Introduction

It's creators were students from the Swedish university of Goteborg. In the year 1990 the Af Chapman II appeared on the first sketches. The students from then were inspired by other flying boats, like the Flying Colours from Delft Waterbike Technology, Netherlands, and by lots of beer. During the first International Waterbike Regatta in Delft, the AF Chapman I was not very successful. It was propelled by a fish tale propulsion which didn't really work. In a mood of pure frustration and drunkenness a team member of the Goteborg team shouted out that their AF Chapman would fly next year. And that's what happened. Flying boats then were facing difficulties related to manoeuvrability and flying stability, resulting into the loss of large amounts of energy from the bikers in order to keep their flying boats into the air. 

The concept The Swedish waterbike team took a careful approach based on proven technology of the aerospace technology. The concept included a steering control at the rear side of the hull and the boat was equipped with ailerons in the main foil. The main foil was placed mid-ship, in order to carry the weight of the two cyclists on-board of the Af Chapman II.

Similar like the layout of an airplane but with one big difference: The wing was positioned far below the hull, down under the water surface. The stability is taken care of by an active system. The "pilot" has to react on every disturbing of his longitudinal as well as his transverse balance. This is done by an ingenious system of bars, which allows the "pilot" to control both transverse stability and longitudinal stability with one hand. The design of the hull shape and the foils took a lot of study and smart thinking. How large should the wings be? What is the power needed to get into the air? Can humans provide this power? How much steering force is required for good flying control? Is it possible to make the wing construction strong enough? All these questions had to be answered properly in order to make the Af Chapman fly. 

The races
Af Chapman II has flied many races for a long time. She has many records on her name and is a popular guest on the different tournaments. But after a few years the team members of the University of Goteborg waterbike team graduated and the team slowly vanished. Af Chapman II, the champion in many tournaments, was stored in a backyard for years. She didn't show up on a tournament any more, but despite this she was never forgotten. After some time the former members of the Waterbike team decided that something has to be done with Af Chapman II. They offered the boat to the Waterbike teams they knew where still active. Delft Waterbike Technology volunteered to adopt this famous waterbike. They did all the necessary repairs and made the boat able to fly again. To enable new generations of Waterbikers to get the experience of a flying waterbike, and maybe even encourage them to build their own flying waterbike.