The Deep Flight Super Falcon Sub Is A Private Airplane For The Sea
I’d never been envious of Tom Perkins’ giant sailboat, the Maltese Falcon, until it received a deployable submarine in its belly. The sub, called the Deep Flight Super Falcon, is a 6.5m electric vehicle, bringing aerodynamic principles to the sea.
John Markoff got a ride recently, and reported the craft as being interesting, even in the plankton fog of Monterey Bay, CA.
Each time the 21-foot long electric-powered submarine plunged, my loosely buckled five-point harness left me sliding out of my seat. Each time we started to ascend, I was pushed back into the seat by the acceleration…Unlike a conventional submarine, which uses ballast to plunge into the ocean depths, the Super Falcon “flies” through water. It is slightly buoyant, and it is the speed of its propeller that pushes it downward in the mirror image of the aerodynamic lift of a conventional winged aircraft.It can operate at depths up to 400 feet, has a top speed of six knots and can fly for five hours on a single battery charge.
Deep Flight is helmed by Graham Hawkes, a pioneer in deep sea exploration vehicles. Among other craft, Hawkes built the Deep Rover sub which was used to film Aliens of the Deep by James Cameron in 3D IMAX, the Mantis, which was filmed in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only and the Deep Flight Challenger, a winged sub built capable of reaching 37,000 feet of depth meant for Steve Fossett to break the deep diving record in.
If you’re interested, John Markoff’s article has a video embedded in it of the dive and a tale of the first ocean dive in the Falcon with Perkins, where they chased Hammerheads. Below, I’ve included a video of the Maltese Falcon coming under the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as a video of him testing his prototype Super Falcon.
[Deep Flight, NYTimes, photo by Leslie Terzian Markoff and Yachtpals]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
I assume the back pod is where R2D2 sits.
6 knots? Fail!
zenneth
Thunderbirds GO !
This machine is amazing, possibly only bettered by diving with one of those hand-held propulsion devices.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/cayago-magnum-turns-navy-seals-into-true...309472.php
Taking that flying sub into the monterey bay would be amazing. The water isn't the clearest because it is full of tiny food for the amazing amount of life found there. Clear water is nutrient poor which is why it is less fun to dive in the clear Caribbean water. Monterey is the best diving I've had in this hemisphere.
@darkstar - new comment system sucks.:
Yeah, the seabreachers are rad too, but they only submerge to like six feet or so. Combine the speed of the one of those with the depth capability of the super falcon, then you'd really have something.
Ah but once under water don't aerodynamic principals become hydrodynamic principles? Or are they all just different applications of fluid dynamics? Wait I know! It's magic and you a damn WITCH!
Xeno
If my numbers ever hit, I'm going to do something to get recognized on Gizmodo. You just wait.
Sweet.
Pretty sweet...Wish it was faster!
Claustrophobia, let me introduce you to Hydrophobia!
lefonceobscure
@Xeno: The real question is does it actually use the same principles as "flying"? A plane creates lift using an aerofoil that forces air to go over the top faster than the bottom. The pressure differential is what causes the actual lift. I think that this sub would just use the force of the water pushing on its "wings" to cause it to dive? I wouldn't technically call that "flying"...but maybe I'm just too critical?
ninjamurf
http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/underwater-flight-with-graham-hawkes...
ibelli
@Xeno: Aero and hydro just refer to the medium. The principles of Fluid Dynamics apply in both case and the calculations themselves change because of the density of the fluid.
... burn her?
@FurySamurai72: yyyyyes... that's just what a witch WOULD say!
@Xeno: technically speaking. hydrodynamics and aero dynamics are both applications of fluid dynamics. air is in reality a viscous fluid as is water. so principles that work in air work just the same in watter. aerodynamics is just fluid dynamics with constants based on principles of air. hydrodynamics has constants based on water. and fluid dynamics has those constants as variables.
@shenanigans61: The problem with faster is the emense the water puts on/against the vehicle. Without the pressure of movement I believe 1Gal of water =8lbs of pressure. Add forward movement and that increases substancially. :)
I bet the military is working on something similar but their prototype is faster and deadlier.
Mac007
Just saw this today in Monterey at the Breakwater / Coast Guard Pier. Was going out diving, and I have to admit it would be interesting to go down to 200+ feet in this sub. I know how much work there is in diving that deep, it would be cool to be "spoiled" and not have to worry about decompression stops etc.
Brandon Bianchi
Actual video of John Markoff getting out of the bay in the vehicle
justinhilario
video of the actual submersible with John Markoff getting out of the water http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8stbPmr-KkE
PatrickKolling
uh... i think it's aquadynamic
mackcimum