I was building a Kenny Special scooter handle for Claudette the other day when it hit me.
I'm using a stage kit from an AL80... this fits a tank, it fits a scooter, so the scooter must fit into a Back Plate.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......
So I called Claudette and we cracked up. I mean we howled. I then went out back and rigged one up, took some photos and sent them to her. We were killing ourselves laughing.
This weekend in Catalina, RocketMan made his appearance. With 200+ divers in the lot, you should have seen the faces as I walked by with this rig.
Dive #1 was the test flight. No camera, just me and the RocketMan rig, and Claudette with her scooter. I didn't know what to expect. On the surface, it was brilliant. I was motoring along on my back - just hummin.
I zoomed over to the drop - about 30' of clear sand. We dropped and I hit the throttle. In about 10 seconds I was able to have complete control. I could turn, I could bank, I could do excellent somersaults (not so easy with a traditionally rigged scooter.) It was fast, too. Claudette couldn't keep up in a straight head-to-head race.
After about 15 minutes of this, we go to the stairs and we swap rigs. She had to try this.
She motors out, we drop and same thing. Takes her about 10 seconds to get it under control, and from there its just sweet sailing!
You can up shift you can down shift, you can roll, spin, make very tight turns. Its all good. It is much lighter than my 130 tank, so next time I RocketMan I'm gonna add about 6 or 8 pounds. I also want to try this in a wetsuit... I can only imagine how fast it will be.
The cool thing is having nothing in front of you. You just fly along. A funny thing is about a third of your bubbles get pulled into the prop - so there is this shutter and WROWL noise shortly after each exhale.
I loved it. Can't wait to do it again!!!
Here are some shots.
---
Ken
TOPSIDE PIX
The idea is loined
Another shot of the rig - Pre-flight
Me in a dry run. I was worried I wouldn't be able to walk with it on, but its quite comfy. It weighs so much less than my 130! Wanted to be sure I could reach the trigger.
.
.
.
.
.
UFO (Underwater Flying Object) PIX (huge thanks to Claudette for the snaps!)
RocketMan dropping in!
RocketMan right after the drop in. I'm not scared... I'm, er, um... excited. Yeah, that's it. I'm excited!
In Yo Grill.
Now I got it! Stable, smoov, fast. I'm liking this!
Get out of the way, Fishies. Once I get flying, I don't wanna slow down. You can't stop RocketMan!
My work here is done. Its been fun, but I gotta go
RocketMan OUT!
.
.
.
.
.
.
I'm using a stage kit from an AL80... this fits a tank, it fits a scooter, so the scooter must fit into a Back Plate.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......
So I called Claudette and we cracked up. I mean we howled. I then went out back and rigged one up, took some photos and sent them to her. We were killing ourselves laughing.
This weekend in Catalina, RocketMan made his appearance. With 200+ divers in the lot, you should have seen the faces as I walked by with this rig.
Dive #1 was the test flight. No camera, just me and the RocketMan rig, and Claudette with her scooter. I didn't know what to expect. On the surface, it was brilliant. I was motoring along on my back - just hummin.
I zoomed over to the drop - about 30' of clear sand. We dropped and I hit the throttle. In about 10 seconds I was able to have complete control. I could turn, I could bank, I could do excellent somersaults (not so easy with a traditionally rigged scooter.) It was fast, too. Claudette couldn't keep up in a straight head-to-head race.
After about 15 minutes of this, we go to the stairs and we swap rigs. She had to try this.
She motors out, we drop and same thing. Takes her about 10 seconds to get it under control, and from there its just sweet sailing!
You can up shift you can down shift, you can roll, spin, make very tight turns. Its all good. It is much lighter than my 130 tank, so next time I RocketMan I'm gonna add about 6 or 8 pounds. I also want to try this in a wetsuit... I can only imagine how fast it will be.
The cool thing is having nothing in front of you. You just fly along. A funny thing is about a third of your bubbles get pulled into the prop - so there is this shutter and WROWL noise shortly after each exhale.
I loved it. Can't wait to do it again!!!
Here are some shots.
---
Ken
TOPSIDE PIX
The idea is loined
Another shot of the rig - Pre-flight
Me in a dry run. I was worried I wouldn't be able to walk with it on, but its quite comfy. It weighs so much less than my 130! Wanted to be sure I could reach the trigger.
.
.
.
.
.
UFO (Underwater Flying Object) PIX (huge thanks to Claudette for the snaps!)
RocketMan dropping in!
RocketMan right after the drop in. I'm not scared... I'm, er, um... excited. Yeah, that's it. I'm excited!
In Yo Grill.
Now I got it! Stable, smoov, fast. I'm liking this!
Get out of the way, Fishies. Once I get flying, I don't wanna slow down. You can't stop RocketMan!
My work here is done. Its been fun, but I gotta go
RocketMan OUT!
.
.
.
.
.
.
