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Hi David. I've always wanted to go in a "real" submarine. Do they really go
60 mph submerged?
Our little boats are doing well to get 4 knots for short bursts at full
speed. Many are much less than that. Have you seen Cliff's sub? What a beauty !
Much like a single seat torpedo. He said once his top speed may reach 20 knots.
He's still testing and working out the bugs, but Man, it's nice !
He uses a computer and electrics to operate every thing so maybe he can
help you with the central ballast panel. Check it out on the psubs site.
On the trim tanks.....there are as many designs as there are
psubs. If you've been following the recent discussion on VBT, that's what
we're talking about.
In a sub my size, just moving around in there will change the trim angle.
Some guys use multiple tanks, others use a sliding weight. ( my probable
choice)
Water transfer between tanks is pretty easy with a small pump, but
expelling the water may take a bit more electrical power than just moving it
around.
On my boat, I plan on setting the variable ballast tank level at the
surface. adding or subtracting enough to get to neutral. If I wanted to get rid
of some of that water while at 150 feet, the pump will have to overcome the
pressure difference of one atmosphere and 4.5 atmospheres before I move any
water at all. That could use a lot of battery power that is always in short
supply on these little boats. I would rather use HP air to blow it out. Another
option may be to use one of those little auto air compressors to build up
pressure in a small tank, and use that to blow. ( probably not very efficient,
and the air would have to come out of the cabin )
I had an idea a while back where you could use a sliding
catch for the drop weight, where individual chunks of lead could be dropped
without losing the whole thing. Maybe divide the drop weight into 6 or 8 bricks,
rather than the typical monolithic chunk. I left that one on the drawing board,
but it did have some merit.
Aft dive planes was another idea I had a while back, and
still haven't totally abandoned. I actually started doing that on the back end
of this one, but that damn foam was taking so long, I decided it would have to
wait for the next ( larger) module. Not really that much work involved, and
definitely has some maneuvering advantages.
On the aircraft style planes.....again, we're not
moving that fast. I will be making my side dive planes like air plane
wings, but that's just for looks. Kinda like the shark fin. In fact, it's
totally useless, but hey! it looks really cool, and MAY help with roll when I'm
making those high speed turns. ( that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it !
)
Have you made any sketches yet ? we all love to see the stuff other guys
are doing. My original plans were pretty funny now that I think back to
them, but nobody laughed at them. Everyone has been real helpful, and all the
guys go through lots of changes while in the early stages of design. That's part
of the fun. Enjoy this part. It's some of the most exciting things on a project
like this, and there's lots to learn as we go along.
Frank D.
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