Chotia Woodhopper

Woodhopper: The Essence of Low-and-Slow Flight

The Woodhopper is a classic “flying lawn chair” designed for the purist who loves working with wood. While similar in spirit to the famous aluminum Weedhopper, the Woodhopper replaces metal tubes with a wooden truss structure. It represents the golden age of ultralights: an open-cockpit, high-wing aircraft that you can build from plans using materials found at a lumber yard.

Why Is It a Legend?

The “Lumber Yard” Flyer: Much like the Sky Pup, the Woodhopper proves you don’t need aerospace alloys to fly. Its fuselage and wing structure are primarily built from spruce or clean pine and plywood gussets, making materials easy to source locally.

Open-Air Freedom: There is no cockpit enclosure. You sit right out in the breeze with a completely unobstructed view of the world below. It offers a visceral connection to the air that few other aircraft can match.

Simple Construction: It uses a “stick and gusset” construction method. If you can cut wood strips and glue plywood triangles, you can build the fuselage. It requires patience, but no welding or complex machining.

Part 103 Legal: With an extremely low empty weight and slow stall speed, it fits perfectly into the U.S. FAR Part 103 ultralight category, requiring no pilot’s license, registration, or medical exam to fly.

Performance and Key Numbers

The Woodhopper is not about getting somewhere fast; it is about the joy of being in the air. It is a high-drag, high-lift aircraft designed to float over the countryside.

General Specifications:

• Crew: 1 pilot

• Wingspan: 32 – 34 ft (9.7 – 10.3 m)

• Length: 18 ft (5.5 m)

• Wing Area: Approx. 165 sq ft (15.3 m²)

• Empty Weight: 160 – 180 lbs (72 – 82 kg)

• Max Takeoff Weight: 425 lbs (193 kg)

• Useful Load: Approx. 245 lbs (111 kg)

• Typical Engine Power: 20 – 30 hp (Rotax 277, Cuyuna, or similar)

Performance:

• Glide Ratio: 8:1 (High drag, but very buoyant)

• Cruise Speed: 35 – 40 mph (56 – 64 km/h)

• Stall Speed: 22 – 24 mph (35 – 39 km/h)

• Rate of Climb: 350 – 500 ft/min (1.8 – 2.5 m/s)

• Takeoff Distance: 75 – 100 ft (23 – 30 m)

• Landing Distance: 100 ft (30 m)

• Fuel Consumption: 1.5 – 2.5 gallons per hour (5.5 – 9.5 L/h)

• Range: Approx. 80 – 100 miles (130 – 160 km)

In short, the Woodhopper is the perfect project for the builder who loves the smell of sawdust and wants to experience flight in its most elemental form—slow, low, and wide open.