Aqua scooter

Origin

The Aqua scooter was first invented and successfully used in 1967 by East German Chemical Engineer Bernd Boettger in attempt to escape the country by water. His first attempt failed and resulted in a 3 month prison sentence which was shortened due to his key industry position. His second attempt was successful a year later in September of 1968. When news of it broke in European news sources an executive at Rockwell International read about it and became interested. He called a West German Subsidiary of the company that gave Boettger the opportunity to begin work on a commercial version of his Aqua scooter. In 1974, Rockwell Int. halted production and development of the aqua scooter, but the machine's concept refused to die. In 1978, James Taylor brought it to the United States where he formed AquaScooter Inc. By the end of January that same year, the first commercial Aqua scooter was successfully tested.

Specifications

The first machine was able to pull a man through and below the waters surface for five hours at up to 3 mph. The second version had a fiberglass tank, a 1 1/2 horsepower scooter engine, a propeller and a snorkel fed breathing unit.

The Aqua Scooter is still being used today, can get up to 5 mph and is distributed worldwide.

References

*Soldier of Fortune Magazine, June, 1980 page 32
*http://www.aquascooter.com
*http://www.myaquascooter.com