for the video!
I love how the old advertisement shows the aircraft doing all kinds of maneuvers that aren't even legal to do with the plane today. Those were the days...
The only small airplane I have ever flown in was a Bellanca Viking. I am not sure if it was a Super Viking. It was owned by an optometrist in Lincoln, Maine.
God I miss flying. Had a TSIO540 BL-17ATC absolutely solid response. Flew mine out of an ultralight one-way strip. Good times. At least I managed to take the family on trips they will never forget. And that maybe we could not have afforded to do commercially, so the small investment in the Viking was worth it. Wish I'd have been able to get it sooner, (and keep it longer) before some "work" was done on it but it all worked out OK. Stephan if you are reading this may you always have smooth air underwing and more than enough fuel and trust your mechanic they are magicians. (I also had a Cessna R172K "T-40" with 210 H.P. and STOLkit but the Viking could easily outperform it on takeoff and landing, if you know how. If I had to crash I would prefer to do it in the Viking because I think it would be more likely survivable. Take care everyone, be safe.
I like the swept back wings on the Bellanca. It doesn't look like a Hershey bar like the Cessna's or even Vans. I had no idea the wings were wood or the cage was steel until I saw this video. Great find.
Thanks for the video. I'm surprised at the aerobatics this plane can do with fabric and wooden wings. But then the RAF's Hawker Hurricane monoplane, one of the fighters they used in WWII, was made of wood and fabric and was capable of 300 mph. Then there are all the WWI biplanes that were also wood and capable of complex aerobatics.
Many acrobatic aircraft have wood wings, the Christen Eagle and Pitts Special to name a few. Wood is stronger and unlike metal it doesn't fatigue under the abuse of hard core acrobatics. Another plus to wood wings, they flex in flight giving a softer ride in turbulence.
I took a WWII older fella up in my Viking (yeah he was good) he claimed it reminded him of the response of the Spit or Hurri's he flew but if you want to see a wicked plane look up the DeHavilland Mosquito which had similar construction and outperformed.
PS ... I know the 260 was kind of in between the Cruisemaster and the Viking. But, it more resembled the Viking. So, I've always referred to it as such...
Can anyone tell me about the effects of AD-2009-16-03? It's the AD concerning the SAP cylinders failure. I'm thinking of buying a Bellanca that has the IO-520-K engine and I would like to know about any feelings or experiences anyone has with the problem mentioned in the AD. Seems to me that compliance would be costly and the frequency of compliance suggests that failure of those cylinders could be rapid and still possible even with compliance. Your thoughts would be welcome. Thank you.
