Evans VP-1

G-PFAH is a UK built and registered Evans VP-1, completed in 1982, it is still flying today from a farm strip in Cambridgeshire, England.

The aircraft was designed by former Convair, Ryan Aircraft and General Dynamics aeronautical engineer William Samuel Evans of La Jolla, California. In 1966, Evans began engineering work on the VP-1, choosing an all-wood, strut-braced open-cockpit single-seat, low-wing design for ease in amateur construction.

Marine grade plywood is used for the slab-sided fuselage structure and the wings are designed to be detachable to allow the aircraft to transported by road. 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 VP-1 was designed specifically to utilize a modified VW Flat Four Automotive Engine from the VW Beetle. This aeroplane uses a Type II 1500cc motor that’s has undergone the Peacock Conversion to increase its capacity to 1834 cc, with dual magneto ignition and dual spark plugs, among other additional modifications.

As of January 2020, G-PFAH has a total of 480 flying hours.

A book entitled ‘Build and Fly Your Own Plane’ by Robert Lowe was published in 1980, detailing the author’s build process for his Evans VP-1, and is well worth the read.

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Видео Evans VP-1 канала Fred Scott