There are couple of things of note in the Viking Aircraft Engines booth this year. For those not wanting the complications of intercooler installation in the 150 hp class Viking is now offering the Honda Civic derived Viking 175. It’s a naturally aspirated 2.0 liter with a penchant for rpm thanks to its VTEC variable valve control and 4-valves per cylinder. It’s priced at $18,500.
If altitude performance is desired the familiar Viking 195T remains in the line-up.
Otherwise, given all the obsessive attention to detail and unicorn sightings at AirVenture it’s sometimes difficult to remember there are legions of great personal airplanes and their owners forming the conventions backbone. Phil Schmidt and his Zodiac 601XL are a fine example.
Phil hails from Belton, Missouri and has his spiffy Zodiac in the Viking Engines booth, the better to show off his Viking 130 installation. No points for guessing Phil is ready to gush about his Honda-based engine, noting he cruises at 138 mph at 4.5 gph of mogas, lands at just 54 mph and has had a mechanically trouble-free experience in the 120 hours so far on engine and airframe.
A retired graphic artist now specializing in aviation watercolors, Phil is not the typical gear head. “I’m not an engine guy,” he exclaims, but found the engine install easy enough using Viking’s online video tutorials. More on his own Phil taught himself vinyl wrapping while clothing his Zenith in its smart blue and white livery.
Now that Phil’s Zenith is out of phase one testing, the Viking 130 has settled into its normal maintenance regime of 50 hour oil changes (any 0-20W will do says Viking) and 25 hours oil changes in the gearbox. Mobil 1 is a preferred gearbox lube for Viking, who likes that lube’s minimal foaming qualities.
But most of all Phil seems genuinely thrilled to be running around the eastern U.S. in his new plane. It has a combination of newness, workable performance, low maintenance and low operating costs a regular guy can afford and that’s seems something worth celebrating at AirVenture.
