Reminds me of the Japanese WWII suicide torpedo, the kaiten.
Posted on 07/24/2008 9:36:12 AM PDT by atomic_dog
A Chinese labourer with only a basic school education has made a submarine at home.
Tao Xiangli made the 1.6 tonnes submarine mostly from metal barrels and improvised parts by hand, reports Zhong'an Online.
"Metal barrels are possibly the best material for me because of their low cost," said Tao, a migrant worker in Beijing.
The 20ft submarine is cramped inside with room for only one person but it features pressure metres, monitoring cameras, a TV set, oxygen supply and headlights.
"Although the equipment is simple, it's enough for a basic submarine, and more importantly, it enables the passenger to see things clearly underwater," said Tao.
It took Tao more than a year of research and experiments, but he says the most difficult challenge he faced was not a lack of knowledge, but of funds.
"The devices for submarines are all expensive, so because I couldn't afford them I found a lot of inexpensive replacements," he said.
Tao said the basic submarine cost him £2,200, the equivalent of a year's pay.
Tao is now in the final phase of debugging the submarine and hopes it will make its maiden voyage within the next week in Beijing. He says it can dive to a maximum depth of 10 meters, and should be quite safe.
Although he has only an elementary school education, Tao owns 17 patents, including a head massager, a washing machine and a shoe polisher.
Reminds me of the Japanese WWII suicide torpedo, the kaiten.
Yes, because then you'd have no idea of the "carbon impact" of the vessel nor how badly it oppresses women and minorities.
I am feeling claustrophobic just looking at that thing...
Bosh! If man were meant to fly, he'd have been born with wings!!
Actually they are the same thing. LOL
Hopefully, you are being sarcastic. That is a picture of doing something on the cheap, which is what the Chinese are good at. How about a sub that can even go down 60-70 feet without popping a leak? He’ll get it right on the 6th or 7th try, maybe - if he survives.
Where I live, by Long Island Sound, there are a number of submarine hobbyists who build their own one man subs that are far superior in construction to that. Norwalk and, I think, Mystic, maritime centers have a couple on display.
There was also an article a few years ago about some guy near New York City who got into all kinds of trouble when he tried to test his replica of the Bushnell sub from the revolutionary war. Harbor police thought he was a terrorist.
Was the first thought I had.
One more thing: if it doesn’t prove seaworthy, that thing would make one heck of a smoker for Carolina-style pork.
Uh, well, yes. As a simple search would have revealed even unto you. For example, Here are a few of the many hundreds of possible links to home-made submarine projects.
I wanted one of those when I was 7...
Yes, I can... but we'd do it with a bit more style:
That's not just a miniature prop from a movie set - it actually submerges. There are a dozen or so *documented* privately-built minisubs. Google "manned scale submersible".
ping
Cool. Just like the old Disney ride 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea that no longer exists...
I will now change to envy ping.
He has a vision and carries it out, and gets trashed on FR, amazing.
All for wont of advanced education.
Just think of all the inventions that would never be, if education stood in the way.
If he dies when he takes it out for first voyage at least he did more than I have ever done.
Yes I was being sarcastic. I spent years of my life as a nuc on SSNs and my wife worked on subs at the Navy Yard in Vallejo and worked on human powered subs for fun. People in this country used to build stuff like that for fun. Who cares if it works? It looks cool in the front yard. I always liked that boat on the roof in "Ghost Dog". You just don't see that sort of thing attempted here much anymore and if any tried it without approval the government would probably confiscate it.
“Wow! Could you imagine an American building such a thing? Maybe China deserves to be next world power.”
No, the problem is the other countries build them to GET to America! Actually, during the Revolution (1812, Civil war?...I need to check) the US militia built a sub. And it worked, for a little while...
This was just the other day.....
Mexico faces new drug challenge: mini-submarines
Colombian suppliers have increasingly used small, semi-submersibles to try to smuggle drugs north toward their eventual markets, mainly in the U.S.
Interesting article and photos.
July 18, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sub18-2008jul18,0,7517274.story
He is not getting, universally, trashed. Some folks are trashing him but most are trashing the poster who thinks this is beyond what many Americans an do..
I like this guy.
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