The Kalbermatten Woopy is a Swiss

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing co ...

, single-place,

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame cover ...

that was designed by Laurent de Kalbermatten of

Villars-sur-Glâne Villars-sur-Glâne (; frp, Velârs-sur-Gllânna ) is a municipality in the district of Sarine in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Geography Villars-sur-Glâne has an area, , of . Of this area, or 29.3% is used for agricultural purpose ...

. The aircraft seems to have been just developed to prototype stage and it is not clear if production was undertaken.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 48. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003.

Design and development

The Woopy

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

is made from

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

tubing, with a conventional tail, a seated pilot position and weight shift controls. The wing is inflatable and based on the same concept as an

air mattress An air mattress is an inflatable mattress or sleeping pad. Due to its buoyancy, it is also often used as a water toy or flotation device, and in some countries, including the UK, is called a lilo ("Li-lo" being a specific trademark -- derived ...

, kept inflated by two small battery-powered fans. Launch and landing is carried out on foot. Much of the development was undertaken using scale flying models to speed construction and reduce pilot risk. Two models were developed, the Woopy Fly and the Woopy Jump, plus a powered version of the Woopy Fly.

Variants

;Woopy Fly :Initial model. Its span wing is inflatable and has an aspect ratio of 4.58:1 and a wing area is . The glider empty weight is and it has a

glide ratio In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio (or L/D ratio) is the lift generated by an aerodynamic body such as an aerofoil or aircraft, divided by the aerodynamic drag caused by moving through air. It describes the aerodynamic efficiency under giv ...

of 9:1. ;Powered Woopy Fly :A powered version of the Woopy Fly was developed in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

and flown with a

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

engine that gave it an empty weight of and a cruise speed of with a propeller. ;Woopy Jump :More portable development model. Its wing is also inflatable and the glider empty weight is and the aircraft can be folded into a bag long.

Design and development

Variants

Specifications (Woopy Fly)

References

External links