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Researchers To Build Underwater Airplane

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the journey-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea dept.

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.'"

4 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. start with mother nature by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Interesting

    study up on flying fish and flying squid

    then dabble in cormorants and water beetles

    once again, mother nature was here first and has a lot to teach us about where to start

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  2. Re:Water is 830 times more dense than air by qkslvr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Thank you. I hate it when someone uses "an order of magnitude" as a synonym for "a lot" just to sound smart.

  3. My inexpert take. by MaxwellEdison · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How about this, a rear propulsion planwhich the pilot operates in a counterbalanced globe at the nose. The airplane slows down to a minimum airspeed and inserts the nose and flips over, the pilot's globe rights itself and the planes control surfaces are inverted. The fusalage takes on water to neutral bouyancy and the plan controls as if it were upside down. I'm sure this is completely unfeasible and I hope someone will explain why. The main problems I see are 1.) Slowing the plane enough that 'insertion' doesn't rip it apart. 2.) The pilot seizing up during this maneuver which would go against all of their piloting instincts. 3.) Control systems designed for air travel would be completely inefficient/infeasable in an aquatic environment. Did I forget anything else?

    --
    -=Bang Bang=-
  4. Re:The scifi version would be supercavitating subs by CodeBuster · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    The last I heard any vehicle making use of supercavitation is not able to turn (or at least not very quickly) at supercavitating speeds while underwater. It would be like a car turning suddenly in a long, narrow, and straight tunnel through solid rock (with similar results). The Skvahl torpedo, for example, is said to have this limitation (i.e. it is a straight shot weapon with no ability to correct course once it has been fired and is up to speed).