Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] RE: PSUB power problems solved

["Martin Sanderse" <sanderse@protoproduction.com>]

The pyramid on the home page raised my suspicions.

I recall a boatbuilder who wore a pyramid shaped hat because he said it made
him smarter.  It must have worked because he stopped wearing it.

----- Original Message -----
From: Karl S. Luttrell <SDECO@prodigy.net>
To: <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 10:46 AM
Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] RE: PSUB power problems solved


>
> Got a postcard from this outfit.  Check it out at www.fuellesspower.com .
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
> [mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org]On Behalf Of Alec Smyth
> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001 9:57 AM
> To: 'personal_submersibles@psubs.org'
> Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] RE: airfoils
>
>
> Yep, I remember being amazed at the handling of the towable contraption
too.
> I had expected some sort of slight inertia to affect maneuvers. Instead,
if
> you pointed up or down you were instantly on a new trajectory without any
> discernible "slip" whatsoever. No matter how slow you were going, it felt
as
> if the airfoils were carving through a solid rather than through liquid.
>
> Vance, I realize this thing was a pathetically lightweight little toy,
even
> compared to a PSUB. But the construction was a piece of cake. I just cut a
> sheet of aluminum for the skin and bent it over the shaft by hand -- it
came
> out really even. Hey, the two airfoils even looked alike. Then I pop
riveted
> the trailing edges together, and put some more rivets into the shaft to
keep
> the airfoil in position. Sure, the rivets don't make for a super-clean
> surface and it wasn't any standard NACA profile, but it worked great
anyway.
> This construction left the whole thing open at the ends, which wasn't
really
> a problem either.
>
> I think I've seen on Carsten's pictures that he intends filling his planes
> with oil, which sounds much more elegant.
>
> -Alec
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: VBra676539@aol.com [mailto:VBra676539@aol.com]
> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2001 6:23 PM
> To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
> Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] RE: airfoils
>
>
> Alec and all,
>
> As an addendum to this, Perry built hollow aluminum airfoil sections for
> dive
> planes and rudders on the later subs. I trained initially on the old PC-8,
> which had flat slab control surfaces, and I can attest to how well the
more
> sophisticated surfaces worked in comparison. The airfoil sections had flat
> plates welded to the sides to improve efficiency and were hydraulically
> activated.
>
> If the sub was moving forward at neutral buoyancy, and you tipped the
planes
>
> up, the sub would lift. Period. No discussion. Up she comes. A couple of
> square feet of dive planes would lift an 8 ton 12-boat off the bottom with
> no
> effort at all. Our rudders were the same, measured about 42" high by
roughly
>
> a foot front to back. We turned 36 X 36 bronze wheels through reduction
> gears
> and when you swung the rudder over, she turned, and I mean right now.
>
> The earlier boats used plexiglas plate for planes and a composite flat
> material for the rudders. They worked okay, but not nearly as well as the
> airfoil shapes, which were a pain to build and horrible expensive, but
> really
> worth their weight in hot dogs when push came to shove. I'm planning on
> planes and rudder for my K this summer, so I'm going to have to figure
this
> out for real. I sure wish I'd kept some of those prints around from back
> then. Hopefully I can work something out in fiberglas which will then
become
>
> a market sensation in the psubs biz and make me jillions.
>
> Vance
>
>