The WingBoard, the new fatality coming to an aiport near you

mikea

mikea

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The WingBoard, the new fatality coming to an airport near you

tasty-tech-oct-12-wingboard-670.jpg

The Wingboard combines skydiving with waterskiing...is essentially a winged board that's towed behind a plane.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear...s&hootPostID=7dc2c0340b7f2e7f390615221ac318f5
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:hairraise:
Fatality - only assuming that an actual pilot ever agrees to tow it into the air.
 
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:lol:

Note that on the proto WingBoarder there's no rope release on his side...other than the thing as shown has a ridiculous aft CG.
 
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This would be really fun at about 8000agl as long as you have a chute. The problem is getting off the ground! Unless you extend yourself on a tow line out the back cargo hatch of a C130, I don't see how you're taking off with a person standing on this thing, let alone landing.
 
Pedals2Paddles said:
This would be really fun at about 8000agl as long as you have a chute. The problem is getting off the ground! Unless you extend yourself on a tow line out the back cargo hatch of a C130, I don't see how you're taking off with a person standing on this thing, let alone landing.
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Take off, no sweat, I could just drag them into the air, I'd likely use an AgCat or similar with 600hp or more. Landing is their worry.
 
Look great on paper...:yes::yes::yes:
 

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That thing has zero stability in any axis.
 
My paralegal had a very sage observation about this ...

I think we’re being too cynical; towing a G.I. Joe behind a toy airplane seems to provide irrefutable evidence. Besides, it’s not as crazy as the early 1990s Space Board, a surf board towed behind a Space Shuttle.
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Are they a flight of two? People will try anything once.
 
Pedals2Paddles said:
This would be really fun at about 8000agl as long as you have a chute.
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No, it wouldn't. The CG is above the wing. It's going to go inverted almost immediately, and then be unstable in roll due to the negative dihedral. Getting tangled in a tow rope sounds singularly unpleasant with or without a parachute.

It has to be a joke. No one could be SO stupid as to seriously develop a design so obviously flawed.
 
Unless you can haul a load of jumpers while towing that thing methinks the price will put it out of reach. And of course that assumes it becomes more then an artist's rendering.
 
MAKG1 said:
No, it wouldn't. The CG is above the wing. It's going to go inverted almost immediately, and then be unstable in roll due to the negative dihedral. Getting tangled in a tow rope sounds singularly unpleasant with or without a parachute.

It has to be a joke. No one could be SO stupid as to seriously develop a design so obviously flawed.
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Why don't all low wing planes roll over them? All of them have the CG above the wing.
 
Alabama-based Aaron Wypyszynski, I can guarantee you that he is not from around here but I'm sure "hold my beer watch this" originated in Alabama.
This qualifies as a hold my beer watch this sport.
 
mikea said:
$2000 gets you the right of first refusal to buy the first versions of the real deal!
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"Never fly the "A" model of anything" an old, but wise, test pilot

And I'm thinking this old saw is particularly appropriate in this case!
 
The full scale safety features are based off of existing technology, providing little design risk.
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Look! The tow rope handle is also the control stick. Yeah. That'll work.
 
Well, wondering if you need a spotter with a red flag?

If the boarder falls, I guess the spotter raises the red flag and the pilot goes around and picks him up again. Might have to dive some to get the skier back on.

Hmmmmm?
 
I might currently live in Alabama, but it is Huntsville, AKA Rocket City, home to more Aero Engineers than anywhere else in the country. I might also be an aero engineer with a masters degree focused on stability and control.

Though it looks unstable, the combination of the tow rope design, forward CG (with the rider the CG is at about 15-20% depending on how he leans), and wing leveler make the board extremely stable. Check out the Demo flights in the video:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgXwdz9yZxY
The rider in the prototype is not just a figure strapped there either, it is a fully articulated remote controlled robot.
 
Hmmm. It is basically and unpowered Cri-Cri.
 
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