| VP-1 Volksplane | |
|---|---|
| Evans VP-1 Volksplane at Pima Air and Space Museum | |
| Role | homebuilt light monoplane |
| Manufacturer | Homebuilt |
| Designer | William Samuel Evans |
| First flight | 1968 |
The Evans VP-1 Volksplane is an American designed aircraft for amateur construction designed by aeronautical engineer William Evans of La Jolla, California.
Contents |
The VP-1 was an all-wood, strut-braced open-cockpit single-seat aircraft designed for amateur construction. Designed to be simple to build and safe to fly, performance and appearance were of secondary importance. The Volksplane first flew in 1968. The mainplane panels were designed to be detachable to allow the aircraft to transported by road.
The VP-1 was designed specifically to utilize a modified VW Type 1 automotive engine from the VW Beetle.[1] The fuselage is built in a warren truss arrangement where the exterior plywood takes the diagonal stress loads, therefore eliminating the diagonal members to maintain simplicity. The vertical and upright members are staggered to keep the joints as simple as possible. The wing is of a forward and aft blank spar design which uses stack-cut plywood ribs of equal size in order to keep construction time down. The ailerons are hinged directly behind the aft spar. For simplicity no flaps are provided. The wings and tail surfaces are fabric covered.
The design was developed into a two-seat version, the Evans VP-2, with an enlarged cockpit.
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982–83[2]
General characteristics
Performance
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