Wow! Could you imagine an American building such a thing? Maybe China deserves to be next world power.
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.
Wow! Could you imagine an American building such a thing? Maybe China deserves to be next world power.
yes I can imagine an american building such a thing. Only they usually build it out of stuff that won’t crush at depth.
I hope he can keep it pressurized properly because otherwise at 10 meters its gonna implode.
I hope he survives to try again though.
Yes, I can see an American building one. Then promptly being arrested and prosecuted once he dared to put it in the water.
I’m thinking burial at sea.
It looks like one of those Popular Mechanics projects from the 1950s.
This dude just spent a year’s salary building his own coffin.
I think this would be more fun:
http://zerosix.wordpress.com/2008/07/09/sub-that-swims-like-a-dolphin-seabreacher/
Nice coffin!
Man that Seabreacher is awesome!
Here’s an article that appeared in Popular Mechanix, back in the day.... http://www.rqriley.com/aquasub.html
I always wanted to build one.
Drowning would be such a miserable way to go.
No way I'd get into a submarine made by someone without a college degree.
Its just a reproduction of the css hunley 100 years later.
Now he’s just looking for a test pilot who’s crazy enough to take it down on its maiden voyage. Jeez, it looks like he just welded together fifteen or so 55-gallon drums.
The chances of getting me into that thing are, ‘not in a million years!’
Yep.
I wouldn’t get in a sub made by most degreed people. Its not the school but the knowledge thats important.
There are examples of good little subs made elsewhere.
I remember seeing a show where they tested the depth that these barrels crushed like a soda can. The ribs add significant strength and I believe they survived 10 meters. However I still wouldn’t crawl in one.
Yikes!!
I appreciate the effort and investment, but I wouldn't trust an elementary schooled shoe polisher inventor to make a safe submarine.
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