Vintage 1960's Innerspace Aquen Aqueon Hydrofoil

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OK I moved the "A" board and flipped the small planes that are wingnutted into place. I think I may have it all oriented correctly now? Now I need to know how tight the nuts and wingnuts should be? I also need to know the length of the long string as I think this one was cut and may be too short now? Any help would be appreciated. SeaRat, do you have the operation manual? Did you buy yours new? I am excited to try it out.
It appears from your photos that you have not placed shin pads on the lower boards. These are critical to comfort with the Aqueon, as a lot of pressure is placed directly on the shin bones beneath the knees.

Now, a couple of notes about performance; the placement of the driving wings in front is such that a regular surface dive is almost impossible. The inventor, Mr. Gongwer, therefore promoted placing a "C" screw on the leading edge in order to hook the line to the spring and reverse the drive of the blades. This allowed a backwards flight down under the water.

Maneuvering is rather difficult downward, but with proactive not too bad. Streamline, with arms extended in front of you to get the most out of the Aqueon, and give the best maneuverability.

Comparing the Aqueon with monofins is comparing apples and oranges. They are much different in about every measure I can contemplate. In addition to owning and using my own Aqueon, I was Finswimming Director for the Underwater Society of America in the 1980s. I also have my own monofin. Monofins are more efficient for short distances, but they hurt. All the pressure when using a monofin is on the foot, both the top and the arch. The Aqueon has no foot pressure whatsoever. This is why Mr. Gongwer was able to use it for 12 hours in his marathon swim.

I'll see whether I can find more a bit later.

SeaRat
 
There are some videos on YouTube about the Aqueon, which will give a better explanation of some of the thoughts I had above.

This one shows the first experiences with the Aqueon.

Note that he's doing better this time than the last.

Here you can actually see a comparison of the Aqueon with the Monofin.

And here's a different view, in more tropical waters:

Now, contrast this use of the Aqueon with the monofin used in the 2018 World Finswimming Championships for the 400m underwater (immersion) swim. It was won in 2:59.24 by Yi Ting Sun. The Aqueon cannot compete here. But for longer distances of miles, the Aqueon would be much more comfortable.

SeaRat
 
Well, it looks like I'll be putting my Aqueon back together, after using the propulsion blades for a number of years in another fashion. I'm making the third generation of my forward unit, and so will be able to take the Aqueon out of that configuration and put it back together. But I have to make a new rear stabilizer blade, as I've lost the original (it's around here somewhere, but in order to find it I have to make a new one--Murphy's Law). :wink:

SeaRat
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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