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In a message dated 4/7/2010 6:10:11 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
lgeyer@bigpond.net.au writes:
Hi Les. Not to butt in but........
First off welcome aboard and remember to have fun with this adventure.
One of the things I found most useful when I was in the early stage of
contemplating a sub and making a design to fit my needs was to make inexpensive
full size mock-ups.
I made several of these using wire frames and cardboard. Almost free
!
Not only was it a lot of fun to sit inside these contraptions and imagine
how everything would fit, I was ultimately able to reach decisions on what
shape, how big, where the windows should be, seating, and many other "little
things" that turned out later to be quite critical.
During last year's convention we visited Phil's shop in Vancouver and I was
surprised to see that he has done the same thing with his sub designs. He builds
full size wooden mock-ups of his boats and it really helps to "get it
right" in your head.
The complicated calculations for all the "stuff" comes after you've made
choices on what you want.
If it takes a little thicker steel, a little bigger ballast tank, a few
more pounds of this or that......the amount of work building it doesn't change
that much.
I had some pre-determined restrictions on size and weight due mostly to how
difficult it would be to launch and transport but these were secondary to the
sub meeting my goals of carrying capacity and comfort.
The new sub in the video is probably the best example of what can be done
by a home builder, even though it has a lot of very high quality components.
Everyone has a different idea of what a personal submarine means to them,
what they expect to accomplish with it, and how deep they want to go.
Generally, you won't go wrong using the Eurosub as a basic design. It's a
first class boat and as a basic platform has all the right stuff for a complete
working sub.
I'm sure you'll enjoy this adventure and I look forward to hearing more
about your project as it progresses through the various stages. Again, remember
to have fun.
Frank D.
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