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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] A Funny/Scary Story

Hi,

Anyone is free to design and operate the way they decide. If they get hurt I hope they remember about personal resposibility instead of the current "I am a victim so I'll sue" mentallitly.

The tried and true methodologies are safer by the fact they are the ones more widely adopted. Hence they have a proven track recored. I would suggest anyone new to submersibles to build one of the more traditional designs before experimenting. These guys were not operating safely. In the words of Ron Wanttaja:

    Why we [Ron and Fitz] didn't both get embolisms and 
    gawd knows what else, I'll never know.

However lets move on. In light of their experiences and excellant report. What can we learn?

1. Shape of ballast tanks can be critical.
2. Completely flood and blow soft MBT on the surface.
3. Do not rely on MBT, especially soft MBT for trim control. Unless of course that IS your trim control and have designed a way to CONTROL it.
4. Do initial manned tests in shallow water. Perhaps as shallow as 10 feet or what ever it takes to get completely under water by a small amount. Perhaps a foot. In subsequent tests move into deeper and deeper water.
5. Have a way to bail out if things go awry.
6. Try, try again.

Regards,
Ray

DJACKSON99@aol.com wrote:
> 
> It bothers me that we would see this as a way "*not*" to build a sub. I think there is a lot to be said for experimentation and courage as a design approach. While it is not an approach for everyone, it has many merits. It assures full ownership for success and failure, maintains the possibility for discovering something new, and it makes the endeavor exciting, adventurous, and fun. I think too many of us are afraid to do something because it's dangerous, or we will likely fail. What inventions and discoveries are we missing because we teach our children to never take a risk? Is there no place in life for danger and adventure? Isn't it possible to lose your life because you are so worried about protecting it?
> If design by experimentation and courage scares you then fine, go on and copy someone else's work, and make sure your children wear their bike helmets. I am certainly not the brightest person walking around, and may very well end up with a Darwin award, but I will be adventurous, learn, invent, and enjoy my life. And damn the obstacles erected by everyone who lack the balls or imagination to do build something from scratch.
> 
> Doug Jackson
> 
> In a message dated 12/22/2003 2:34:32 AM Eastern Standard Time, NeophyteSG writes:
> 
> > Ran across this example of how *not* to design and build a
> > 2-person ambient.
> >
> > http://home1.gte.net/ikvamar/avlinks/sub.htm
> >
> > Warm Regards
> > Shawn