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The Vickers Vikings
of Trek Airways
ZS-DKH c/n 121
ZS-DKI c/n
124 "Louis Trichardt"
ZS-DNU c/n 118 "Piet
Retief"
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Trek Airways Vickers 498 Viking 1A
ZS-DNU c/n
118
At
Entebbe Airport, Uganda
Circa 1959/60
Photograph: Daphne
Posma-Seager
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Vickers 498 Viking 1A
Trek Airways Coach Service
ZS-DKI c/n
124
Photograph: Barnd Dienel collection
History of Vickers 498 Viking 1A c/n 124
4 October 1946 first flight
11 October 1946 to
British European Airways as G-AHOW and named Vanessa
2 February
1948 to Ministry of Civil Aviation
To James Stewart Travel
To
G S Sale.
4 August 1950 sold to Trans World Charter
3 December
1951 sold to Crewsair and named African Trader
December 1952 sold
to Eagle Aviation
11 January 1953 leased to Airwork
10 March
1953 registered with the military serial XD636 and used for trooping
duties
5 November 1954 sold to Trek Airways, South Africa and
registered ZS-DKI and named Louis Trichardt
2 April 1955 lost
some fabric covering from a wing and made an emergency landing at an
airfield near Messina
31 July 1958 sold to African Air Safaris
and registered G-AHOW and named Skukuza
26 November 1959 African
Air Safaris changed its named to Air Safaris Ltd.
4 May 1962
leased to Eros Airline (UK) Ltd.
6 April 1964 sold to Air Ferry
Ltd.
28 October 1966 sold to Invicta
September 1967 withdrawn
from service at Manston.
3 February 1969 officially withdrawn
from use (wfu)
Scrapped in late 1969
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Vickers Viking
VC.1A
ZS-DKH
c/n
121 |
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The Vickers VC.1 Viking was a twin-engined
short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber. The
initial nineteen production aircraft (Mark 1A) carried between 21
and 24 passengers. The fuselage was metal but the geodetic wings and
tail planes were fabric covered.
The aircraft has two
Bristol Hercules 630 engines. These are 14-cylinder two-row, sleeve
valve, air-cooled radial engines developing 1,690 hp
each.
The VC stands
for Vickers Commercial, sometimes also called Vickers
Civil.
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Technical
details Vickers VC1A
Viking |
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Wingspan |
89’ 3” |
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Length |
62’ 10” |
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Height |
19’ 6” |
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Weight loaded |
34,000 lb |
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Weight empty |
18,360 lb |
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Max speed |
263 mph (cruise) at
10,000’ |
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Cruise speed |
210 mph recommended
cruise |
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Ceiling |
10000’ |
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Range S.A. |
1700 miles for 7180 lb* 1920 miles for 5120
lb* |
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Engines |
Bristol Hercules 630 |
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Crew |
4 |
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Passengers |
21-24 |
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Wing area (gross) |
882 square feet |
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*Max fuel weight |
1700 miles, 750 galls @ 210 mph, 1920 galls
@ 171 mph. |
Built at the Vickers-Armstrongs factory in
Weybridge, England, c/n 121 first took to the air on 30 August 1946,
registered as G-AHOT with British European Airways and was used in
the 1948 Berlin Airlift. On 26 September 1954 she was sold to Trek
Airways, registered ZS-DKH and operated in Protea Airways colours, a
second airline of Trek, and for many years, transported hundreds of
passengers on leisurely and scenic flights between South Africa and
Europe.
One of the last people
to fly on the Viking was the American singer Jim Reeves when he
toured South Africa in late 1962.
Jim Reeves starred in
the film "Kimberley Jim" (first called "Strike It Rich") filmed in
South Africa in 1963. It was Jim's only full-length movie.
After 13.881 flying
hours ZS-DKH was flown from Rand Airport to the old Baragwanath
Airfield, original home of the Johannesburg Light Plane Club, on the 18th of
December 1962 and was disassembled and transported by road to
Armadale south of Johannesburg, where, in January 1963 she was
placed atop the roof of the Caltex Garage owned by Victor Edward de
Villiers and known as “Vic’s Viking Garage" where she became a
famous, if forlorn, landmark. The garage was previously known as
"Vic's Goggomobile Garage".
On 5 March 1987, the Viking was replaced by SAAF
Avro Shackleton 1723 and donated to the South Africa Airways
Museum Society
. The Viking’s wings were removed and she was towed to
the then Jan Smuts Airport.
Here she languished in the harsh African
climate becoming a tatty hulk standing not too far from the engine
run-up bay at OR Tambo International Airport.
Almost 30 years later she was to be given the attention she
deserved.
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ZS-DKH in Protea Airways livery in her
heyday
Photograph: South African Airways Museum
Society archives.
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Entry in Victor Edward de
Villiers's logbook showing the date of ZS-DKH ferry flight from
Rand Airport to Baragwanath Airfield, 18 December
1962.
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Vickers Viking ZS-DKH just after
being hoisted onto the support pillars.
January 1963
The
garage was known as "Vic's Goggomobile Garage"
Photograph:
Vic de Villiers collection.
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Vickers Viking ZS-DKH just after
being hoisted onto the support pillars.
January 1963
The
garage was known as "Vic's Goggomobile Garage"
Photograph:
Vic de Villiers collection.
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Vickers Viking ZS-DKH just after
being hoisted onto the support pillars.
January 1963
The
Caltex garage was known as "Vic's Goggomobile
Garage"
Photograph: Vic de Villiers
collection.
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Vickers Viking
ZS-DKH
The garage now named "Vic's
Viking Garage"
Photograph: Vic de
Villiers collection.
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Vickers Viking ZS-DKH
The garage
now named "Vic's Viking Garage"
Photograph: Vic de
Villiers collection.
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Vickers Viking ZS-DKH
The garage
now named "Vic's Viking Garage"
Photograph: Vic de
Villiers collection.
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Vickers Viking ZS-DKH
Note "The
Magic Wand" roadside cafe
Photograph: Vic de Villiers
collection.
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"The Magic Wand" roadside cafe at the
Vic's Viking Garage
Photograph: Vic de Villiers
collection.
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"The Magic Wand" roadside cafe at the
Vic's Viking Garage
Photograph: Vic de Villiers
collection.
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ZS-DKH atop Vic’s Viking
garage
Photograph: South African Airways Museum Society
archives.
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ZS-DKH was swapped for AVRO
Shackleton 1723 on 5 March 1987
Photograph: South
African Airways Museum Society
archives.
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SAAF
Shackleton 1723 replaces Vickers Viking ZS-DKH
Photograph:
South African Airways Museum Society
archives.
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GPS co-ordinates for SAAF
Shackleton 1723 at Vic's Viking Garage
-26.277447, 27.944654
-26°
16' 38.81", +27° 56' 40.75"
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ZS DKH restoration
began in earnest.
Photograph: Omer Mees.
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Restoration of ZS-DKH got no further than
depicted in this photograph taken on 8 January
1994.
Photograph: Omer
Mees.
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In early 2015, 28 years after her arrival at
the then Jan Smuts Airport, there was renewed interest in the
forlorn and derelict hulk, standing not too far from the
engine run-up bay at OR Tambo International Airport, and
preparations began in earnest to relocate her to the museum at
Rand Airport. Matt Harvey from SAA Technical took on the
project and after almost a year of preparation the aircraft
was ready to be relocated by December 2015, although she would
have to wait until January 2016 to be finally
moved.
During January of 2015 John "Jaws"
Austin-Williams met up with John Illsley of Pretoria Boys High
School. John expressed an interest in our museum and the
preservation tasks we tackle and kindly offered the assistance
of the boys from the Aeronautical Society of Pretoria Boys
High. The first Viking workday was held on Saturday 14 March
with Matt plus John and his boys in
attendance.
John reports…
“I had fifteen boys at ORT on Saturday and we managed to
remove the two props. However, I don’t think Matt was given
the right info about the wing attachment points as I’m
convinced there are two huge pins that we didn’t count on and
which could not be extracted. It is a nice project and the
boys were very excited and useful up to a point. We will
probably help again in mid-April at which point I hope we can
pull off the wings and stabilizers.”
The Viking’s outer wings were removed on Saturday 18 April
2015. Matt Harvey along with John Illsley and some lads from
the Pretoria Boys High Aeronautical Society got the job done.
John Illsley sent in the following report:
The Aeronautical
Society of Pretoria Boys High returned to the SAA Technical
Area on Saturday 18th April to resume battle with the wings of
the Vickers Viking. The work force was greatly diminished by
the onset of the winter sports season at the school, but the
small team just worked twice as hard! While waiting for our
crane to be returned from working on a current SAA airliner,
we unpacked many of the items that have been stored inside the
Viking fuselage, including seats that were from a more recent
aircraft as well as the engine cowlings.
When our SAA technical man, Matt Harvey, returned with the
crane we then set about removing the wing attachment pins that
are located within the engine and undercarriage nacelle and
which consist of a threaded and tapered pin that has its own
cranking handle. These took a bit of persuading thanks to
corrosion, but once removed the wings were suspended briefly
on the nylon straps before being gently lowered onto old
tyres.
By now well practised, the second wing came off even more
quickly. Unfortunately the tool we needed for removing the
tail planes was not yet available and so we couldn’t remove
these components.
The boys were taken for a walk through hangar eight and
seeing the SAA maintenance activity was a big treat. We were
again kindly hosted in the SAA Technical social area before
heading home. The boys are keen to be part of the actual
moving of the aircraft to Rand Airport, but we will have to
see if we are invited back!
John and the Boys
are most certainly invited back!
On Saturday
the 15th of August 2015 the vertical stabiliser, rudder, horizontal
stabiliser and elevators were removed. Thanks to Leonie van
Schalkwyk and Wynand Myburgh who assisted Matt
Harvey.
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Sadly Victor
Edward de Villiers of “Vic’s Viking Garage” fame passed away
on Thursday the 8th of October 2015. Vic purchased ZS-DKH from
Trek Airways. After 13.881 flying hours ZS-DKH was flown from
Rand Airport to the old Baragwanath Airfield, original home of
the Johannesburg Light Plane Club on the 18th of December
1962.
She was disassembled and
transported by road to Armadale south of Johannesburg, where,
in January 1963 she was placed atop the roof of the Caltex
Garage owned by Victor Edward de Villiers and known as “Vic’s
Viking Garage" where she became a famous, if forlorn,
landmark.
The garage was previously
known as "Vic's Goggomobile Garage". On the 5th of March 1987,
the Viking was replaced by SAAF Avro Shackleton 1723 and
donated to the South Africa Airways Museum Society. The
Viking’s wings were removed and she was towed to the then Jan
Smuts Airport.
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Vic de Villiers with his
photo album, 3rd January 2015. Photograph: John
Austin-Williams.
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Vickers-Armstrongs
Limited VC.1A Viking on top of Vic's Garage, October 1970.
Photograph: Hans Pearson.
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ZS-DKH atop Vic's Viking Garage, 4
May 1974. Photograph: Ger
Buskermolen.
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The forlorn
Viking, Saturday 14 March 2015. Photograph: Flippie van
Emmenis.
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The cockpit of ZS-DKH.
Photograph: John James.
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Matt
Harvey, centre back, John Illsley, right, and the boys of
Pretoria High Aeronautical Society.
Saturday 14
March
2015.
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Propeller being removed
Saturday 14 March 2015. Photograph: John
James.
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Propeller being removed Saturday 14 March 2015.
Photograph: Flippie van Emmenis.
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Pretoria Boys High Aeronautical Society
at work removing the propellers. Saturday 14 March
2015.
Photograph: John
Illsley.
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Proud young lads of the
Pretoria Boys
High Aeronautical Society. Saturday 14 March
2015.
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Bristol Hercules
14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engine. Photograph John
James.
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Wing
removal Saturday 18 April
2015. Photograph: John James.
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Pretoria Boys High Aeronautical Society at
work removing the wings. Saturday 18 April 2015. Photograph:
John Illsley.
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Pretoria Boys High Aeronautical Society at
work removing the wings. Saturday 18 April 2015. Photograph:
John Illsley.
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Elevator removal with Matt Harvey and a
young aircraft enthusiast from Pretoria Boys High Aeronautical
Society. Saturday 15 August 2015. Photograph:
Flippie van Emmenis.
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Plenty of
effort was required to remove the right elevator!
Saturday 15 August 2015.
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No tail
feathers! Saturday 15 August 2015.
Photograph: Matt
Harvey.
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The Viking ready
to be moved to Rand Airport. Saturday 15 August 2015. Photograph:
Matt Harvey.
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Surprisingly the tyres remained
inflated after being pumped with nitrogen, on 2 Dcember
2015, after many years of standing deflated! Photograph:
Matt Harvey.
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On Saturday, 23 January 2016, the
Viking was moved from the grass down to the SAA technical hard
stand.
Photograph:
Matt Harvey.
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Bad news! Unfortunately the right
hand tyre disintegrated. Tyres of the size 45x16.00-18 are
unobtainable so... first problem to be solved.
As at March
2016 we were looking for Douglas DC-8 main landing gear tyres,
44.5x16.5-18.
Photograph:
Matt Harvey.
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On 9 March 2016, a wet and dreary
morning, the Viking’s wings were transported to the
museum.
Thanks to Transcor.
Photograph:
Matt Harvey.
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Offloading the Viking’s wings at the
museum, 9 March 2016. In the background is the SAA Museum
Society's B747SP-44 ZS-SPC "Maluti"
Thanks
to Marlboro
Crane Hire.
Photograph:
Matt Harvey.
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Offloading the Viking’s wings at the
museum. 9 March 2016.
Photograph: Matt
Harvey.
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The next step was to find a
suitable position to lift the Viking over the SAA Technical
boundary wall. Once identified a Geometric Route Clearance
Report was prepared by ARC (Africa Route Clearance
Consultants) and submitted to Gauteng Province, Department of
Roads and Transport for approval in November 2016.
In May 2016 a pair of 41x15.0-18
tyres (as used on DC-9) was donated to the Museum by Brian
Rothman of Square Air in Cape Town. Original Viking tyres were
45x16.00-18 and no longer obtainable.
Although we had located suitable
tyres for the Viking it was not possible to fit them at SAA
Technical. A horizontal bar was fitted to the Viking
undercarriage and the Viking placed on top of a suitable dolly
for ease of moving within SAA
Technical.
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Viking strapped to a dolly, and parked
next to the radio aerial masts next to Jones Road. GPS -26.140890, 28.222734
.
22 November 2016. Photograph: André Vivier (ARC).
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Read the Geometric Route Clearance Report
prepared by Africa Route Clearance Consultants (ARC) here |
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Viking was moved to Rand Airport on Sunday 22nd of January
2017. |
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