Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Christ on a Crutch, was Re: Nautilus competition

["Captain Nemo" <vulcania@interpac.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Buchner" <buchner@wcta.net>
To: <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2000 6:55 PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Christ on a Crutch, was Re: Nautilus competition


> At 0238 -0600 03/26/0, Captain Nemo wrote:
> >I've seen some
> >Verne-purists deride the Goff design.  I still think it's kinda cool
> >looking, though.]
>
> Oh, do you? ;-)

OK Dave, what gave me away?   ;-)

> Seriously -- is there any reason the more "Victorian-looking" Goff design
for Nautilus ISN'T a practical arrangement for a sub? I mean, other than its
un-hydrodynamic bumpiness?

[My friend Harry Hathorne provided the pictures for the 1984 CINEFANTASTIQUE
article on LEAGUES; he was close friends with Harper Goff.  According to
Harry, Harper and Walt Disney at first clashed over the design for the
NAUTILUS.  Walt had read the book, and showed Harper an aluminum cigar tube
saying "This is what I think it should look like."  Harper disagreed  on the
basis that it was visually unexciting for the audience.  "Once you've seen
it, you've seen it."  So over a Labor Day Weekend, Harper made a model which
was about 90% like what we see in the movie.  He argued that, because the
NAUTILUS was built from rough-hewn plates salvaged from ships, and without
benefit of drop forges and other sophisticated metal-forming machinery, Nemo
would probably have opted for a hand-wrought design, built from flat plates
riveted together, as was the method of the times.  Walt immediately liked
the idea, and directed the Disney Art Department to develop the design; what
we see in the movie is the final result.

As far as practicality goes: flat sides aren't as strong (pressure
resistant) as compound curves; but they would have been functional to a
degree, considering the general overall shape is basically round in the
cross section.  As with all fiction, a certain amount of the willing
suspension of disbelief is necessary to enjoyment.  When I built my sub,
though, I used a compound curved inner hull, surrounded by a flat-sided
outer hull which is either free-flooding, or can be compensated so that it
never resists depth pressure.

Hydrodynamically speaking: during my first tests, I found the NAUTILUS
MINISUB penetrated the water very well, and in fact, didn't want to stop.
She is kind of pointy; and those sawtoothed rakers are knife edged, so she
cuts the water fairly well, all things considered.  Way too sparse on the
rudder, though; and I could sure use a horizontal thruster!  All NAUTILUS
replicas that I've seen (mine and the R/C boats of guys like Ray Mason) all
"turn like a train", as I like to say.  The rivetheads must produce a
certain amount of drag; I'll know more about that when I've got all mine on.
But again, the rivet-detailed R/C models seem to work well in the water, so
I am optimistic the decrease in performance won't be that great at the low
speed ranges in which I operate.]


>
> I guess it *is* sort of tubby, but it's just always seemed to REAL to me.

[Maybe this is a bit of an optical illusion.  Seen from the side, the keel
makes her look fatter than she really is.  Head on, she's not too bad, all
things considered.  After operating mine as a manned submarine, I'm of the
opinion that the Goff Disney design is a pretty good blend of show and go.
She looks outrageous, and actually she's pretty stable and straightforward
in the water.  (But remember, I didn't use the amidships quadplanes for my
control surfaces: instead, I hinged the trailing ends of the horizontal
stabilizors, and as a result she "crash dives" dynamically like a U-Boat.)
In my case, she IS real; and after driving her in the real World, I'm
impressed at how good of a real submarine this fictional design turned out
to be.]

That could just be familiarity -- after all the Enterprise still looks like
a believable arrangement for a starship to me, even though I can't figure
out what the impulse thrusters are doing so far away from any sensible
location..

[The ENTERPRISE will fly!  They make ESTES rocket powered kits of it!  As
far as the location of the thrusters, I'll ask Scotty the next time I see
him.   ;-).  ]
>
> I guess I could've forgotten if you've mentioned this previously, Pat --
but did you do anything about the little corscrew-looking extra
propeller-thingy on the Nautilus' underside? I've wondered periodically what
that might be good for.

[At first, I thought this was a helical screw; possibly used for
maneuvering.  I was planning on motorizing mine; might be able to break the
suction and dig my keel out of the mud if it got stuck, I thought.  Later on
I learned this thing is actually part of the speed sensor gear; apparently,
Disney intended that it rotate in the water when underway, sending input to
a "speedometer".

Well, gotta go: just bought a treadmill, and got to get it up into the house
before the rains hit!  ]

Aloha!

Pat