Posted by JimM on August 22, 19103 at 11:33:13:
In Reply to: rooster tail posted by SteveA on August 20, 19103 at 14:43:49:
Don't know how old your son is, or how easily impressed, but here's my narrow-minded opinion!
As already stated, a true rooster-tail is caused by the prop. Back in the 50's, some people put little deflectors on the transom of their speed-boats to direct a narrow stream of water up in the air. This was supposed to look like a rooster-tail and make the boat look fast. But even back then, when I was still young and impressionable, my reaction was, "FAKE!!!". And a poor fake at that - I always thought it looked stupid! Now it seems most of the personal watercraft have a similar device. Why? To make them look faster? To impress people? All they do is add drag (a very small amount).
Warned you I'm narrow-minded! Perhaps your son would like it, in which case you could probably make something out of PVC pipe to duplicate the effect.
Have fun!