Outside Online has published a story about an emerging new activity called wing boarding that is in the early stages of development. Inspired by the old Disney television show Tailspin from back in the early 90's, wing boarding is the brainchild of aerospace engineer Aaron Wypyszynski, who has designed a flying wing that is pulled behind an airplane with a person standing on it. In simpler terms, it is wake boarding in the air.Over the past couple of years, Wypysznski has been developing prototypes of what he calls the WingBoard. In its current state, this flying platform spans 12-feet and weighs approximately 70 pounds. It has bindings attached to it much like a snowboard, and allows a full grown man to be towed through the air behind an airplane, doing all kinds of stunts in the process.
Outside says to date, the engineer has spent more than $25,000 on this project, which he hopes one day will be used at airshows with extreme athletes carving up the sky behind stunt planes. In a sense, it would be surfing through the sky, with safety features such as breakaway bindings and parachutes on both the pilot and the board, to ensure that no one gets injured in the process.
So far, only scale models of the WingBoard have been flown, with the most recent test involving a prototype that is 40% of the actual size of the end product. A similarly scaled model of a human was attached to that prototype, with the test running coming off without a hitch – including a full barrel roll. If further testing goes as planned, Wypysznski could begin producing and selling WingBoards as early as next year.
So? What do you think? Would you ride this thing? Check out the video below for a look at one of the models in action.
