Interview with Todd Reichert, the mastermind behind Beta Foils

It was a pleasure meeting you last month in Switzerland at Indiana’s Headquarters and getting the chance to try out the Beta Foils.

How did you come up with the idea for the Beta Freefoil? Was there a specific “aha” moment?

There was never one big “aha” moment, it’s more like 100 incremental moments. The original dream was to be able to fly on the water for long periods of time with the most minimal equipment possible. It started as a bicycle concept, morphed into a pump foil and evolved from there one step at a time.

Can you walk us through the journey from the first prototype to the current version of the Beta Freefoil?

The first prototype weighed so much that it barely floated, and performed significantly worse than my Axis 1150. It was designed with lots of interchangeable pieces, primarily as a testbed for new concepts. Even with a strong engineering background, I would say about 80% of my ideas just didn’t work, and the ones that did only provided only marginal gains. The journey has really been one of marginal gains slowing adding up to make a significant difference.

What technical challenges did you have to overcome in developing the Beta Freefoil?

The biggest technical challenge relates simply to the physics of what is possible. We are trying to fly under our own power, which gets harder as species get larger: the power required for flight scales faster than the power available from muscle tissue, which is the reason that almost everything on earth that flies is under 1 kg. At almost 10 times that weight, we are at the limit of physics and building a foil that can fly for a long time requires getting every detail right.

Where are you from, and what led you into the world of pumpfoiling?

I was born and grew up in Canada, which is rich with beautiful lakes. I spent some time living in California and learned to kite surf, but back home the lack of wind and waves I was drawn to pumpfoiling. For a long time I’ve had a passion for human-powered vehicles, both because of athletics and because of the engineering challenge, which pushes efficiency to the limits.

What professional and athletic experiences have led you down this path?

Athletically my background has a lot of variety including skiing, speed skating, unicycling, hockey, rugby, and mountain biking. I love sports that require intricate technique as well as fitness. Professionally I went to school for engineering and did my PhD on the aerodynamics of bird flight, and I was fortunate enough at this time to find a passion that combined my love for athletics and engineering efficiency. This is when I started Aerovelo and dedicated the next 6 years of my life to building record-setting human powered vehicles, including the world’s first flapping wing aircraft, a human-powered helicopter that captured the famous Sikorsky Prize and a bicycle that still holds the land-speed record at 144 km/h. With Beta I’ve rekindled that passion to build something on the edge of what is physically possible, but this time, it’s something that other people get to ride too, and I’m very excited for that!

What are the next steps or goals for Beta Freefoil?

We have three main goals for this next year. Firstly, continue the iteration. We’re not yet at the performance limit and I simply can’t rest when there’s more gains on the table. Secondly, explore and promote the sport of freefoiling. Freefoiling is a version of pumpfoiling where you leave your dock behind; where you travel by foil over long distances, launching off natural features along the way. To be honest, 3 months ago I didn’t think it was possible to do what we’re doing now, and I’m very excited to share this with other people. Thirdly, our final goal is to responsibly scale production to try to meet the demand.

You visited Switzerland in September. What was the reason for your visit and what did you enjoy most about it?

We came here on a freefoiling trip, to explore some of the most beautiful lakes in the world and to meet the incredible people that have been pioneering the sport of pumpfoiling. Part of my personal journey is about finding people that share my passions. I think that the Swiss will be pioneers in freefoiling as well, and I’d love to stay connected to this community.