Inventor Graham Hawkes liked the idea that I am both an experienced pilot and experienced scuba diver, although neither of those skills transfers completely to the Deep Aviator. It does fly much like an airplane and does dive deep, but it is truly a unique vehicle. The submarine is smooth and shark-like in its shape, with a hard plastic or polyurethane finish. The design is deceptively simple, basically a pair of self-contained diving bells in a streamlined shell, with electric motors mounted just aft of the waist, and inside the shell are crammed batteries, oxygen and emergency systems. The controls in the cockpits move wings on the submarine, to allow maneuvering with as little as 1 and a quarter knot (about 2 mile per hour) forward speed. It can dive as deep as 1500 feet below the surface, ten times deeper than SCUBA typically goes, and into the mysterious region of the ocean where it's nearly always dark. The cockpit opening initially seemed cramped for a 6-foot, 200-pound reporter, but after a few moments, I felt comfortable inside the aluminum shell. The seat is a conformal plastic, a control stick (as in a jet fighter) between your knees and a throttle control on the left. A clear plastic bubble settles onto the smooth rim of the cockpit and you're sealed in. There's a hum from a fan that circulates air through a carbon dioxide scrubber, and a slight hiss from the oxygen inlet, but sounds from outside are muffled and you feel protected inside the solid cocoon structure. It is cool to the touch and a few drops of moisture condense on the metal. I sat in the rear cockpit, Graham in the front. We each had a small radio and could communicate to the surface crew and between each other. Interestingly, Graham and I could talk to each other even while submerged, the radio waves penetrated the few feet of seawater between us. Graham had the call sign "Gray Hawk" and I was "Sea Fox." We used these call signs for each radio transmission. The radio is important to keep track of the two inflatable boats we had tagging along with cameras and divers. In front of each canopy bubble is a cluster of instruments, showing magnetic heading, dive angle and depth. In the relatively low visibility in Monterey Bay midwater, these instruments would give me reassurance where we were headed. We were lowered in by crane, then released from the harness by a diver, and we were off. A slight nudge of the throttle produce an instant acceleration, with waves rolling up around the canopies, the sub appears to have plenty of thrust. After maneuvering around a tuna boat that was entering the harbor, we turned the corner around the Monterey Pier and were quietly humming out to sea. We stayed on the surface while near harbor inlets and other boats, since we had no way to see other boats while submerged. Deep Aviator appeared stable and rolled only slightly in wakes from other boats. The visibility on the surface was magnificent: eyes just inches above the surface, and by dipping just slightly you could see fish, jellies and even sealions cavorting alongside. This truly was a test dive, it had only been in the ocean once, the day before, and a few minor things weren't working as designed, but nothing that presented any problem. Graham had checked me out on the systems, and when we were in deep water he simply asked "ready?" and we dove beneath the waves. It takes a good push to move the stick forward at speed, and instantly the water rushed over our heads and the sparkling surface receded into a curtain of shafts of sunlight. Underwater, the motor sound dominates, an electric whine and a thrumming of the enclosed propellors. As we dove deeper, sea creatures seemed to fly by. There is a strong sensation of speed, although we never went faster than about six knots. Our feet rested on rudder controls, and by nudging the rudder and the stick together, you can bank Deep Aviator into a relatively tight turn, using a little back pressure on the stick to control depth. In this way it is very much like an airplane, the wings produce "lift" downward, to hold the sub underwater. If you let go of the controls or stop the motors, as we did as part of a test, the sub simply floats to the surface. | | The biggest advantage of Deep Aviator is the shirtsleeve, sea-level atmosphere inside the cockpit. Gone is any worry about decompression or "the bends." Pressure change in scuba diving is an overwhelming and life-threatening concern, limiting time and depth in the ocean. That concern is a thing of the past in this submarine. Using hand-held pressure monitors, we did regularly evaluate our individual cockpit pressures to ensure no leaks and proper operation of the oxygen system. Graham let me take the controls on several passes past submerged divers and under our photo boats, but due to the relatively low visibility of Monterey Bay we were not able to experience the true potential of the submarine, say diving in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean or South Pacific, where I've yearned to be able to fly along a coral reef, or play tag with manta rays. by JOHN FOWLER  |
More about Deep Flight Aviator... | SPECIFICATIONS - Sub Type: Hydrobatic
- Name: Deep Flight Aviator
- Numerical Design Designation: DF 502
- Owner of the first craft built: Spirit Of Adventure LTD.
- Operating Depth: 1,500 fsw
- Crew: 2
- Design Authority: Hawkes Ocean Technologies (H.O.T.), Graham Hawkes.
- Certification requested for the first craft: Serial No. DF Aviator/001. Given Name for DF Aviator/001 "SPIRIT"
DESCRIPTION - The DF Aviator is a two person craft with individual pressure hull accommodation. The two pressure hulls are fitted, in tandem, to a low drag, winged submersible craft.
- Crew is housed in a recumbent position with standard geometry acrylic spherical sector domes. The body and foot dome of each pressure hull is commercial grade sand-cast aluminum.
- Life support is conventional O2 make up and soda-sorb CO2 scrubbers, designed to ABS regulations.
- The craft is electric (zero pollution) with external individually compensated lead acid batteries. The main battery buss voltage is reduced from 120 volt DC standard (Deep Rover series) to 48VDC to make the craft intrinsically safer for those working around the craft.
- The novel aspects of the design are that the DF 502 is specialized for longer-range explorations, rather than typical manipulator type work mode of conventional submersibles. The craft is streamlined and intended for general operation trimmed positively to an "intrinsically safer" positively buoyant condition, with balancing down force generated by negative lift surfaces (main wing).
- Above "stall" speed (est.1.2 knots), the craft operates under dynamic control, using control surfaces to control heading, pitch, roll and so to maneuver the craft.
- For stationary loitering (when needed), the craft can be conventionally operated using conventional variable (soft) buoyancy tanks and emergency drop weight system.
- In operation the craft is "flown" in a manner directly analogous to a fixed winged aircraft, rather than operated under static forces of buoyancy and vectored thrust as conventional submersibles. There is mechanical linkage from Joy Stick and rudder bars to pitch, roll and heading control surfaces. Each cockpit has a full set of (dual) linked controls. The thrusters are electronically controlled.
- The DF Aviator will therefore require specialized pilot training. Hence the operator of the DF Aviator will require basically different (or additional) training and licensing to pilot a hydrobatic craft.
- Surface Emergency exit is facilitated by a system of inflated ballast bags that provide sufficient excess buoyancy and added stability to float the craft. Surface egress is possible in any sea state.
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