Air - Cooled Engine - Uity

This short 1970s film "Air-Cooled Engine-Uity" is actually a promo for Volkswagen of North America, demonstrating the reliability and functionality of its air cooled engines. The film features footage of the Volksplane VP-1, a single seat aircraft powered by a 40 hp VW engine. The Volksplane was designed by W.S. Evans, and first flew in 1968. At 1:01 the plane is shown landing at Pinkerton Aviation, where Evans' VW Beetle waits on the tarmac. At 1:30, Evans speaks to an admirer and shows off the plans for the VP-1. It's bare angular look is due to the designer’s aim to build a simple plane where appearance and performance were of secondary importance. At 1:58, the aircraft is shown in flight (aerobatics were not permitted in the VP-1). At 2:54, rear-engined VW dune buggies drive off-road through snow-covered landscapes. At 4:23, an air cushion vehicle or hovercraft powered by a VW engine is shown. At 5:50, a Whirly-bug gyrocopter tail N2747 is shown with the same air cooled VW engine. Inventor Bill Brown of Rialto, California. (This aircraft is also known as a Benson Gyroplane or Benson B-8M Gyro-Copter.) The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods. There are two distinct families/variations of the aircooled engine namely Type 1 and Type 4. The Type 3 engine is a variation of the Type 1 engine with pancake cooling arrangement. Variations of the engine were produced by Volkswagen plants worldwide from 1936 until 2006 for use in Volkswagen's own vehicles, notably the Type 1 (Beetle), Type 2 (bus, transporter), Type 3, and Type 4. Additionally, the engines were widely used in industrial, light aircraft and kit car applications.