A while ago I found some great free halfpipe plans. I’m using those plans as the foundation for my design, which will be modified slightly to be a bit shorter. I don’t have the advantage of width or height in the space I’m building it, so I reason that a shorter deck will save me from putting my head through the ceiling, and also keep my speed down a bit, reducing my side to side requirements.

Because it will be shorter, I’ve tightened the curve radius a bit as well. If I simply used the suggested 7.5 foot radius and cut off a foot from the top of the ramp, I’d have a very “soft” ramp, where the angle wouldn’t be close enough to vertical to feel like a real ramp at all. I’m using a curve radius of 6 feet. The angle on the 7.5 foot is about 60 degrees (90 being vertical), and with a 6 foot radius, I end up with an angle of about 55 degrees. Any smaller than 6 feet and the transition would likely be too tight to right, so that’s about as good as I’ll get.

It’ll be 8 feet wide, which again, isn’t that wide (another reason I’m calling this a micro pipe). But combined with the height of the ramp, I think it’s just fine. There will be 8 feet of flat bottom which might prove to be too much. With the smaller transitions, I have less opportunity to pump to maintain speed, and may lose it in the 8 feet. I’ll be able to shorten the flat bottom if it’s too much though, so I’m not worried about this.