Now that summer is here, and many of us are heading to a local pool with the kids or grandkids, I wanted to recommend a fun toy that I found on my trip to be educational as well - the Toypedo.
http://www.amazon.com/Swimways-00350-Toypedo/dp/B00003ABUL
It is just what it looks like -- a torpedo shaped toy made out of hard rubber. We bought the one in the middle for our vacation (appropiate since it looks like "Shamu", and we paid our first ever visit to SeaWorld); one like the bottom is hiding somewhere at home. The top one looks suspiously like a V-2 rocket....
Anyway, at first, we would just "throw" it back and forth underwater. But then, I realized that if you simply held it above the water with the nose slighty down and released it; it would scoot across the pool just as fast as if you "threw" it underwater. I then realized why torpedo bombers released their torpedoes at an angle; as they hit the water, their downward motion was converted to a forward motion as their tail fins caused them to straighten out; all without benefit of any internal power at all:
Next, I tried throwing it. It is very tricky -- if it hits the water just right (slighty tail down seems to generate the best results), it races across the surface of the water, even bobbing up and down slightly as it does so. The effect is awesome, and I managed to make it all the way across the pool with this technique. If it hits wrong, it either shoots off in the wrong direction, or races to the bottom.
My son-in-law then took it one step further, and threw it in a "Hail Mary pass" style. When it worked, it was even more dramatic -- one of this throws when from one corner of the pool all the way to the opposite corner; while one of mine actually leaped out of the pool, and landed on the side! But most of them were "duds"; shooting off in the wrong direction, or straight to the bottom.
One night, while we throwing it back and forth, a gentleman smoking a cigar by the poolside took interest in our toy. It turns out that he was an ex Navy submariner. My son had just recently watched a copy of The Hunt for Red October we found in a garage sale; and he explained to my son that he served on the same class of sub as the U.S.S. Dallas in the movie; and that one of his missions was the first to detect the departure of a Typhoon class sub from it's base. (His son was also there, and works on F-15s and C-17s in Alaska.) So, needless to say, I would rate it high on the education factor as well as fun factor. I am currently working on a torpedo bomber; and it gave me some insight into how they worked.
It has negative bouyancy, so don't throw it in water any deeper than you are willing/able to retrive it from. And, it is best enjoyed with two or more people; we scared one girl when we accidently bumped her with it; but later on, her and another girl were throwing it back and forth with us. So it is a great "icebreaker" as well; unless you knock someone out with it.
-James
http://www.amazon.com/Swimways-00350-Toypedo/dp/B00003ABUL
It is just what it looks like -- a torpedo shaped toy made out of hard rubber. We bought the one in the middle for our vacation (appropiate since it looks like "Shamu", and we paid our first ever visit to SeaWorld); one like the bottom is hiding somewhere at home. The top one looks suspiously like a V-2 rocket....
Anyway, at first, we would just "throw" it back and forth underwater. But then, I realized that if you simply held it above the water with the nose slighty down and released it; it would scoot across the pool just as fast as if you "threw" it underwater. I then realized why torpedo bombers released their torpedoes at an angle; as they hit the water, their downward motion was converted to a forward motion as their tail fins caused them to straighten out; all without benefit of any internal power at all:
Next, I tried throwing it. It is very tricky -- if it hits the water just right (slighty tail down seems to generate the best results), it races across the surface of the water, even bobbing up and down slightly as it does so. The effect is awesome, and I managed to make it all the way across the pool with this technique. If it hits wrong, it either shoots off in the wrong direction, or races to the bottom.
My son-in-law then took it one step further, and threw it in a "Hail Mary pass" style. When it worked, it was even more dramatic -- one of this throws when from one corner of the pool all the way to the opposite corner; while one of mine actually leaped out of the pool, and landed on the side! But most of them were "duds"; shooting off in the wrong direction, or straight to the bottom.
One night, while we throwing it back and forth, a gentleman smoking a cigar by the poolside took interest in our toy. It turns out that he was an ex Navy submariner. My son had just recently watched a copy of The Hunt for Red October we found in a garage sale; and he explained to my son that he served on the same class of sub as the U.S.S. Dallas in the movie; and that one of his missions was the first to detect the departure of a Typhoon class sub from it's base. (His son was also there, and works on F-15s and C-17s in Alaska.) So, needless to say, I would rate it high on the education factor as well as fun factor. I am currently working on a torpedo bomber; and it gave me some insight into how they worked.
It has negative bouyancy, so don't throw it in water any deeper than you are willing/able to retrive it from. And, it is best enjoyed with two or more people; we scared one girl when we accidently bumped her with it; but later on, her and another girl were throwing it back and forth with us. So it is a great "icebreaker" as well; unless you knock someone out with it.
-James