I read an article where the US Navy studied the design,ironic as they originally didn't help when asked by the show's designers.(they did get a positive response from the British Navy)They have run an in depth study,but i gather they could not overcome certain problems.
I think the problem of creating a real life Flying Sub is the weight.Another TV series,'UFO' had,amongst it's array of vehicles,a hybrid sub called Skydiver.The front part could detach and break the surface as a conventional fighter.The sub's depth was limited to around 800 feet because Sky 1 needed to be light enough to fly,so couldn't have the structures required to stop it from collapsing at depth.In one episode,they did push the depth trying to find UFO wreckage on the sea floor,but it was too deep and was aborted after the plates started buckling.
Incidentaly,this strength/weight issue is why we don't have flying cars...they need the lightweight to fly,but fail on the crash tests that standard autos have to pass.
Steve J
"Flank Speed!"
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17 years ago
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1shado1
15 years ago
Ever heard of "fly-by-wire"?
Now if that bastard so much as twitches, I'm going to blow him right to Mars.
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mlaughlin22
14 years ago
Richard Branson of Virgin airline just made one only $300.000
clams Yahoo news.
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andrewwjohnson
14 years ago
In "Eleven Days to Zero" the Sea View is dept charged by a blended wing adversary bomber. At the start of "The Human Computer" a US Navy version of the same manta ray like aircraft 'sinks" the Sea View during a military exercise. As often was the case on the series they used they same special effects footage in both episodes.
the Flying Sub was apparently based on the same futuristic design, with a shorter wingspan and modification for underwater use and was a production aircraft given the fact so many of them were lost during the series. Apparently only the front, interior and rear hatch area was built as a full size set since there were no scenes where anyone walked around the aircraft on dry land.
It wasn't clear if it had landing gear or even landing gear doors. In a few episodes the characters landed on dry land or even on an aircraft carrier off camera of course. Usually it landed on the water. Their is computer animation on U-tube of the Flying Sub landing and taking off from a runaway and Moebius Models sells a landing gear set for their 1/32 scale version.
There were other question like how the thing powered? Jet engines would be useless under water so they should have had propellers or aqua jets.
Wouldn't the desk chair like seats fold up under the the G-forces caused by slamming into the water?.
Of course this is only a TV series from the mid sixties so I guess technical accuracy wasn't that important.
TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
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14 years ago
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winterview
13 years ago
As I recall, the flying sub was nuclear powered. In real life, Convair was experimenting with a nuclear reactor on a B-36 bomber, and Admiral Rickover was banging out new and improved nuclear submarine designs every week, so a sci-fi series filmed in the early 60s could very easily have blended the 2 programs into one 'plausible' device, the flying sub.
One little point, however, despite his brillance, why oh why did Admiral Nelson not put the hatch for the flying sub ON TOP of the Seaview instead of the bottom? The Seaview sank about every 3rd episode or so, having the flying sub pop out the top would have been a pretty handy feature!
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rockmail
9 years ago
A hatch on top means the flying sub would have to launch straight into the air if the Seaview was surfaced, and I don't believe it had the capability to do so. It was a sub first, and a flying wing second. Hence, it has to sink down into the water first, and a bottom hatch was mandatory.
The best solution would be a side or rear/top hatch so the flying sub could slide out no matter the position of the seaview.
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traitorjoe666
9 years ago
>Another TV series,'UFO' had,amongst it's array of vehicles,a hybrid sub called Skydiver.The front part could detach and break the surface as a conventional fighter.
One nice touch they did for SkyDiver was the name and its placement on the vehicle, at least on the port side.
It printed was right at the "seam", so when "Sky" would take off, "Diver" would be left behind.
Of course, on the starboard side, it'd have to be named DiverSky for that to work.
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