2010 AirPigz 'HOTY' - Algie Composite Aircraft LP1
Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 02:43PM Also check out my extensive report on the Algie LP1 from November 2010
The AirPigz 2010 'Homebuilt Of The Year': the LP1 from Algie Composite Aircraft
You might already know that the AirPigz Homebuilt Of The Year award is not a conventional accolade. The 2009 HOTY award was presented to Sonex Aircraft for their Waiex, but that took place on January 7, 2009... the year was just underway and an award winner was already being announced. That's because 2009 was sure to be a really tough year from an economic point of view, and I felt that the time was right to acknowledge a homebuilt aircraft that excelled at being just what people needed. The Waiex is extremely affordable while also being relatively easy to build and has fabulous performance. Those three lines don't very often cross.
For 2010, things were a little better financially across America so I decided that the 2010 HOTY award would wait to be presented until the year was over, you know, like everyone else would do it. So here we are in early 2011 and I've picked the new HOTY for 2010, but you can be sure that I haven't made the choice in a conventional manner. The LP1 from Algie Composite Aircraft is the winner, but there's one fairly obvious snag. It hasn't even been off the ground yet. For many people in the position of picking a winner for an award like this, that fact would be a bit of a problem. I understand, I really do. But I've got some really important and interesting reasons why picking the LP1 makes perfect sense. Please read on to see if you agree.
Ultimately the LP1 wins this slightly tongue-in-cheek award for what it represents in terms of an overall design, engineering, and construction philosophy. David Algie's approach to designing and building a kit airplane is coming out of left field, and I think that's a really good thing. His extensive experience in the world of designing and building Indy cars is what drives his methods. But, as is essential in this situation, he does understand airplanes too. Sometimes in the past we've seen people who come from a vastly different background attempt to make a flying machine, but just because your background isn't 'aviation based' doesn't mean you've got better ideas. For the most part, airplanes are the way they are for a reason. And much of what other people do away from aviation simply doesn't apply. But Indy car racing is different. With very large sums of money at the forefront, Indy cars have been engineered to be as light as possible, as strong as possible, as safe as possible, as smart as possible concerning airflow management, and ultimately as fast as possible.
All those goals can translate to aircraft design pretty nicely. Especially since Indy cars are very 'carbon fiber' these days. That means David has been working on the exotic side of this versatile new material for quite a while now. When I went down to his Indianapolis workshop, it was obvious that his solutions to design challenges were what I would call exotic for a kit airplane. Exotic is cool, but it usually comes with a massive price tag. This is another area where David's approach is different. My guess is that he could have fairly easily moved the LP1 project forward years ago by finding several million dollars to pump into it. That would have probably worked pretty well. He would have much the same airplane he does today, but a lot sooner. The problem is that it would also be a kit that would cost more like $400,000 instead of the current target of $150,000, which includes the 300 hp turbo-normalized Corvette engine.
Underside of the LP1 showing the radiator and engine exhaust outlet
The biggest reasons why I think the LP1 is worthy of the HOTY award is because it opens the door to new ways of creating a kit airplane. For example, the carbon fiber and Nomex honeycomb core structures are extremely strong and light. That in itself is nothing new. We've known how to make really strong and really light components for aircraft for a long time. But making them both affordable and practically doable by the homebuilder has pretty much been out of the question. As it turns out, David is building the tooling needed to crank out complete sandwiched parts so the builder doesn't even have to think about how to do it. And, by designing these parts to work together better, the amount of work required to assemble will be noticeably reduced. By using advanced carbon fiber techniques and extremely integrated component design, the claimed empty weight for the LP1, with the 300hp Corvette engine under the hood, is only 1,080 pounds! That's crazy! But after seeing his work, I also think it's possible.
By taking the long-term, slow and steady approach, and by having the Indy car knowledge inside his head, David is laying the ground work for kits to be built that are light years ahead of what is typically available. In the end, the individual that builds an LP1 will be much more like a 12 year old building a plastic model than the builder who is assembling thousands of parts in the traditional homebuilt aircraft kit. Ultimately, the parts being designed and produced for the LP1 kit aren't just smarter than a typical kit, they're vastly smarter. This is what makes the LP1 so important in my mind. It opens the door for a whole new way of thinking that hopefully will soak deep into the homebuilt aircraft market. That's why this airplane wins the HOTY award, for what it represents to a culture desperately in need of a fresh breath of air.
Forward fuselage section with cockpit and mounted engine on the Algie LP1
So, in a bit of a weird twist, the Algie LP1 doesn't even need to fly to be worthy of the second ever AirPigz HOTY award. Everything it represents this far in its development should be able to have a serious impact on homebuilt airplanes going forward. And while we won't know if this little pressurized 2-seater will live up to the claim of 385 mph cruise at 29,000 feet and burning just 14.5 gph, I have a strong feeling that it's gonna be pretty darn close. It's guaranteed to be a fascinating journey to watch!
Algie Composite Aircraft website
project details and lots of development pictures
Woodward Aerospace website - LP1 pages
project overview and kit purchase info (also development pictures)
Yahoo group for the LP1
great source for extensive project details
Woodward Aerospace Facebook page
Also check out my extensive report on the Algie LP1 from November 2010
Reader Comments (4)
nice wing tip david
Deflection,as used in reinforcement of wheel support bracket to aircraft floor, normally on drop test the landing gear assembly absorbs the impact directly up; but because the lP1s landing gear bracket has a bend , the upward frorce is now "DEFLECTED" to 2 or more major force vectors ..... Looks great David.......... there are many of harness makers in San Jose/Ca. who will duplicate yours for a reasonable price,i would not trust China because they allways take shortcuts in quality
the pigz man sensored my very kool last post he dint understand it
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