Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary - Gizmodo Comments

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

CptCrackers — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:46:30 EDT

I knew this looked too familiar:
[gizmodo.com]

CptCrackers

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

macminime — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:24:15 EDT

looks like the peter pan ride at disneyland.

"come on everybody, here we goooo!!"

macminime

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Mr.Wilson — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:17:45 EDT

@Mr.Wilson: Oops, I mean "Buy". Apparently I'm daydreaming of maniacally cackling over the lake over here too much.

Mr.Wilson

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Mr.Wilson — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:15:04 EDT

Eh, I'm acrophobic, so I'd be more interested in setting the wing to make it like an ekranoplane sort of deal and terrorizing sailboats with it (and put a guard on the prop).
Gimme a couple tries, then I'll get arrogant enough to by that parachute device then get up in the air and decide to resort to dive bombing.

Mr.Wilson

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

echeng — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:42:22 EDT

We've been flying in these things for years! They are a great way to get up for aerial photography because they can cruise so slowly.

echeng

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

ZooLi0 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:53:17 EDT

WHOA!

I have met Doi before! He is a great guy. My gradfather bought one of these - one of the first in America. Doi came out and gave him personal flying lessons.

I have flown in this thing - it is FANTASTIC! Nothing like it!

ZooLi0

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

islandhopper — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:42:58 EDT

I would seriously buy one right now for $10k... maybe the price will come down... then I really am screwed becasue I really will buy one immediately! This is just sweet

islandhopper

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

cpt_awesome — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:55:54 EDT

A certain shel silverstein poem comes to mind...

'Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too,
Went for a ride in a flying shoe...
'

cpt_awesome

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Elagus85 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:33:01 EDT

Thats a pretty standard Ultralight rig. Its not even as dangerous as you might think. There was an ultralight craze/fad in my country, and there were some accidents, everyone thato wned one switched to "trikes" an oversized hang glider with an under canopy with room for two people, one behind the other, this is the same but with a boat. In fact they are easy to fly and very hard to stall. Pretty ignorant headline i would say, sorry, thats just my opinion.

Elagus85

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

dantaylor08 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:21:16 EDT

Those 'Giant' engines aren't giant at all - they put out less horsepower than my motorcycle (av is about 75-90 for an ultralight engine);

dantaylor08

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

tegronin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:55:41 EDT

ahem, *used* to watch...

altho you're prob sued to my bad typing skilsl anyway

tegronin

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

tegronin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:54:56 EDT

i sued to watch one of these over sarasota bay every saturday on my way to work (circa 1992), a funny thing to see, it reminds me of the inflatable life raft from indJ temple o doom

tegronin

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

ANoel — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:25:51 EDT

"Dingy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary"

Headline of the Day!

ANoel

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

jordoex — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:01:34 EDT

@Reilaos~: Yeah, they need to put a cage over that thing... spinny death...

jordoex

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Buran — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:28:13 EDT

The parafoil was actually developed for the Gemini program in the 1960s. The original setup looked just as weird. The capsule was originally to have been fitted with retractable landing skids and a parafoil instead of a parachute.

The idea was abandoned, due to problems and delays, in favor of a splashdown under a conventional round chute. But the parafoil survived to be used by civilians and for other applications.

Ninfinger Productions: Gemini Photos (prototype shots)

New Page 0 (model of lander module)

So I think this boat is rather tame...

Buran

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

DaOtter — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:27:30 EDT

@GadgetPlay: And the "Dude! Let's go flying! Grab the beers!" :-\

DaOtter

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

GadgetPlay — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:26:32 EDT

@zenpoet: "How can everyone continue to say this is dangerous? They are already sitting in the life raft!"

And why would you need a parachute if you've already got a hang glider?

GadgetPlay

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

LeoR — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:22:47 EDT

What's so dangerous? Assuming the pilot has some training, this is basically an ultralight/microlight with a boat hull instead of a shell. If it's put together with enough strength, the only difference between the two will be the lift generated by the hull. Perhaps it would be enough to kill stability, but float plane's generate lift in their pontoons and they aren't generally seen as being inherently dangerous, so I really don't see why this is. Hang-glider type aerofoils are used in ultralights all over the world to great success.

LeoR

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

GadgetPlay — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:21:55 EDT

@BasicBlack: "Among them is the fact that this is an ultralight. No license required."

You left out the "Woo-Hoo!!!"

GadgetPlay

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

johnnyabnormal — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:03:09 EDT

I hope these guys aren't looking for God like that priest from Brazil...

johnnyabnormal

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

WestCoastPat — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:55:35 EDT

Why not just add a zodiac to the bottom of an Ultralight? Seems like a far easier approach

WestCoastPat

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Crazedmonkey — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:50:41 EDT

I agree with jrgouil on this.
Wish I could have been there when the idea occcured to see the expression on their face when the idea struck.

Crazedmonkey

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

outlanderssc — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:49:23 EDT

With all that surface area and that wingspan, I imagine it's great fun in a crosswind

outlanderssc

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

1roll20s — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:38:22 EDT

I thought Iran had the flying boat market cornered?
[www.foxnews.com]

1roll20s

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Reilaos~ — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:09:37 EDT

This looks badass until the kick of acceleration pushes you back into the BIG SPINNY DEATH sitting RIGHT BEHIND YOU.

Reilaos~

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

lianna_g — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:08:16 EDT

Congrats on the post. This is insane and great fun. It's what Giz was made to cover. ^5

lianna_g

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

MayorWest — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:57:56 EDT

Some comedy just writes itself...

MayorWest

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

zenpoet — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:57:45 EDT

How can everyone continue to say this is dangerous? They are already sitting in the life raft!

*smacks head in bewilderment*

zenpoet

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

discounteggroll — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:37:09 EDT

I've got a Zodiac. Any Giz readers wanna donate their hang glider and lawnmower for a weekend of uncertainty?

discounteggroll

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

jrghoull — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:22:54 EDT

hey i've got a good idea

wait...no i dont...

jrghoull

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Miranda Kali — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:19:10 EDT

...And here's a look at what you'll see on next weeks "How to Tease Sharks"!

Miranda Kali

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Darrone — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:17:51 EDT

@N@tedog: You say tomato, i say retooled lawnmower engine.

Darrone

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

N@tedog — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:15:38 EDT

A FEW HUNDERED DOLLARS!?! A Rotax two-stroke will set you a back a few K alone.

N@tedog

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

wingbatwu — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:10:51 EDT

@ianmanning:

I saw it too.

I also saw Cubans try to set up a speedboat with a parachute dragging line...

One of the first guys to try it landed in one of the hotel's pool.

Afterwards, I didn't see it again.

wingbatwu

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

strider_mt2k — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:09:41 EDT

@Brock:
I'm no expert, but put an additional skateboard mountain on that volcano island fortress and I think we've got a movie deal.

$$$

Think about it.

strider_mt2k

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

BoinK — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:09:02 EDT

Waits for the asshole who says "I saw these things yeeaars ago on TV". Wait... shit :(

BoinK

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

scarbrtj — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:05:04 EDT

Give it a deployable parachute and I'm there.
[www.brsparachutes.com]

scarbrtj

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Brock — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:02:53 EDT

Mount dual machine guns on these things and they'll be the perfect vehicle for the storm troopers guarding my volcano-island fortress.

Brock

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

BasicBlack — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:02:44 EDT

This rocks with a driving back beat.

Sportyboard it's a flying inflatable boat. I think there are many inherent dangers. Among them is the fact that this is an ultralight. No license required.

BasicBlack

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Darrone — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:01:16 EDT

Thank god there wearing helmets or this might be dangerous!

Safety first guys!

Darrone

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

WilCon — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:57:07 EDT

I am just dumb enuff to try it.

WilCon

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

jdhuck — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:54:47 EDT

Tower, this is Ghost rider requesting a flyby.

I am too stupid to own something like this. The good news is that I realize it beforehand.

jdhuck

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

TOWken22 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:53:40 EDT

This looks like an evolution of the Brazilian priest's floating chair tied to party balloons. It is like a renaissance of the Wright brothers' period, awesome.

TOWken22

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

strider_mt2k — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:53:13 EDT

That is cool on so many damn levels.

An overnight campout on a deserted atoll somewhere comes to mind...

strider_mt2k

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

Sportyboard — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:51:16 EDT

There being no cover over the propeller seems fairly dangerous :\

Sportyboard

Dinghy + Hang Glider + Giant Engine = Hilarious Obituary

ianmanning — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:51:12 EDT

I was in Cuba about a month ago. There were a couple of guys on the beach who rigged one of these things up. Theyd take you up for 30 bucks. Such a sketchy looking setup. The stupidest thing was how many people were going on it. It seriously looked like it was about to fall apart.

ianmanning