Shape of things to comeSubmersible boat debuts
Unlike conventional submersibles, which sink because their ballast makes them heavier than water, the Deep Flight Super Falcon is positively buoyant and descends using inverted wings that exert a downward force when the craft is propelled forward by its motor, just like a plane uses its wings and engines to generate lift
We have written about flying cars and “roadable planes,” so why not write about buoyant submarines — or is submersible boats? The official name is actually “winged submersible,” and the first one went into production recently. New Scientist’s Peter Aldhous writes that unlike conventional submersibles, which sink because their ballast makes them heavier than water, the Deep Flight Super Falcon is positively buoyant and descends using inverted wings that exert a downward force when the craft is propelled forward by its motor, just like a plane uses its wings and engines to generate lift.
The first Super Falcon is owned by Tom Perkins, multi-millionaire co-founder of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. If you would like your own, Hawkes Ocean Technologies of Point Richmond, San Francisco Bay, California, will sell you one for $1.5 million.
You can try the Super Falcon at the company’s Flight School, which is offering three-day “pilot” training in California’s Monterey Bay for $15,000, or a half-day spin for $5,000.
Marine engineer Graham Hawkes began work on the idea back in 1995, which was then called Deep Flight 1. The craft was developed further and in 2000 became known as the Deep Flight Aviator. The Aviator has since been sold to a company called Sub Aviator Systems, which offers its own Flight School experience.
Aldhouse writes that by 2007, Hawkes had teamed up with adventurer Steve Fossett to launch an audacious attempt to break the world record for a solo ocean dive. Fossett intended to take this craft, the Deep Flight Challenger, down to 37,000 feet (more than 11,000 meters), but perished in a plane crash before making the attempt. Deep Flight Challenger is now mothballed, held by Fossett’s estate. With Challenger retired before its chance of glory, attention is now focused on the Super Falcon.
Among the safety features is Super Falcon’s positive buoyancy, which means that, unlike a conventional submarine, there is no chance of sinking to the ocean depths if the power fails.
