Wood and fabric or not, the Viking cuts a sleek profile true ro Giuseppe Bellanca’s original Cruisaire.

Many years ago, Bellanca promoted their Viking with a picture of a dozen or so people sitting on a wing with the caption, “Try this with an aluminum wing.” There’s another picture of a Bellanca tangling with a building and it looks like the building lost.

Peek inside a Viking wing and you’ll see two laminated wood spars running the length of the wing, connected by a system of ribs. Peek inside the fuselage and you’ll see a system of steel tubes that form the engine mount, then carry through the fuselage to form the tail. Add laminated spruce forming one axis and a steel roll cage forming the other and…