Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] SUBSAFE

["Captain Nemo" <vulcania@hawaii.rr.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Carsten Standfuss" <MerlinSub@t-online.de>
To: <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 8:47 AM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] SUBSAFE


> Please note ..
>
> Orville and Wilbur has a good 50% chanche not to survive
> there idears

Not really.  They'd done a lot of flight testing in gliders; they were
experienced mechanics; their motor was fairly reliable for the era.  With a
50% chance between two of them, I'd think one of them would have been
killed.  But they both survived many flights over the years.  So I'd say
their demonstrated odds were a lot better than that.



- Otto Lilienthal and many other first pilots
> died in there planes - build from unsafe materials
> and total underpowered..

Unsafe materials?  They were built with the best materials and knowledge
available at the time, I'm sure.  Lilienthall never achieved a powered
aircraft; but between 1891 and 1896 he did make many successful gliding
flights before succumbing to injuries sustained in a pilot-error accident
(failure to successfully negotiate a thermal) while flying what is sometimes
called his "normal design": a proven successful glider.  Thus, the materials
Lilienthal used were proven safe and were not the cause of his death.  In
addition: the basic materials Lilienthal, the Wrights, Curtiss, and others
used way back then (wood and cloth) are still being flown in the 21st
century.


>
> The experimental time to check this out for homebuild
> submarines was in the 60ies

The materials, construction methods, and basic systems used in the '60s are
still in use today.   Every homebuilt is an experimental, at least until it
is proven reliable.  For the guy trying to learn how to design and build his
first sub, it's all experimental.  Every original design is experimental.
Thus, the time for checking out experimental subs goes on even now, and will
as long as homebuilt submarine enthusiasts continue to design and build
their own boats.


Pat