Hello everyone, my name is Douglas Suhr and I have recently joined the
psubs community in an effort to make easier the construction of my own
one atmosphere submersible. I am currently 18 years old and I live in
the small town of Oil City PA. We are in close proximity to the city of
Titusville where oil was first discovered in the US. We are also about
an hour South of Erie and about 2 hours north of Pittsburgh.
Now I have been planning the construction of my submersible, named
/Spirit of Calypso,/ for some time now and I am hoping to begin
construction of the pressure hull in the near future. I have already
contacted both Mr. Jon Wallace and Mr. Alec Smyth concerning assistance,
and they recommended that I post a general notice on this email list, so
I am going post my letters to them in hopes that they will answer some
questions about my project. Please feel free to ask me any questions you
have about my project and I will answer them as best I can. Obviously I
will be asking many questions myself pertaining to methods of
construction and fabrication, etc. The first letter was sent to Jon
Wallace, then to Alec Smyth. The second letter is a response to Alec
Smyth regarding questions he had pertaining to the first letter. Just to
clear up any confusion on propulsion, we are planning to use three
Minn-Kota trolling motors in a K-250 configuration. Thank you everyone,
and I look forward to getting to know everyone here and getting some of
my questions answered! ~ Douglas Suhr
Greetings Mr. Jon Wallace,
My name is Douglas Suhr. I am currently 18 years old and a senior in
high school. I live in Oil City, Pennsylvania with my parents, Sarah and
Doug. I have been interested in building, owning and operating my own
one atmosphere submersible for some time now. I have recently joined
psubs.org <http://psubs.org> in an effort to assist in fulfilling my
underwater dream.
I could spend a great deal of time (and paper!) explaining every little
detail of my personal history as it relates to diving and underwater
exploration, but I don’t feel that this is the time or place to do that.
However, I would like to give you a relatively brief synopsis of my
personal history pertaining to diving and my quest to dive in the
comfort and safety of one atmosphere. I feel that once I explain my
circumstances and position, you will have an easier time of assisting me
in fulfilling the difficult goal of constructing my own submersible.
Both of my parents were SCUBA divers before I was even born. My dad was
a lifeguard instructor and was trained in SCUBA diving in his early
twenties. My mom learned to dive after meeting my dad. Not only are they
“life partners,” they are dive partners. So needless to say, I grew up
around the sport of recreational diving. I had /my/ first underwater
experience when I was 8 years old. Too small to wear a tank, I used my
dad’s hookah rig. With both of my parents, one on either side, I
explored some underwater rock formations in about 12 feet of clear
Canadian lake water. This was a true life-changing experience because
from that point on, I /loved/ the water.
I spent the next few years slowly gaining more experience underwater,
eventually graduating to using a traditional SCUBA tank. Then, for my
11^th birthday, my parents purchased me a BellAqua B.O.B. I spent a good
year and a half with my little ambient wet sub before I was dreaming of
diving in one atmosphere – what I regarded as “the professional way.”
As most 12-year-old boys are, I was quite ambitious and eager to get
started building my submarine. My dad, though, told me that it would be
“prudent to do some research first.” I spent a great deal of time that
year playing “online sleuth,” trying to find the best way to go about
home-building a submarine. As you might imagine, it didn’t take me long
to discover psubs.org <http://psubs.org>! I received a great deal of
inspiration from psubs, as well as from movies like /Men of Honor/ and
/Grey Lady Down./ My grandpa was also a huge source of inspiration,
showing me a diving helmet that he built in a college class back in the
50’s!
But after learning some of the “methods to the madness,” I was
overwhelmed as a 12 year old boy. The cost and complexity necessary was
just beyond our means. I didn’t give up hope completely, but I decided
to put the submersible project on the “back burner” for a while. Several
years now pass by.
Another three years went by and I was now in the 8^th grade. A renewed
interest in the project prompted me to contact Captain George Kittredge
and Mr. Ian Ellis about their UEM submarine. At the time, they were
trying to find a buyer for the proto-type vessel. I could not help but
entertain the thought of purchasing the submarine, but I just wasn’t
able to persuade my parents to make the investment. Instead, I settled
for purchasing a set of the UEM plans. When I received the plans a few
days later in the mail, I was surprised to see that the Captain had
included a free copy of his book, along with a very nice letter to me.
Our correspondence transpired through the winter of 2008, but Captain
Kittredge asked if I would come to his location in Maine to try out the
UEM in his test tank when the weather brightened up a bit. He described
a sort of new lexan propeller that he wanted me to see. Unfortunately,
due to my parents busy work schedules, we never made the trip up to see
him. I am saddened to see that he has passed away because he sounded
like a really nice guy who I would love to get to know.
Over the next year, my dad and I looked over the UEM plans. We also
purchased the “diving trials” DVD, which enabled us to view the vessel
in action. No doubt that this is a formidable submersible design, but
after much consideration, we decided that the dome hatch is just not
what we want. Instead, we want to build a K-Tree 50: the name we gave to
our hybrid design. The “tree” is a combination “two” and “three.” The
tree also symbolizes the environmental friendliness of the UEM design.
Basically, It’s the hull of the UEM/K-250 with the steel conning tower
assembly of the K-350. Maximum safe operational depth would be 250 feet.
One of the biggest design goals is to keep the vessel as simple as
possible. That probably means the exclusion of a variable ballast tank.
We are also working to keep the vessel simple by designing a very
simplistic (thus safe) aspirating cabin refreshment system for breathing
air replenishment and by rethinking the traditional launch and recovery
methods. On a side-note, we have decided to name the vessel /Spirit of
Calypso/ after John Denver’s song pertaining to Jacques Cousteau’s
research ship.
This design modification is what prompted me to order the 4 acrylic
viewports from psubs in 2009. Obviously the UEM plans don’t cover the
construction of a conning tower assembly, so we will need much
assistance with this, hopefully from fellow psubs members.
I know that safety is of utmost importance to the psubs community. It is
most definitely the same way here on our end. No doubt that the main
goal of this undertaking is to have fun, and attending a funeral is
_not_ considered fun. Dad and I understand the inherent risks of
building and operating a piece of life-supporting equipment, and we most
certainly do not take it lightly. After thoroughly constructing and
testing our submersible, we plan to have a series of well-thought
operations guidelines (like never operating the vessel in areas where
/bottom depths/ exceed 250 feet, thus avoiding /any possibility/ of
crushing). We also plan to have a very regulated set of emergency
procedures so that if, heaven forbid, an emergency situation would
arise, we are prepared. Of course this also includes thorough pre-dive
checks on all emergency equipment (what good is a weight release system
if it hasn’t been moved in so long that its frozen!?!?).
Anyway, I’m sure you get the point that we are very safety oriented
people ourselves. No more “Seeker 100” foolishness. I am currently
working to earn my private pilot’s license and subsequently own a share
of a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. Our airplane is treated with love and respect,
more like a person than an airplane. I am of the mind that applying this
philosophy to our submersible is a good idea: Treat her with love and
respect /every time,/ and she will bring you back to the surface,/every
time./ As a matter of fact, we just lost a couple of guys from our
airport to a crash last summer (summer of 10’). This fall the official
FAA report came out. Result: CFT – Controlled Flight into Terrain. In
other words, they were treating her like a Las Vegas hooker, not a
mother or girlfriend.
Concerning our capabilities, this summer we just completed a new
garage/workshop that will provide us with plenty of fabrication space.
We have a Kubota tractor with forks, as well as a homebuilt gantry
crane. We have both an oxy-acetylene rig and a buzz box. And of course
all the basic tools that you would expect to find in a shop. We don’t
have a metal lathe and probably won’t be buying one in the near future,
but we do know some really great local fabricators who I’m sure will
come in handy! If such help is available from the psubs community, we
might ask for some specialized parts to be made for us (?). We aren’t
the greatest at welding yet, so we will most likely ask a professional
to do the critical welds for us.
We are just finishing up our first major steel project, which is the
construction of a one ton, 8-inch siege mortar. This involved ordering,
cutting and welding 1-inch plate, and gave us some practical experience
with ordering and handling large pieces of steel. If you would like,
I’ll send you a picture of the gun when he is complete (his name is Barker).
Barker will be finished up by May, which is also when I’ll be graduating
from high school and subsequently finding a tremendous amount of free
time on my hands! I plan to start construction of the /Spirit of
Calypso/ in early June. To date, I have saved approximately $11,500.00
to start the project. I deem this amount large enough to start
construction, for more funding will materialize as time passes. Because
both my dad and I will have a lot of free time on our hands, I’d really
like to see if we might accomplish the bulk of the construction in a
span of two years, beginning this June.
We have access to housing and boats (through family members) on Lake
Kamaniskeg in Canada, Lake Chautauqua in New York and down in the
Florida Keys as well. We are familiar with diving in all three of these
locations, and they will make great testing facilities when the time
comes. We have a large suburban for towing a heavy submersible, as well
as deep-ramp launching facilities in Canada and New York. Down in
Florida, we have davits and a canal. We have no vessel large enough to
carry the sub, but plenty that we could tow with. This is why a strong
tow ring will be essential!
I have obtained a Minn Kota trolling motor that I have been fooling
with, and I’m working with my dad to build an approximate model of the
sub out of PVC pipe and wood. Again, if you like, I’ll email photos of
these items when completed. We will be going down to our relative’s
cottage in the keys this Easter for vacation, at which time I am going
to snap a few pictures of two one-atm submersibles in the area. Both
retired, one rests at a boy scouts camp and is very large (48 inch
dome). The other, down the Keys a ways in Marathon, appears to be a
Kittredge designed vessel. It has been sitting there for years. I will
forward pictures of both of these vessels to you when I get them if you
wish.
Now when the /Spirit of Calypso/ is complete, I plan to use it for
research and educational purposes, including my own as well as others. I
also plan to do some wreck diving down in the Florida Keys. As we design
the submersible, we are incorporating various elements into the design
that will make salt water operations easier, from buoyancy control to
corrosion resistance. My dad is an electrical engineer by trade, so he
will be exceptional with the wiring of the sub.
I understand that at this point, I don’t even have a submersible, so
that really takes precedence, but in the future, I would love to become
a more active member of the psubs community, organizing PR events in my
area to promote the safe construction and operation of personal
submersibles. I feel a tiny bit guilty that I live in PA because I saw
that you folks are trying to extend coverage South Westward, but I will
say that once the submersible is complete, we will definitely have the
ability to travel with it!
I thank you so much, Mr. Wallace for taking the time to read this “long”
letter. I have accomplished the objective of informing you of my
position. My second objective is to ask you for assistance. Could you
make yourself personally available (via email),/or/ connect us to
someone else in the psubs community (with experience) who could make
themselves personally available to assist us? We will have many
questions about many specific things. I know that since we are now a
member of psubs.org <http://psubs.org> we can post questions, but I
don’t think this is the best method when we have so many questions to
ask. What do you recommend? Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Douglas Suhr
Douglas Henry Suhr Jr.
9 Shady Oak Lane,
Oil City, PA 16301
(814)676-5236
spiritofcalypso@gmail.com <mailto:spiritofcalypso@gmail.com>//
Well greetings to you Captain Smyth! I really appreciate you reading my
letter! Moreover, I am so pleased to hear that I made your day! I was a
little nervous as to the reception I might receive from the psubs
community when they learn of my young age, but my fears have diminished
since receiving your hopeful words of encouragement!
I also really appreciate your willingness to answer questions… I’ll try
not to bombard you, but I do have many topics to discuss.I have a
feeling that a group like psubs is a well-knit community because we are
brought together by something we are all very passionate about, and this
is definitely a good thing.
I apologize pertaining to the vagueness in my letter concerning
propulsion of the submersible. After re-reading it myself, it is more
than understandable how a reader would be confused.
To clear it up, let me explain that we are only using the UEM plans as a
basis for main hull design. In retrospect, purchasing the K-250 plans
would have been much more helpful. Daddy and I agree that trying to
pedal-power a submersible of the Kittredge design would be strenuous
exercise, not to mention the resulting dramatic increase in human air
consumption through natural respiration. No, we plan to power our sub
with three thrusters in the same configuration as your Snoopy.
As I mentioned in my letter, I have already started to fool around a
little bit with a minn kota trolling motor. Pressure compensation,
rotation of the motors and power-to-power through hulls are all on the
“consideration board” at this time concerning the propulsion. How are
Snoopy’s thrusters pressure compensated (oil?/air?)?
I have a very common-sensish approach to my projects. Overall, this is a
good thing, but I have found that at times this method is at fault for
omitting small but important details. But anyway, here goes: I have
split the in-shop construction of the submersible into 5 stages, those
being:
1.Pressure Hull ~ (including skids, windows, conning tower, hatch, etc.).
2.Buoyancy Control ~ (including hoods, ballast, drop weights, tanks,
plumbing, etc.).
3.Propulsion ~ (including two amidships and one stern thruster, battery
bank, controllers, etc.)
4.Cabin Environment ~ (including fresh air replenishment, life support,
monitors and alarms, interior lighting, seating, etc.)
5.Electronics and Gauges ~ (including master pressure gauge panel,
master battery bank panel, exterior lighting, robotic arm and excavation
vacuum, various instrumentation like depth gauge, compass, thermometer,
etc. as well as sub-to-surface communications and eventually sonar).
As I mentioned, daddy and I are working on a 1/12 scale model of the
submersible. As we do so, we are “mapping out” where we want certain
assemblies placed, how we will fabricate them, etc. Although we most
likely won’t have every little detail figured out until after we start
construction, I feel that it’s a good idea to figure out most of the
details before we start to build. The fear is ever-present in my mind
that after we complete the bulk of the assembly, we’ll realize that we
forgot to add something early on that now requires the dismantling of
the newly built vessel. So having a well-mapped construction plan is my
basic strategy.
Pertaining to our electric welder, we have a Lincoln Electric weldmark
ac/dc arc welder. My dad does some welding now, but I think you have a
very good point in learning the trade well. I suppose it’s a pretty
universal skill that will stand you in good stead, regardless of whether
you’re building a submersible or not. We are thinking about enrolling in
welding classes together this summer at our local vocational school.
As far as sharing my first correspondence, I think your idea is a good
one. I will make a post on psubs explaining my position and project, but
first I’ll wait to hear back from Jon Wallace.I may actually write up a
separate statement for the post, including things that weren’t in the
first letter, like the 5-stage construction plan.
So about your motors…
Sincerely,
Douglas S.