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Bond sub/car questions
Hi,
I have always be curious about the Bond Lotus Sub. Kind of like the ultimate
amphibous car.
Sounds like from the discription that there were two cars. One was the
real Lotus and the second was a wet sub shaped like the Lotus. Is that
correct?
Plus the interior shots with the actors was probably a mockup on dry land.
How was the converting part done in the film. The bit where the wheels
retracted and out came planes, fins and props? Was that a model? Or the
actual sub?
What would it take to make a real AmphibSub (hey, new trademark :) )?
Can you imagine the hysteria you would cause driving down a boat ramp,
into the water and disappearing from sight? :)
Because of the shape it would have to be ambient. Doors and windows would
have to be able to seal very tightly and in multiple locations. Engine
and fuel tank will have to be sealed. Diesel engine for surfaced and land
operation.
Retracting wheels? Might not be necessary. Planes would have to be or you
would slice in two that next pedistrian you barely missed. :) Rudders could
always be out. Some people like fins on cars anyway.
Regards,
Ray
>
> In a message dated 5/27/99 11:23:31 PM, shawl@torchlake.com writes:
>
> <<Now if you had gone down (dive) in the Bond Sub that would count for
> something I
> guess.
> And to reply to the other recent mail about this being a Zany bunch, any
> idea what
> that was about? :-)>>
>
> Jon,
> I was in Germany doing sea trials on PC-1202 when the Bond Lotus wet-sub
> thingamajig was being filmed outside Nassau. HAP Perry built it on a
> fiberglas skin supplied by Lotus themselves via the film production company
> and there were some moderately hysterical stories out of the shoot which
> some of the shop guys were involved with. The big problem was the patent
> difference between aerodynamics and the hydro counterpart--the damned thing
> just wouldn't fly.
>
> It had four 3/4 hp (Applied Permanent Magnet motors) direct driving aluminum
> kort-nozzled props bolted across the back and a 24 VDC pressure compensated
> battery pack mounted internally (four 6-V 225 amp golf cart batts, of
> course). The car shape was basically completely hollow with bulkheads here
> and there to sort of keep things together but no matter what they did they
> couldn't get it to fly in anything resembling a straight line. The shape of
> the car helps its road holding abilities, and the shape of the sub does the
> same thing only more. What you saw in the movie, for the most part, was
> filmed in a single morning with the subcar running down a thin wire which
> led through small shackles latched fore and aft underneath. They ended up
> with 4 PAIRS of rudders to get it do anything at all and the little dive
> planes were strictly for show, and didn't do anything but break off at
> inopportune moments. I wonder what happened to the silly thing?
> Vance