Sci-Fi boats anyone?

>>Tom Speer
The glider concept is pretty interesting, this is good practical work for UAVs, however it doesn't seem to be useful for passenger transport and its way too slow for anything military - cant even add it as an extra function because the systems take up so much room. thanks for showing me that thought, pretty damn cool.

>>The "wings" in full spread mode will act as airplane
Yeah, I had that idea too. We have to suppose the pressure hull is extraordinarily light. I'm calling it intracomposite, (XD bull541t, yeah...) by which i mean, it isn't an alloy and the manner of compositing isn't layers but a matrix, a weave really, as if you could treat titanium fibers and other materials like cloth and make a fabric that has some excellent characteristics - especially light weight to pressure-bearing capacity and a good resistance to ruptures. Even so I don't suppose my Proteus can fly well or far - the limitation being power; the jets are fully electric and operate in or out of water, they are extremely compact too, however the Proteus requires all 7 operating at peak capacity to take to the air and thats some big energy gulping process. Rechargeable thermal batteries in conjunction with a conventional battery array? The diesel engines are also very advanced and generate enormous amounts of energy... yadda yadda - have a look at my attachment.

>>uses a "lifting Body"
not sure what that is

>>one or t'other - not both!
It can be done, the Proteus is a long list of comprises - but think about it, if theres a technology for making a very light submarine, we dont need 3000 feet dives, just enough to get under rough seas, hell 200 would be fine, I'm supposing we can do better and still have a craft with some high performance on the surface, even (as suggested) limited flight and certainly a WIG function.

>>North Korea: Hi Speed Submergible Boat
whacky fun

>>US stealth special forces boat, possibly submersible:
hmmm, I'm not focusing on stealth really, this version of Proteus has rounded surfaces for performance advantages and submarine functions for stealth, maybe even a sound absorbing skin and other sound dampening features, but again this isn't the main job - the Proteus isnt a sub v sub combat ship nor is it a sneaky nuke-launcher - its a patrol boat fighting relatively low-tech adversaries who dont generally try to cover all the bases, especially the sonar angle.

>>Jane's Fighting ships / contemporary sci-fi books / "techno-thriller"
thanks for the suggestions!

>>Karlos
Yep. Karlos is good at that sort of thing, his ideas are pretty fancy though.

I'm wondering if anyone here might want to 3D my boat for me.

So, here is my latest drawing. I have another I did before this, but its a bit of a mess. I used a cockpit/bridge based on Space Ship One. I could talk alot about aspects of this, the main thing thats not shown here is the wings - have a look at http://foils.org/gallery/hydrop3d.jpg for some idea where I'm headed though as mentioned these need to work like aerofoils too.

[The link on the attachment is incorrect should be suskasuina.deviantart.com]

 

A lifting body is usually referring to blended wing/body type craft, these can be anything from an "all wing" as the B2 bomber to something short and stubby like the space shuttle. Not always a good flyer, but reduces weight and size by taking advantage the "hull" to generate lift.

But forget it, there is no practical way in the near foreseeable future that anything practical as a sub, surface ship and flyable could even approaching this capability. It would be slow, heavy, a fuel hog, and very clumsy.

Though the idea reminds me of the old sci-fi series call "SeaView" where they had a flying sub. I always loved that show as a child, and the flying sub in particular. Now well over 4 decades later, several degrees and a professional license in engineering, and working in various industries (both hi-tech and low tech), I still do not see how it could be made viable even as sci-fi. Not that you could not make one that would work, it just would not be practical because of limited range and virtually no payload.

BTW, if you make it submersible do not even think of 200 ft depth capability, consider more like 40 ft max (or even 10 ft, to get just below the surface). The kind of pressure at 200 ft means it would be almost worthless for any other type of use since it would have to be too heavy and specialized to be able to go to those depths. Run a simple pressure calculation and you will understand.

 

>>A lifting body
ah yeah, i know what you mean

>>there is no practical way
primarily due to weight

>>SeaView
I'm not asking for full flight capability, just short hops

>>more like 40 ft max
I'm not sure that would do the trick, I think we will need 170 feet, i agree it will require a very serious sort of pressure hull, I just don't agree that it will always mean heavy - just.. expensive

 

In a big blow the scend of the ocean can be pretty deep! If you go too shallow the movement will throw you back up to the surface before you get a chance - and getting down again would be impossible! You have to be pretty deep to get any comfort from the weather! Thats a couple of atmospheres at least! some kinda pressure hull is required!!

Or freeflow water and suits through the cabin but that makes eating a problem (and plays havoc with the paper work and electrics!!!)

 

Would not a semi-submersible be less prone to overturning due to it's low center of gravity though?

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-submersible

 

Sus here’s my take from the other side. Semi-submersible, slim body to cut threw waves at high speeds, with a the right power could have some ground effect also.

 

....but don't let that stop you. Science Fiction is about inventing the future!
Developments in science follow ideas in science fiction not vice versa - well that may not be strictly true, but it's not totally wrong either.

 

:?: Now before someone says "there's no such thing as anti-gravity" think back to the early days of "anti-matter" in sci-phi. Today anti-matter is almost a reality.

:idea: What we need is anti-gravity. This will provide the lift needed to make our craft airborn (and spaceborn as well). The hull can now be built to go to a depth of several thousand feet as the increased weight will be easily abrogated by the anti-gravity generator carried aboard. And the strength needed to withstand the pressure of the deep will also provide an armor to fend off those death rays used by enemy ships. A small nuclear reactor could easily power such a device... after all, anti-gravity generators are fairly compact and have no moving parts.

 

Awesome, I love it.

It might need lift fans concealed behind louvers in the wings to get airborn though. Perhaps the lift thrust could be angled back 45 degrees via the louvers for forward motion.

Reference:
Louvers:
http://www.hoverclubofamerica.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=1305
[quote name='kach22i' date='Aug 20 2007, 05:36 AM' post='12274']
http://www.aiaa.org/tc/vstol/unbuilt/breguet/index_a.html




Lift system:
http://www.rutherford-research.ca/rrx/aero...spaceDesign.php



Lifting Body/blended wing:
http://www.wingco.com/

[/quote]

 

The post above is too large, sorry about that. It's so large I cannot get to the edit button on the far right hand side.

If the people who fix things on this board want to edit my images, please do so. All I ask is that you keep the links to the original images intact so people can still seek them out.

 

Katch he's talking 45 feet long, what sort of semisub that small could deal with anything more than force 8?

 

Force 8 is pretty nasty, most small craft that size should not even be out in a force 4, right?

A semisub just about doubles your sea state capabilities, right? And going RIB or RHIB (rubber raft inflatable) adds a good 30%................how about a semisub RHIB?

Some modern life boats for inspriation:
http://www.crseo.ucsb.edu/lter/field/0102season/02jan/outreach/


http://www.boats.dt.navy.mil/pg2/TELSOLAS.htm

http://dode777.jeeran.com/announcement_page3.html

 

Yeah force 4 is about right but you could (as long as the boat can take it) survive in an 8! Your lifeboats above would do that with no problem! You on the other hand wouldn't be to happy! but you would be alive - just!! as opposed to your rubber raft which just ain't fun!

 

In an earlier post I noted that technology has overtaken the imagination of the best writers. Some of us have been thinking that a fast surface craft that can also submerge is far out. Dang if someone hasn't built a prototype: 40 knots on the surface, dive to 600 ft and stay down for 48 hours. They are talking with the military, also with offshore oil support companies.The crew capsule shown will be swapped out for a pressurized capsule in the deep diving version.

http://www.hyper-sub.com/product.hs600m.php

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/02/apsubmarinedesigner070211/

 

Dang, there goes another patent idea down the tubes.