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Researchers To Build Underwater Airplane
coondoggie writes to tell us that DARPA seems to still be having fun with their funding and continues to aim for the "far out." The latest program, a submersible airplane, seems to have been pulled directly from science fiction. Hopefully this voyage to the bottom of the sea is of the non-permanent variety. "According to DARPA: 'The difficulty with developing such a craft come from the diametrically opposed requirements that exist for an airplane and a submarine. While the primary goal for airplane designers is to try and minimize weight, a submarine must be extremely heavy in order to submerge underwater. In addition, the flow conditions and the systems designed to control a submarine and an airplane are radically different, due to the order of magnitude difference in the densities of air and water.'"
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Steve Fossett's Unfinished Project
Posted by kdawson on Sunday October 05, @02:36AM
from the ocean-flying dept.
Transportation Science Technology
MazzThePianoman writes "Steve Fossett left behind a secret vessel project called the Deep Flight Challenger. Fossett was funding the development of a winged submersible being designed by Hawkes Ocean Technologies in California. The intent was for the vehicle to be capable of travel to the very bottom of the ocean -- the Mariana Trench, more than 11,000 meters beneath the surface. 'It would have dramatically, dramatically opened the oceans for exploration. It would have been a game changer,' said Graham Hawkes, the designer. Testing had been completed at Department of Defense facilities. Field testing was only four weeks away when Fossett's untimely death, a year ago, put the project on hold." Hawkes Ocean Technologies owns the design but the vehicle itself is owned by Fossett's estate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flying_Sub.jpg Someone's imagination is running wild. If DARPA is giving them money then it's time to turn them off.
No, this is an airplane that can also be a submarine (and surface vessel). Fossett was financing a sub that "flew" underwater.
Supercavitation would allow submarines to move at supersonic (with reference to water) speeds while submerged, and dogfight underwater like WWI aircraft did in the air. If they can come to a complete stop they'd be silent and invisible, just floating there, then fire up the engines and go back to moving faster than ship-based sonar would be able to detect them. There's already a supercavitating torpedo. People who design targets -- I mean aircraft carriers and destroyers -- must be worrying about this.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
I love the self-assurance of the ignorant. Quite cute, really...
I work with ex-submariners. One of the reasons that they hated and feared a real reactor SCRAM was that the sub was essentially relying on its forward motion to maintain it's depth.
Yes, it was negatively buoyant, but the slight upward pitch of its planes enabled it to "fly" through the water. Supposedly, you get much more responsive control that way, rather than wallowing in the water while you wait for tanks to fill or empty. Very important, when you're trailing an aggressive Russian sub...
When the reactor shuts down and the screw stops turning, the damn thing will sink until the control team get the tanks set for neutral or positive buoyancy. Not a comfortable time as the boat heads down and the hull groans and creaks and everyone starts to wonder if there's enough high pressure air in reserve to blow the tanks.
Mainly OT, but by God and by golly, major navies do FLY their subs.
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