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[PSUBS-MAILIST] BIG is now a p-sub...
Hi guys,
Today we launched BIG.
After 2.5 years of design and building, moving to 4 different workshops,
investing 2500 $ (canadian, but still...) I finaly put BIG in the water!
What a trill!!!!
When it went down the boat ramp, on it's own tiny wheels, I could not
refrain myself to think that it would leak so bad, crash, explode or else.
But nothing happened. I had 2 very small leaks. Nothing a good scott-towell
could not handle.
I had 2 friends in divers outfits ready to dive so I said BIg was ready for
next step; Getting me inside it.
At first, the water-line was way lower then I though. We had to use 80
pounds of additional weight to make it as low as it was supposed to be.
So I jumped inside it, secured the hatch. Everything was still ok. I engaged
the auto ambient pressure system and... nada... The electronic circuit
didn't worked (too much humidity i think). So I had to rely on my manual
back-up to equalize pressure.
The depth where i was was 10 feet. Relaxing my breath and my hearthbeat, I
made a sign to my divers and opened the ballast vent valve. Nothing
happened. I waited for about 30 secondes and could not tell if I was going
down. I asked a diver to look if air was going out of the vent and he said
yes so i waited still longer. It tooked about 2 minutes to get the sub to go
below the water-line. What a trill!!!! oh my god! I was soooo nervous!
Looking in the top windows and seeing like 2 inches of water over the hatch!
I was finaly under-water! I made it! And was still alive!
Some seconds later I hit the bottom and rested there for a couple of minutes
ajusting the pressure, tripple checking everything. All was good. So I
decided to make BIG slightly positive. I opened up just a bit the air valve
for the ballast and I went rocket to the surface! had to wait 2 minutes to
vent the tanks, and back to the bottom I was... That time I was very gentle
with the valve and managed to get it under control. I was ready to try those
2 engines. I was very suprised how fast it was! I can easyly go faster then
a diver.
What a great day!
What was great: BIG is operationnal, it goes very fast! once you get used to
it, you can adjust bouyancy easyly. Also, very manuverable with the 2
engines set-up. more then i though it was going to be. i can almost turn on
the spot. Going up or down with motors is also very good.
What must be better: Main thing to check, It is very slow to blow the 2 back
ballast tank. I think that the holes i made are too small. Also, trim is not
good. always nose up. I also need to install propeler protection. One of my
friend fin cough in it with some minor damage to it but it is not very safe
since I plan to always use BIG with at least 1 diver.
So in all. a very good experience. What a trill! My 2 friends hang on BIG
and it was going fast. We had a wonderfull time! Even if we only been to 10
feet deep. I can't wait to put it back in the water again!
I would like to thank you all for your help in helping me realise a dream!
Special thank to Jon and Ray for making the site in the first place.
With-out you guys, BIG would still be a dream...
Thank you!
Pierre "official owner of a working p-sub" Poulin
P.S. I have a zillion pictures + video. i will post some tomorrow. Need bed
now :)
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