Hello Everyunderwaterbody,
Looong time ago I posted something about the waterwing I have been developing since 1992. There is no end to this. It is an ongoing process, but it does have its landmarks. The idea is to get your hands (&arms) to contribute to your speed underwater by dodging resistance factors that are kin to all (known to me) ways of other underwater arm advancement. Until last year I used arched constructions with rubber sails, both hands basically in the middle, tilting it down, thereby pushing water backwards und from down tilting it up, heaving it and thereby pushing water backwards as well. By lowering and heaving the waterwing you go forward. Working with stretched out arms seems to be a heavy job, especially with your breath held. What actually makes it a lot more easy is that at virtually any speed the tilt results in the oncoming water to either make the wing glide down or up. So you can dose the force with which you push down or heave as little or as much as you choose. Though the wing improved by trial and error progression I left the arched concept and made a wing based on the pectoral fins of a humpback whale. This shape proves to have the best relation between lift and thrust. I made it out of plywood and weighed it down with lead in the middle, so much that the buoyancy is just a bit positive, so I can find it, if need be, back at the surface and don't spend too much force on diving down. The weight in the middle makes it very maneouvrable. I swim with a monofin, as you need good propulsion to make the waterwing work well. I have been swimming with friendly wild dolphins in Ireland (Fungi and Dusty) for 17 years now and this has been very inspiring, not only to the development of the waterwing, but also to the website I have been running on Dusty since 2002. The name of my site is 'Dolphin Address' (like in 'addressing a dolphin (and vice versa) and it can also be read as 'Dolphin, a dress') and the address is Dolfijnen, kunst, watervleugel, Ierland en Jan Ploeg . There you can find extensive information on the arch-styled waterwing and the humpback waterwing. To my very surprise nearly nobody ever got the idea to involve arm strength in underwater propulsion. Now I can imagine to build a waterwing as sophisticated as the humpback wing is not an overnight job. But you can get a rough idea by just using a plank, about a meter wide and about 30 cm long (from the swimming perspective). But, like I said in the beginning, it's an ongoing process. A long time ago a Dutch guy by the name of Jelle Andriessen (Nijmegen) showed me a wing shaped construction that changed shape when under pressure. I would very much like to have the precise construction for this, so I can make a wing that when starting to swim has a broad surface that diminishes when going faster. If you know (or are) Jelle, please contact me: info@janploeg.nl
Looong time ago I posted something about the waterwing I have been developing since 1992. There is no end to this. It is an ongoing process, but it does have its landmarks. The idea is to get your hands (&arms) to contribute to your speed underwater by dodging resistance factors that are kin to all (known to me) ways of other underwater arm advancement. Until last year I used arched constructions with rubber sails, both hands basically in the middle, tilting it down, thereby pushing water backwards und from down tilting it up, heaving it and thereby pushing water backwards as well. By lowering and heaving the waterwing you go forward. Working with stretched out arms seems to be a heavy job, especially with your breath held. What actually makes it a lot more easy is that at virtually any speed the tilt results in the oncoming water to either make the wing glide down or up. So you can dose the force with which you push down or heave as little or as much as you choose. Though the wing improved by trial and error progression I left the arched concept and made a wing based on the pectoral fins of a humpback whale. This shape proves to have the best relation between lift and thrust. I made it out of plywood and weighed it down with lead in the middle, so much that the buoyancy is just a bit positive, so I can find it, if need be, back at the surface and don't spend too much force on diving down. The weight in the middle makes it very maneouvrable. I swim with a monofin, as you need good propulsion to make the waterwing work well. I have been swimming with friendly wild dolphins in Ireland (Fungi and Dusty) for 17 years now and this has been very inspiring, not only to the development of the waterwing, but also to the website I have been running on Dusty since 2002. The name of my site is 'Dolphin Address' (like in 'addressing a dolphin (and vice versa) and it can also be read as 'Dolphin, a dress') and the address is Dolfijnen, kunst, watervleugel, Ierland en Jan Ploeg . There you can find extensive information on the arch-styled waterwing and the humpback waterwing. To my very surprise nearly nobody ever got the idea to involve arm strength in underwater propulsion. Now I can imagine to build a waterwing as sophisticated as the humpback wing is not an overnight job. But you can get a rough idea by just using a plank, about a meter wide and about 30 cm long (from the swimming perspective). But, like I said in the beginning, it's an ongoing process. A long time ago a Dutch guy by the name of Jelle Andriessen (Nijmegen) showed me a wing shaped construction that changed shape when under pressure. I would very much like to have the precise construction for this, so I can make a wing that when starting to swim has a broad surface that diminishes when going faster. If you know (or are) Jelle, please contact me: info@janploeg.nl
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