My dad and his brother built this plane in early 70''s here in Finland. They were quuite pioneers in plane building. I have also spend many hours in plane when I was young boy. What a great memories! I have to show this film to my dad.
In High School in 1972 & 73 I was in a shop class called Aircraft Construction where we built a Volksplane. The Auto Shop reworked the engine and we built the fuselage and wings. The plane was painted in the schools colors, orange and light blue (ugly!). I was assigned one of the wings along with some others. The spars were spruce and the ribs cut from plywood, then covered with fabric after an FAA inspector gave his OK. Doping the fabric was quite the experience! Talk about getting high! Unfortunately I never got to see her fly as construction wasn't completed until after I graduated. Thanks for posting this video. Brought back 50 year old memories.
I worked for a VW repair shop in the early Seventies. We had a very good reputation and we received a few requests to build VW engines - and one BMW 700 two cylinder - for homebuilts. The boss wouldn't take the jobs. He said that it was one thing if your car broke down and had to be towed but that he'd never hear the end of it if someone's aircraft fell out of the sky.
The world lost something good when when the original air cooled Beetle ended production. If I had been king of the world I would have given the Beetle an exemption from environmental and safety regulations. Driving a Beetle is like riding a motorcycle. You know you are giving up safety for mileage and maneuverability. Speaking of the environment one aspect where the high tech cars of today fail and the Beetle succeeded was the ability to repair rather than replace.
The Nazi banner was the first thing I thought of when I saw that Evans Volksplane logo: white circle containing blocky black letters on a blood-red field. Given VW's roots, I have a feeling that Evans creating that particular logo was no accident...
Ironic they should show a dune buggy and describe it as a way to get out into the quiet and enjoy nature. Was there ever a more obnoxious vehicle than a dune buggy? I was active in the EAA in the 70s. Lots of Volksplanes being built.
I have to laugh at these types of little vignettes of film making. The halcyon days of yore as they would absolutely have said. The entire world, at least from the vantage point of the US, was only viewed through a pair of thoroughly rose colored glasses. Things changed radically when people became increasingly disenchanted with the involvement in the Vietnam War. The glasses were torn off the faces of John Q. Public and shattered on the ground a decade later.
None of these miserable, clattering, wheezing ACVW engines EVER made enough power. Not ever. Especially not for the amount of fuel they used. They were always a joke.
This was when we had real fun
I appreciate the vocal quality of narrators from the tobacco age.
I knew Mr. Evans very well. I built two Volksplanes and they are wonderful to fly. Lots of memories. Thanks!
His plane is still flying!
You're lucky, he must be a very interesting guy! I have a VP but having to get rid of it as single handed starting is rather unsafe for me!
My dad and his brother built this plane in early 70''s here in Finland. They were quuite pioneers in plane building. I have also spend many hours in plane when I was young boy. What a great memories! I have to show this film to my dad.
In High School in 1972 & 73 I was in a shop class called Aircraft Construction where we built a Volksplane. The Auto Shop reworked the engine and we built the fuselage and wings. The plane was painted in the schools colors, orange and light blue (ugly!). I was assigned one of the wings along with some others. The spars were spruce and the ribs cut from plywood, then covered with fabric after an FAA inspector gave his OK. Doping the fabric was quite the experience! Talk about getting high! Unfortunately I never got to see her fly as construction wasn't completed until after I graduated. Thanks for posting this video. Brought back 50 year old memories.
I looked this plane up. It's still flying! EAA Oshkosh. Amazing.
The autogyro looked like lots of fun.
I worked for a VW repair shop in the early Seventies. We had a very good reputation and we received a few requests to build VW engines - and one BMW 700 two cylinder - for homebuilts. The boss wouldn't take the jobs. He said that it was one thing if your car broke down and had to be towed but that he'd never hear the end of it if someone's aircraft fell out of the sky.
The autogyro is the same contraption that the gyro pilot flew in Mad Max 2 the road warrior!
You could most likely do an updated version of this using modern composites.
What a beautiful little aeroplane. Love it!! 😊
Those Dune Buggies look exactly like the 1/25 Scale AMT Model kit of a Myers Manx Dune Buggy I built a couple of months back...
Who knew it was every man's right to build an airplane in their garage?
Worked on a small plane with a legit VW bug engine in it, this one was a kitfox
That little guy makes the average modern kit plane seem like a flying Volvo.....
The world lost something good when when the original air cooled Beetle ended production.
If I had been king of the world I would have given the Beetle an exemption from environmental and safety regulations.
Driving a Beetle is like riding a motorcycle.
You know you are giving up safety for mileage and maneuverability.
Speaking of the environment one aspect where the high tech cars of today fail and the Beetle succeeded was the ability to repair rather than replace.
👍
That gyrocopter is deadly.
I hope that nut the dude was tightening on the rotor head/swashplate got safety wired...
@@talon262 That is called the "Jesus" bolt.
Evans chose a symbol that looks like an eerie homage to the Nazi flag.
The Nazi banner was the first thing I thought of when I saw that Evans Volksplane logo: white circle containing blocky black letters on a blood-red field. Given VW's roots, I have a feeling that Evans creating that particular logo was no accident...
1:04 where is the wing
Voice of Marvin Miller? Anyone agree?
🤗❤️👍💯
Ironic they should show a dune buggy and describe it as a way to get out into the quiet and enjoy nature. Was there ever a more obnoxious vehicle than a dune buggy? I was active in the EAA in the 70s. Lots of Volksplanes being built.
Dune buggies are great.
I find airplanes much more obnoxious.
I have to laugh at these types of little vignettes of film making. The halcyon days of yore as they would absolutely have said. The entire world, at least from the vantage point of the US, was only viewed through a pair of thoroughly rose colored glasses.
Things changed radically when people became increasingly disenchanted with the involvement in the Vietnam War. The glasses were torn off the faces of John Q. Public and shattered on the ground a decade later.
None of these miserable, clattering, wheezing ACVW engines EVER made enough power. Not ever. Especially not for the amount of fuel they used. They were always a joke.
Yet somehow they were popular worldwide and outsold the Model T.
They were getting 30 mpg when the average was 10 to 15.
Some "joke".