Bellanca doesn't cut a wide swath in corporate America, but it ...

local airport.It's still done pretty muchthe same way today at Bellanca,Incorporated. (The facilitiesare the same but ll-yearoldBellanca, Inc., is not thesame company that originallymanufactured the Super Viking.)The wings, flaps, andailerons still are painstakinglybuilt by hand in the same oldcreamery, then loaded onto atrailer and hauled the fewmiles to the airport.When you walk through theside door into the wing shop,it's like passing back throughtime. Some of Guiseppe Bellanca'soriginal tooling is stillused to piece together wingribs, and stacks of Sitka spruceplanks stand ready for thelaminating process that willturn them into wing spars.The Super Viking's wing is awork of industrial art. Eachside is composed of an estimated1,800 pieces of wood,each one stamped with a partnumber and shaped andglued to take its exact place inthe intricate structure.The wing begins to takeshape when nose ribs areattached to the front spar andtail ribs are attached to therear spar. The two spars thengo into a master jig where themiddle ribs are attached. Aluminumfuel tanks, fuel andhydraulic lines, wires forlights, and antennas areinstalled. The plywood leadingedge, shaped by steam-52 • JANUARY 1993