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A flying submarine, submersible aircraft or aerosub is a combination of a seaplane and a submarine. It is supposed to be able both to fly and to travel under water. Starting from the surface of water is also intended.
Since the requirements for designing a submarine are practically opposed to those of an airplane, the performance expected from such a construction is usually rather moderate.
History
United Kingdom
As early as 1920, the British trade journal, ″Flying,″ reported conversations between the First Sea Lord and other military leaders and one of the principal aircraft manufacturers concerning a flying submarine (or submersible seaplane). The all-metal craft, its hypothetical design illustrated in the article, was to be a twin-propeller airplane with retractable wings and a hermetically sealed fuselage. There was, however, apparently no further development of the project.[1]
U.S.
In 1961 Donald Reid designed and built a single-seat craft (32.83 ft length) capable of flight and underwater movement, the Reid Flying Submarine 1 (RFS-1[2]). A 65 hp (48 kW) engine mounted on a pylon provided propulsion for flight; a 1 hp electric motor in the tail provided underwater propulsion. The pilot used an aqualung for breathing underwater. The first full-cycle flight [underwater at 6.5 feet (2 m) depth, airborne at 33 ft (10 m) altitude] was demonstrated on 9 June 1964.[3] Reid, his craft, and his son (the test pilot) appeared on the U.S. game show "I've Got A Secret" on March 15, 1965.
In 2008, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced that it was preparing to issue contracts for a submersible aircraft.[4][5][6][7][8]
Flying submarines in fiction
A flying submarine was a feature in:
- The Flying Submarine (1912) by Percy F. Westerman
- Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter, the seventh book of the second series.
- The Flying Sub in the TV series version of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
- The Mighty Jack from the Japanese Tsuburaya Productions TV series of that name.
See also
- Diving bird
- Submarine aircraft carrier
References
- ^ "The Flying Submarine or Submersible Seaplane". Flying. 9: 331. June 1920.
- ^ Bernhard C. F. Klein Collection, "Reid RFS-1", No. 6559. Reid RFS-1 (N1740) ; 1000aircraftphotos.com (accessed 12 July 2010)
- ^ http://www.aerofiles.com/_ra.html see Reid, Ashbury Park NJ (subheading)
- ^ Naval-Technology.com, DARPA Plans to Develop "Flying Submarine", 8 July 2010 (accessed 12 July 2010)
- ^ DARPA, "Submersible Aircraft Proposers' Day Conference" (accessed 12 July 2010) Archived July 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Federal Business Opportunities, "Submersible Aircraft Proposers' Day Conference" (accessed 13 June 2013)
- ^ DARPA, "Submersible Aircraft" (accessed 12 July 2010) Archived June 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ New Scientist, "From sea to sky: Submarines that fly", 5 July 2010, Paul Marks (accessed 12 July 2010)
Further reading
- The Flying Submarine: The Story of the Invention of the Reid Flying Submarine, RFS-1 by Bruce Reid, ISBN 0-7884-3136-6