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Hello Ray, Interesting information. Did they say at what angle of attack they were when they deployed the braking flaps, or how fast they were going at the time? The speed might of been left out because of it being classified. Did it say any thing about whether of not all the flaps opened up at the same time properly. If the flaps towards the bottom opened up first they would make the sub point down very quickly. I would think that what ever direction you were heading, the brakes if designed and functioning properly, would simply slow you down without changing your heading. To simplify the braking flaps on my sub designs I'm only thinking about having one on each side towards the back of the hull, or the two flaps on each wing, one opening up and one down, or a totally new system installed instead of a basic single rudder, like I have on my K-250. The new system would be used for steering and braking. It would basically consist of two rudders about two feet apart or sandwiched together. Each rudder can only rotate 90 degrees towards the side they are one, and are controlled individually by a foot peddle that is just to control that one flap. This way you can move one and steer or move both and brake and/or steer. This can be a totally manual system, a partly manual system with a hydraulic assist like used in a car, or fly by wire controlled hydraulic, electric, or pneumatic actuator controlled. I'm designing a system like this to be installed on my K-250 For the purely manual configuration the steering/braking flaps need to have the pivot point back from the leading edge a certain amount to help you in moving the flaps with the assist of the water. My friend Doc, the inventor of the Bionic Dolphin told me how much it should be, but at the moment I'm not able to locate the data. I think it was about 30 percent surface area should be forward of the pivot point. They do this sort of thing one the elevator of planes as well. But they don't look to have as much as 30 percent. Your resident possibility thinker. ;)' Regards, Brent Hartwig ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Dean, The U.S.S. Albacore had dive brakes around her circumference behind the sail. The book "U.S.S Albacore" by Robert P. Largess says on pages 102 to 105 that they were a mistake. One time they were tried the sub lost control and bottomed at 400 feet. Another time the brakes were to be flapped to create an acoustical signal. A hydraulic seal failed and water pressure force hydraulic fluid into the engine room. The brakes were immediately removed and were never tried again on another US sub. Regards, Ray |