I totally agree with Jon. The guy is
an uneducated accident who has finally found a place to happen.
Years ago I went in the birdman flying
competition in NZ. 20 ft platform so 20 ft of runway, 20ft above the sea,
wingspan limitation of 25 ft, objective to fly 50 meters. I built my
plane in about a week after a month of study on Theory of wing sections,
Mechanics of flight etc etc. I had a PPL and had flown hang
gliders. There was a long jetty out to this platform mounted on a
wharf. My glider was built out of aluminium with ribs, twin
fuselage, fabric covered and was not a bad effort. The guys before me
were Chinese engineering students with wings out of polystyrene, a propeller
driven by pedals, single 2” pipe for a fuselage wheels on an
undercarriage of sorts and about 30 hangers on including mum, sister and
girlfriends. Well the big moment came for this guy’s turn. He
straddles the pipe, (mistake number one for a guy worried about future
procreation) and starts pedaling and the propeller starts to revolve and gets
faster. Then the eggbeater gears he was using fell apart and his face was
a picture of grimace or joy, I couldn’t tell which, Then full of
courage he calls out in Chinglish “ That all light, I glide”.
So his fans pull him back and prepare to launch. After great commotion they
race him to the edge to launch him. The front wheels, off a pram and
about 3” diameter, caught on the railing and the undercarriage
folded. As he disappeared over the edge the wings folded upwards and he
achieved minus 2 meters into the water below upside down under the wharf.
Due to the current he surfaced about 50 meters behind the wharf and I will
never forget the sight of his mates, mum, girlfriends and sisters and
entourage peering over the edge he disappeared over and wailing and crying thinking
he had drowned and this guy now about 75 yards downstream swimming around with
bits of polystyrene that managed to survive, trying to attract their attention.
I could hardly stand up I was crying with laughter at the spectacle.
This, my friends, is how amateur engineers sometimes manage to survive.
In a sub --- at 10 meters -- ??? That thing
will collapse at 5 meters. Those drums are only 18 gauge at best and
guaranteed to have a few prior dings that will have been hammered out.
Only chance of the thing working is if he has the hole in the bottom and relies
on the air being compressed to half volume with him staying in the top half.
Just for the record, my aircraft survived fully intact and I used it 3 years
running. Madness of youth. Chs, Hugh
Brent,
I have to disagree with you on this
one. It's great when we can congratulate people who have built well
designed and constructed submarines in their backyard, and there are many who
have. However, I think we should be equally zealous about openly
criticizing and rejecting designs and construction techniques that are clearly
not safe. A cursory look at Xiangli's sub shows it is a text
book illustration of how not to build a sub. Only one publication
got it right and gave the following synopsis..."he claims the sub should
be quite safe. Coincidentally, the builders of the Titanic said pretty
much the same thing." http://ralph.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=598774
Here's a closer photo of the sub.
Note the wires from the dive planes, the hatch, and the hatch seal. This
photo pretty much confirms that the end cowel does not hold a ballast
tank. http://www.daylife.com/photo/0fzU7CUe5QgXF
I have similar feelings about the
Pilipenko sub and I think the diving video we were pointed to was a
sad documentation of construction and testing techniques. The guy
goes under water and one of his viewports immediately starts a sizable
leak. It's obvious that he appears confused and a bit disorientated by
the size of the leak and then the blast of compressed air that hits him in the
face when something lets go after he overpressurizes it. If that viewport
had let go completely (must have been at least 8 inches in diameter), that guy
wasn't getting out of his sub. I may alone in this, but my thinking is
that a properly built submersible shouldn't have leaks when it goes underwater
with a human being in it. Something about that scenario always raises a
question with me about the integrity of the vessel. And this wasn't a
case of the hatch not being closed tightly enough.
The fact that these two owners obviously
have limited resources is one of the most important warnings that we as a group
should be issuing. If you don't have the resources to build a sub
properly, don't build it.
Where are the safety concious individuals
in this group? Why the silence?
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
[mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org]On Behalf Of Brent Hartwig
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2008
11:43 PM
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject: RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Oil
drum submarine
You have to give the guy props for making his dream
happen. He's only planning to go to 10 meters according to the article. I would
think those drums could take that. Perhaps he has some internal ribbing or
other stiffeners we can't see. The end drums might be the MBT's.
I don't really
understand how the conning tower is attached and reinforced.