The principle of the Woopy Jump
is simple. The wing is made of high quality nylon with an autostable
aerodynamic profile, maintained by inflation via two small electrical 6 W blowers,
alimented by batteries.
Contrary to paragliding, the Woopy Jump is entirely
inflated before take-off.
One then just has to face the
slope and ski, the Woopy Jump will elevate himself above the pilot. He only has
to feel the lift and jump at will. In flight, air pressure is added to that of
the ventilators, which become auxiliary.
The pilot is held by a
harness to an aluminium and glass-fibre spar that goes across the whole
wing. Two handles are fixed to this beam
(spar) and allow the manoeuvring of the machine.
Piloting is similar to delta-plane,
with the possibility to influence yaw and pitch in order to extend and control
jumps. Lift kicks in at about 20 km/h, but 55 km/h are needed to execute
extended jumps.
The Woopy Jump is ready very
quickly (less than 5 min), and is easy to transport on ski lifts or within a
car.
Folded in its bag, its
dimensions are 1m 20 in length for 25 cm in cross-section.
The bag can be worn
like a backpack. In flight position, the Woopy Jump measures 5 m 20 in wingspan
for 10 metres square m in surface and weights about 10 kilos.
