Wingboarding—Extreme Sport That Lets You Surf Through The Clouds Gets It's First Test Flight

It's not like the world is lacking in extreme sports but a new one is being proposed by flight test engineer and founder of startup Wyp Aviation, Aaron Wypyszynski. The idea is a bit like wakeboarding but happening way up in the clouds, surfing in the stratosphere. How cool is that.

According to Wyp Aviation's website the inspiration comes from 90s Disney cartoon TaleSpin, specifically the character called Kit who would surf through the clouds. "Scores of millennials grew up watching TaleSpin, dreaming of carving through the sky like Kit on his airfoil. With the Wyp WingBoard, surfing the clouds is finally a reality." says the company.

The wingboard's design takes its inspiration from the concept of wakeboarding with a tow line and a board, but a "wakeboard in three dimensions" combining the "exhilaration of prolonged flight with the rush that comes when you’re in control."

The wingboarder would start on the ground like a glider does, being towed by a tow plane to take off. The shape of the board not only gives the rider lift but is designed to give a stable centre of gravity, while also allowing the rider to lean and twist in all directions. Binding similar to that of a snowboard would attach the rider to the board. Landing would work either via a rolling landing or using a parachute.

Wypyszynski understands that safety is a major issue and says that's paramount in the way they're approaching it, a key element of that is designing the tow rope connection, which they have as a Y-shape as it reduces the impact of forces and increases stability.

Wypyszynski has developed a working scale model and is now looking to raise funds to build a prototype.

You can check out some renders of the board below and also learn more about it in the following video and on Wyp Aviation's website.