Viking Aircraft Viking II

The Viking Aircraft Viking II is an American powered parachute designed and produced by Viking Aircraft Inc of Panama City Beach, Florida; part of the Viking-series. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied complete and ready-to-fly.

The aircraft was introduced in 2000 and production ended when the company went out of business in 2005.

Design and development
The Viking II was designed for the training role, to comply with the U.S. FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules as a two-seat trainer, but also meets the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category requirements, including the category's maximum gross weight of 450 kg. Some were also registered as Experimental aircraft in the U.S. and one as an Experimental - Amateur-built.

The Viking II features a 48.4 m2 parachute-style wing, two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration, tricycle landing gear and a twin-cylinder 50 hp Rotax 503 engine in pusher configuration. The three-cylinder 70 hp 2si 690-L70 liquid-cooled engine was a factory option.

The aircraft carriage is built from metal tubing with a composite partial cockpit fairing. In flight steering is accomplished via handles that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the aircraft has foot pedal-controlled nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates spring rod suspension.

The aircraft has an empty weight of 270 lb and a gross weight of 715 lb, giving a useful load of 445 lb. With full fuel of 10 u.s.gal the payload for crew and baggage is 385 lb.

The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a 50 hp engine is 100 ft and the landing roll is 10 ft.

Operational history
In September 2015 five examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although a total of six had been registered at one time.

Variants
The company also produced a single seat version of the Viking II design, which it referred to simply as the "Single-Place". This version mounts a single seat on a narrower cockpit frame, but is otherwise similar.