About two years ago I was struggling to breathe life into my pet project called ‘Skyaak’. Skyaak is a unique ‘Ring-Wing’ flying device that I originally saw over thirty years ago when a friend showed me a simple but very strange paper airplane. It consisted of two paper loops fastened on the front and back of a drinking straw, with a bit of gum at the front. It looked like nothing I had ever seen before. When he tossed it to me like a little dart, it flew really well. Really well!
It was love at first flight, and I never forget the elegant design.
Fast forward thirty years. I had been playing around with the idea of creating a much more sophisticated version of the design that could be commercially manufactured. I wanted to build a decent quality ‘working prototype’ that would prove to my satisfaction that this was an idea worth pursuing. I used household items such as margarine containers for the ring-wings and slowly evolved the project until I could plainly see that it was indeed something worth developing.
Being a free-lance artist, my funds were fairly limited. At a certain moment, I began to feel discouraged that I might never have enough available capital to make a substantial investment in notching the project up to the next level. I had heard and read about the power of the sub-conscious to accomplish amazing feats, if a person had the discipline to ask it to do so.
I began to repeat a sort of mantra just before falling asleep each night in hopes that this might work. The ‘mantra’ was a request that research and development for my Skyaak project be energized like never before.
Three nights went by and nothing happened. I was growing more discouraged but decided to persevere. At about 3:00 AM on the fourth night, I woke up and stumbled to my keyboard to peck out a sort of ‘pick-me-up’. After about an hour, it was finished. I re-read my first and only draft of what turned out to be a 12-stanza poem, thought it was pretty good, saved it, turned my computer off and went back to sleep.
The next day, a good friend who is a professional musician dropped over and I decided to show him the little ditty I had written. Well! He loved it and declared on the spot that he wanted to put it to music. He said that there was already a melody running through his head!
As if that wasn’t amazing enough, over the next three weeks seven individuals came forward to invest capital in my Skyaak project after they read the poem. We all agreed that they would be anonymous, known only as ‘Angel Investors’.
This early ‘seed capital’, as well as the positive energy generated by their collective good faith, fueled the rapid advancement of the Skyaak project. I revisited the series of designs that I had been working on to date and redoubled my efforts to work out the intricacies of creating a mechanical drawing that resolved the challenges of a flat-manufactured ring-wing. This was a critical departure in the design, as I had found that the start-up cost of creating a full 3-dimensional model was daunting.
I was able to take my designs to a plastics manufacturing company and have the wing cut out with a laser beam. The laser’s path is guided by my scale drawing, converted by a technician to a ‘vector file’, that the computer-generated laser can understand. I shopped all across North America (by phone and online) to find all of the various special plastic components that comprise the advanced Model 3. I custom designed all of the illustrated assembly instructions, the dual-purpose cardboard display/shipping box and the labeling during a period of intense creativity. This burst of creative energy was fueled not only by my dogged faith in the project’s merits, but also the huge boost in confidence that I got from the seven Angel Investors.
After I heard him interviewed on CBC Radio, I sent best-selling Minneapolis-based author of “Adventures from the Technology Underground” William Gurstelle a sample unit of the Skyaak Model 3. He was so excited and impressed with it that he wrote the following on his blog (www.nfftu.blogspot.com):
"Skyaak- Canada's Answer to the Frisbee"
" Because I am a writer, I get to appear on national TV and radio every once in a while. Last month I did an interview with Radio Canada about Adventures from the Technology Underground. Fairly often, people contact me with questions and comments afterwards.
A Canadian inventor named Michael Robert Gaudet came up with something called the Skyaak, which is something you toss around to your buddies for fun. He sent me a couple after hearing me on the radio and I have to say, they are incredibly cool. It's sort of like a pole -shaped frisbee. There are two conical surfaces on either side of a plastic pole. The conical surfaces act as wings and provide interesting aerodynamic properties to the thing as a whole.
I took one to a gym last night and threw it around between basketball games. It was a hit!
I've not met Mr. Gaudet and have no financial interest in his product, but I do think it's very neat. I think it has more cachet than your regular old frisbee. Google skyaak if you're interested."
At the time of this writing, Skyaak Model 3 has been picked up by the Long Island, NY-based company New Da Vincis, who have freshly minted an online inventor’s boutique called www.NewDaVincis.com as a Feature Product! Their mandate is
“A web site that promotes great creative and innovative products made by inventors, entrepreneurs and talented and successful product creators. Products that even Leonardo da Vinci would have been proud of!”
“How could a simple poem create so much excitement?” you ask yourself.
Well, if you are intrigued by this real-life success story, and want to read the poem, visit www.theahaexperience.com There, you will find a free download poster of the poem as well as a free sample MP3 file of the musical version. And yes, my musician friend and I did create a professional CD Single called “I Believe” as a result of our creative collaboration.
It is my hope that this story will inspire everyone who reads it to endure in good faith with your pet idea... to follow your muse and never give up on your dream! The deep feeling of satisfaction you get out of tangible results thanks to your hard work, focus and perseverance is second to none.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
"Skyaak- Canada's Answer to the Frisbee"
William Gurstelle, Minneapolis-based author of best-selling book
"Adventures from the Technology Underground", recently wrote this amazing review of the Skyaak Model 3 in his blog( nfttu.blogspot.com) :
"Skyaak- Canada's Answer to the Frisbee"
" Because I am a writer, I get to appear on national TV and radio every once in a while. Last month I did an interview with Radio Canada about Adventures from the Technology Underground. Fairly often, people contact me with questions and comments afterwards.
A Canadian inventor named Michael Robert Gaudet came up with something called the Skyaak, which is something you toss around to your buddies for fun. He sent me a couple after hearing me on the radio and I have to say, they are incredibly cool. It's sort of like a pole -shaped frisbee. There are two conical surfaces on either side of a plastic pole. The conical surfaces act as wings and provide interesting aerodynamic properties to the thing as a whole.
I took one to a gym last night and threw it around between basketball games. It was a hit!
I've not met Mr. Gaudet and have no financial interest in his product, but I do think it's very neat. I think it has more cachet than your regular old frisbee. Google skyaak if you're interested."
Posted by Bill Gurstelle at 8:46 AM Thursday, March 16, 2006
###
"Adventures from the Technology Underground", recently wrote this amazing review of the Skyaak Model 3 in his blog( nfttu.blogspot.com) :
"Skyaak- Canada's Answer to the Frisbee"
" Because I am a writer, I get to appear on national TV and radio every once in a while. Last month I did an interview with Radio Canada about Adventures from the Technology Underground. Fairly often, people contact me with questions and comments afterwards.
A Canadian inventor named Michael Robert Gaudet came up with something called the Skyaak, which is something you toss around to your buddies for fun. He sent me a couple after hearing me on the radio and I have to say, they are incredibly cool. It's sort of like a pole -shaped frisbee. There are two conical surfaces on either side of a plastic pole. The conical surfaces act as wings and provide interesting aerodynamic properties to the thing as a whole.
I took one to a gym last night and threw it around between basketball games. It was a hit!
I've not met Mr. Gaudet and have no financial interest in his product, but I do think it's very neat. I think it has more cachet than your regular old frisbee. Google skyaak if you're interested."
Posted by Bill Gurstelle at 8:46 AM Thursday, March 16, 2006
###
Side-View of the Skyaak Model 3.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Skyaak as Atmospheric Monitor
One of our Angel Investors (who is an environmental engineer...one of the good guys!) has suggested a possible use for the Skyaak as a means of collecting atmospheric samples that could be used to establish a data base. The data collected might then be useful to track areas at risk, as well as to trumpet areas that show reduced rates of pollutants etc.
This would be accomplished by fixing membranes across the 'open mouth' of the front wing-wing, and perhaps trailing like a purse seine net from the rear ring-wing. When the Skyaak is flown through the atmosphere outfitted as such, it would harvest any particles that exceed a certain size, or perhaps there would be a way to attract every element that ought not to be there.
The soiled membranes would be then packaged and sent to Skyaak Enterprises. The samples would then be logged and analyzed to create the data base. I'm no engineer, so excuse me if the idea has scientific gaps.
This idea might accomplish a couple of things. First, this application of the Skyaak technology would, I believe, fire the imaginations of everyone involved. It would create an opportunity for 'every(wo)man' to feel like they are making a valuable contribution to addressing the greenhouse effect, and the thinning of the ozone by contributing to the data base.
And the data base itself might arm the movement with politically potent means to raise more awareness around the issues.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
The Great Spirit of Invention Series Part 2
The Great Spirit of Invention Series
Part 2
Sometimes 'Angels' can be in the form of fellow mortals who, for some inexplicable reason, decide to reach out and offer very timely assistance. About a year ago I started to articulate that what I really needed to take things to the next level was a small dedicated group who would meet on a regular basis and set out to achieve certain things within a specific time-frame. The actual goals of this little group were totally undefined. The important thing ( in the invocation that I was 'putting out there' ) was that the group meet with 'planning to take action' as the central focus. Nothing hocus-pocus about this folks... other than possibly the very fact that I was very clear in my desire, or intention to make this idea work. Well, to make a long story short, a group of five of us has now met five or six times and I must say that the energy that is building up around our ideas is nothing short of astonishing.
The really great thing about this little group is that we are all getting to know each other in an atmosphere that is charged with positivity and mutual support. We all agreed from the get go that we would be conscious of our energy and make a real concerted effort to offer positive feedback to each other's ideas. As well, we all committed to step up and DO what we SAY we will DO WITHIN a CERTAIN TIME-FRAME. That is a huge step for a lot of people!
It is just so easy to sit around and talk endlessly about brilliant ideas and then promptly roll over and go back to sleep. We've all done it and it's always good for a quick buzz in the moment. But how about staying focused on an idea long enough to actually act on it? Now that's another matter all together.
That level of commitment requires hard work and stepping out of your cozy little comfort zone. Who knows, you might even have to make yourself vulnerable to criticism or rejection. That's where this great little group comes in. We are setting out to be an 'Idea Incubator' where we can feel safe to float our ideas around and have a chance to explore them out loud without the risk of it getting shot down by a cynical attitude or comment. We all try to be frank and honest. This is not merely a 'mutual admiration society'. That would be fairly useless.
Instead, we fuel each other's enthusiasm over a big pot of tea, and we all leave each meeting feeling uplifted and energized. We have all benefitted immensely from this, we are developing new friendships and having a great time! I bet almost everyone has within their personal circle of friends and acquaintances four or five people that would agree to do this. You will be amazed at the results! And the results will come with amazing speed and be of very high quality. And the best part is that it doesn't have to cost a dime. We meet for a few hours in the evening every two weeks. We are all busy professionals and we don't have piles of free time. This activity has already yielded tremendous results and I would recommend it highly to anyone who feels they're having a creative block or just need to share their ideas with a receptive group. We have found that we collectively have a LOT of EXPERTISE that we can pool together to rapidly advance ideas. I believe this is a simple formula for success, and that anyone can do it! Just try and you will see.
Yesterday I had a chat with a friend of mine who is a self-taught inventor and innovator. His special gift is in the area of production. Over the years, he designed a complete process that takes a 'raw product' (that being Brine Shrimp... you know, "Sea Monkeys") out of Little Manitou Lake with his custom-designed 'purse-seine' boats that actually look like graceful butterflies when their nets are out of the water, and then transports the catch to his shop in nearby Watrous where he deposits the product into a preliminary rinsing tub. Then the shrimp are passed along a conveyor belt system where they are sprayed with more fresh water and then they arrive at a packing machine that drops them into pre-calibrated plastic bags. They are sealed and then put on large trays that are stacked into special holding racks that are rolled into an awaiting walk-in deep freeze where they are flash frozen. After this they are shipped off to a broker in the USA from where they are transported world-wide, marketed and sold as gourmet tropical fish food.
The thing is, this unique species springs back to life shortly after it hits the water of the aquarium before it becomes a tasty and nutritious meal for the fish.
Isn't nature wonderful?
This gentleman has stated that he limits his harvest to between 3 and 5 percent of the total population to guarantee the sustainability of the species in their natural habitat. That is, as long as the environment remains healthy. But that's a discussion for another time.
The reason I have gone into this is to demonstrate that we have a local talent pool right here that is world-class. I have approached this guy about giving us a hand tooling up for larger scale production, assembly and packaging of the Skyaak Model 3. He seems quite interested and this appears to be within his realm of expertise.
The Great Spirit of Invention lives on and is going strong right here in rural Saskatchewan, folks!
Part 2
Sometimes 'Angels' can be in the form of fellow mortals who, for some inexplicable reason, decide to reach out and offer very timely assistance. About a year ago I started to articulate that what I really needed to take things to the next level was a small dedicated group who would meet on a regular basis and set out to achieve certain things within a specific time-frame. The actual goals of this little group were totally undefined. The important thing ( in the invocation that I was 'putting out there' ) was that the group meet with 'planning to take action' as the central focus. Nothing hocus-pocus about this folks... other than possibly the very fact that I was very clear in my desire, or intention to make this idea work. Well, to make a long story short, a group of five of us has now met five or six times and I must say that the energy that is building up around our ideas is nothing short of astonishing.
The really great thing about this little group is that we are all getting to know each other in an atmosphere that is charged with positivity and mutual support. We all agreed from the get go that we would be conscious of our energy and make a real concerted effort to offer positive feedback to each other's ideas. As well, we all committed to step up and DO what we SAY we will DO WITHIN a CERTAIN TIME-FRAME. That is a huge step for a lot of people!
It is just so easy to sit around and talk endlessly about brilliant ideas and then promptly roll over and go back to sleep. We've all done it and it's always good for a quick buzz in the moment. But how about staying focused on an idea long enough to actually act on it? Now that's another matter all together.
That level of commitment requires hard work and stepping out of your cozy little comfort zone. Who knows, you might even have to make yourself vulnerable to criticism or rejection. That's where this great little group comes in. We are setting out to be an 'Idea Incubator' where we can feel safe to float our ideas around and have a chance to explore them out loud without the risk of it getting shot down by a cynical attitude or comment. We all try to be frank and honest. This is not merely a 'mutual admiration society'. That would be fairly useless.
Instead, we fuel each other's enthusiasm over a big pot of tea, and we all leave each meeting feeling uplifted and energized. We have all benefitted immensely from this, we are developing new friendships and having a great time! I bet almost everyone has within their personal circle of friends and acquaintances four or five people that would agree to do this. You will be amazed at the results! And the results will come with amazing speed and be of very high quality. And the best part is that it doesn't have to cost a dime. We meet for a few hours in the evening every two weeks. We are all busy professionals and we don't have piles of free time. This activity has already yielded tremendous results and I would recommend it highly to anyone who feels they're having a creative block or just need to share their ideas with a receptive group. We have found that we collectively have a LOT of EXPERTISE that we can pool together to rapidly advance ideas. I believe this is a simple formula for success, and that anyone can do it! Just try and you will see.
Yesterday I had a chat with a friend of mine who is a self-taught inventor and innovator. His special gift is in the area of production. Over the years, he designed a complete process that takes a 'raw product' (that being Brine Shrimp... you know, "Sea Monkeys") out of Little Manitou Lake with his custom-designed 'purse-seine' boats that actually look like graceful butterflies when their nets are out of the water, and then transports the catch to his shop in nearby Watrous where he deposits the product into a preliminary rinsing tub. Then the shrimp are passed along a conveyor belt system where they are sprayed with more fresh water and then they arrive at a packing machine that drops them into pre-calibrated plastic bags. They are sealed and then put on large trays that are stacked into special holding racks that are rolled into an awaiting walk-in deep freeze where they are flash frozen. After this they are shipped off to a broker in the USA from where they are transported world-wide, marketed and sold as gourmet tropical fish food.
The thing is, this unique species springs back to life shortly after it hits the water of the aquarium before it becomes a tasty and nutritious meal for the fish.
Isn't nature wonderful?
This gentleman has stated that he limits his harvest to between 3 and 5 percent of the total population to guarantee the sustainability of the species in their natural habitat. That is, as long as the environment remains healthy. But that's a discussion for another time.
The reason I have gone into this is to demonstrate that we have a local talent pool right here that is world-class. I have approached this guy about giving us a hand tooling up for larger scale production, assembly and packaging of the Skyaak Model 3. He seems quite interested and this appears to be within his realm of expertise.
The Great Spirit of Invention lives on and is going strong right here in rural Saskatchewan, folks!
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