The Vickers Valiant was unusual in that most of its utility systems that required powered actuation i.e U/C, U/C doors, Bomb doors, flying controls etc were all electrical direct drive, using 112v DC I understand. Whilst this is not unique (the B29 amongst other earlier aircraft, made extensive use of electrical powered actuation) the Valiant does represent the last time electrical power was used on such a wide scale. Most subsequent aircraft used mainly direct hydraulic power, or Hobsons type local eletro-hydraulic system (i.e. VC10) and only electric powered direct drive for low load applications.
Does any know;- Why the industry moved away from extensively use of electrically powered direct drive actuation? Why was the Valiant chosen for such a system architecture when other aircraft being designed by Vickers at a similar time used Hydraulic i.e the Viscount?
I have seen one photo of a Valiant Landing with one Main Landing Gear retracted, does any one know if its systems had a reputation for unreliability?
Does anyone have AP’s which describe the Valiant electrical power system, and actuation components or know where could I get these from? (or even just the relevant AM AP ref numbers)
Many Thanks in advance if you can help me with this information.
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December 4, 2006 at 10:42 pm