This Plane Could Fly Underwater...
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- Опубликовано: 25 май 2021
- INCREDIBLE Submarine Plane - Convair Submerging Seaplane
In 1962... the US navy had a submarine problem. Unknown threats under the sea that had become nuclear. The solution? the creation of a jet aircraft that could track and attack these iron beasts - an impossibly tall order.
This future plane needed to be able to find submarines fast, track them over the ocean, And believe it or not it needed to be able to hunt submarines in their own environment - underwater.
Hold your breath, because we are about to dive deep to explore the never built Convair Submerging Seaplane...
Since world war two, submarines defense had become a unique staple of war time efforts. Nazi U-boats had hunted allied convoys, and with the development of submarine launch nuclear cruise missiles, they now posed a grave threat on land based cities.
While submarine-hunting boats had been effective, the age of the jet engine provided additional opportunities that had yet to be explored. Perhaps a plane, with its ability to quickly fly over vast areas of the ocean, would be the idea submarine hunter-killer.
To tackle this deep water problem, the US navy commissioned four different studies into the idea of a submarine attack plane, with the winner to receive a grant for $36,000 for futher study, about 315,000 in 2021 dollars.
It was called the Convair and General Electric high-density seaplane. High density, because it would be able to go under the water itself. The plane would be 50.5 feet long, 15.39 meters, and have a wingspan of 39 feet, or 11.88 meters.
It would have three turbojet engines that would be waterproof and have the ability to seal when under the water. It would have a retractable hydrosky that would deploy for takeoff and landing, and it would have a little propeller on the underside of the tail that would allow it to move underwater.
When it comes to range, we need to clarify the difference between flying and underwater. It had a range of 300 to 500 nautical miles in the air, or around 926 kilometers, and a much shorter range of only 50 miles underwater or just shy of 100 kilometers.
For speed, it was capable of 225 knots, or 258 miles per hour in cruise, or around 417 kilometers per hour, so not as fast as a jet aircraft at all dispite having three engines. Underwater, it would only be able to move at a speed of 5 knots, or 6 miles per hour or 9.26 kilometers per hour. But before you think this is the slowest submarine plane you have ever heard of, keep in mind it could travel underwater for up to ten hours - before returning to base!
The plane would accomplish this by having air-tight engines, a closed-off fuel tank, and a crew compartment with an oxygen supply, with the rest of the plane flooding with water to go up to a depth of 75 feet, or 22 meters.
The idea was that when a call went out that a submarine was near, the plane would deploy off a boat and travel to the location rising up to only around 2,500 feet, or 700 meters above sea level, before landing on the water and diving below the waves. It would cruse underwater, deploy it payload up to 1500 pounds, 450 kilograms, before surfacing and flying home. Because of the weight of the weapon, and the ability to stay submerged for long periods, this plane would have been the perfect ambush craft for enemy convoys, as well as the submarine-hunting role.
There isn't much mention beyond these specifics as to how it would find a submarine in the shallow depths of only 75 feet, but we admit that this was a revolutionary engineering challenge at the time.
The design was shown publically in 1975 by Convair and General Electric and was worked on for about six months, in partnership with the institute of aeronautics and astronautics, and the US Navy beuro of weapons. However, the project seems to have sunk here, and not proceeded any futher than some water tests.
Its hard to say the exact reason why, but seemling this plane design was a jack of all trades, but a master of none - the plane wasn't a very good plane, with poor range and terrible speed. It was also a terrible boat and submarine, unable to dive deep nor go very fast.Perhaps if the engineers had been given more time they would have been able to work out all the kinks. We don't know for sure!
But I admit, the idea of a plane that can sink like a james bond car and then take off like nothing happened is an incredible idea. An idea that was just not possible for the powers in charge back in the 1960s. Althought we can totally imagine the look on the russians faces when they found out that this aircraft exists, and was more than capable for what it claimed!
A funny story... In 1962, at the age of 10, I sent a drawing to the Air Force that looked just like this design, except it didn't have the fuselage engine, just the wing engines, and had retractable skis under the wings. I got a very nice letter from the Air Force saying they thought it was a good idea, and they would send it to the appropriate people. It also asked that I study very hard, and after college, consider an engineering career with the Air Force! I was a very thrilled 10 year old to get an official letter from our Air Force. Never heard another word from them. LOL!
OMG! 😲😲 So Convair spending taxpayer money trying to do this thing is YOUR fault!
Thanks! At least now we know. 😎
That is pretty neat sir. I love drawing futuristic concepts and stuff. :)
Did you become an weapon engineer?
@@ThatBoomerDude56 hahaha
That would be very exciting to a 10 year old especially back then.
7:13 "It's hard to say the exact reason why this project never really went ahead..."
I'm actually amazed it went as far as it did. The whole way it would have been fighting against the simple question of 'is this concept actually better than our current method of air-dropped depth charges and torpedoes?'.
honestly that's what got me. those people must have spent more time justifying why it was needed than developing it. "why not just airdrop a torpedo?" "because we want a plane that can chase the submarine 75 ft down under the water and go twice walking speed" honestly this sounds like a really bad concept especially once you factor in the soviets figuring out it's weakness. "oh, whats that, the new american sub plane? just dive a couple hundred feet and torpedo it."
Some senator or general's thought fart perhaps only greenlighted as part of some horse trading to get support for something or someone?
@@cheezitz6730 Submarines torpedoing other submarines (or submarine-like objects) is sufficiently difficult that it's only happened once in history: HMS Venturer vs U-864 in 1945,
Probably easier these days with homing torpedoes, but back when Convair's flying sub was being planned, I don't know if torpedo technology was up to it. Of course, that brings into question the sub-plane's utility as a sub-hunter...
Exactly. Today we have LAMPS helicopters.
I think this was actually designed only to attack ships in harbor or at anchor
Not a jack of all trades or submarine hunter at all
It was a midget-sub that can be flown near an enemy harbor, sneak in underwater, drop an explosive under a key ship, then escape...
You wouldn't use an air dropped weapon instead, because of AA weapons around the enemy harbor/anchorage..
I can't see it engaging moving ships at all.. :)
This channel has grown so much and we just had 10,000 subscribers 6 months ago..
I know right!
The algorithm blessed them
Its a good Chanel
100k incoming!
true.
Always remember: "There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky"
But neither number is necessarily zero.
@@Starjumper2821 When was the last time you saw a submarine in the air?
@@kutter_ttl6786 When I tripped carrying my poor Nautilus model :(
@@kutter_ttl6786the op is only about submarines in the sky not that they have to fly under their own power. They're not the kind of submarines you're thinking of, but its not unusual for DSRV rescue submarines to be air transported to where they need to be, e.g. ruclips.net/video/lVysGD9c3a4/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/UltLFw5uxJo/видео.html 5:15
@GamingToastAirways GL: Always remember: "There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky" One particular navy designer: "Hold my beer........"
Although the concept had issues and wasn't thoroughly developed... You have to admit it's cool AF
8l
The US Navy is only interested in carrier-based aircraft
Yea but could never work. Light enough to fly while heavy enough to handle depth pressures. Not to mention the noise from all that external gear.
@@wolfgangjr74 I like your consideration and thought, about the possibility and the reality of a 'dream concept' aircraft forever. Many idiots are fooling the public, and so they are attempting at fooling with the laws of physics and of other natural sciences. An aircraft that acts like a rocket probably can dive in the water, but this type of aircraft is not maneuverable enough to be of service for the military.
@@wolfgangjr74 There's a big difference between a submarine and a deep sea submarine, often the same materials that are good at withstanding an AA weapon are also good at withstanding standard submarine depths (of course, with exemptions). An expensive possibility would be some form of Carbon Nano tubing that is both light and extremely resistant to the pressures of high water submersion. It would also be fascinating to see a material that is effective at changing densities via either chemical change or modulations in electromagnetic charge being that it composes a significant percentage of atomic mass and wouldn't affect the isotope. The first inclination would be a forced chemical reaction as the result of extreme water pressure, but that would have to be a compound reaction (rather than an exchange), otherwise the hydrogen would simply make the material lighter or the oxygen would simply oxidize.
It's also a possibility to have multiple planes that are able to lock together into one homogenous unit that would allow the lightness of an aircraft when separated and the depth resistance of a submarine when conjoined. This would also give the initiative a broader scope of range to search for target submarines within the designated region.
5:06 It's also the fastest submarine plane I've ever heard of.
Matter of fact it's the _only_ submarine plane I've ever heard of
Then _you_ don't get around much.
@@craigwall9536 You talk like submarine planes are a normal thing in your world, eh?
They realize the saucer and Tube shape ones work better with sheeple
Have you ever hear of Malaysia flight 370?
"Jack of all trades, master of none, but better than a master of one."
The AK-12 in Phantom Forces in a nutshell
@@tutus3dall-starsmultiversa646 lol
ak47?
Not so sure about that.
@@tutus3dall-starsmultiversa646 m4a1?
Really feels like a coincidence that everyone plays phantom forces here haha
Somewhere on soviet submarine:
"Captain!"
"What's up comrade?"
"Plane is attacking us!"
"Just dive deeper."
"But that plane is already under water."
Captain: *"confused unga bunga."*
Captain: 👁👄👁
Personally I could totally see this as a tourist vehicle I’d love to take a flight above Hawaii and then dive down and see the aquatic environment. Wouldn’t be a bad spy plane design either
There isn't a recon plane on this planet that can replace the SR-71 series.
I imagine you’d need a scuba license like Richard Branson’s submarine.
Needing jet fuel to get underwater would make it pricey to operate
What engineers have done in the 1960's, like landing on the moon and building that airplane, may appear to many of us as trivial when compared with today's technology. But, if you consider the power of the old computers they had, you will always be amazed how their skills made-up for the lack of sufficient computing power.
Honestly, computers may have gotten faster, but the number of innovations since the 2010s have decreased. The 1960s had a bigger boom in technology than the late 2010s. :)
Reminded me "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" 😀
I keep thinking about the Flying Sub on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. It was a nuclear powered sub that was launched from a hangar on a large sub named Seaview.
@@Sherwoody The same example I was going to cite. :-)
Thus showing the value of the "check what other people have written before commenting" concept.
@@pauld6967 same here. I watched this video remembering the scenes and the intro theme of the TV series.
@@chpsilva Sonarman Kowolski has a contact at 3,000 yards, bearing 270.
Chief Sharkey is in the Missile Room.
Captain Crane: "Mr. Morton, as soon as the diving bell and Admiral Nelson is recovered, dive the boat and come to course 270, flank speed, sound General Quarters. I will be in the observation bow."
Very underrated movie.
It better be called the flying frog or ima go build my own sub-plane just to name it that.
" The flying Frog " Lol ..
Are you sure you don't want to name it the "Sea Ghoul"'?😏
How about the drowning bird?
@@gojewla seagull corpse?
This gives me some serious SeaQuest vibes!
This concept applied to a cruise missile would work really well. Basically, a flying torpedo. It flies to a location, lands on the water, sinks, then becomes a torpedo.
Why am I wondering if this weapon doesn't actually exist?
The flying manta sub from a series " voyage to the bottom of the sea: was one of the coolest things I seen as a kid.
"There are more planes in the sea than submarines in the sky"
2 videos in a week! Getting productive huh, Nick? Keep up the work btw 👍🏽
You know it!
When I was a kid, there was a show called Voyage to the bottom of the sea, and I was nuts about it. The Sub carried a smaller “Flying Sub” it was disk shaped, like a UFO. Man, at 6 years old, that was the coolest thing I ever saw
I agree. I was about your age when that show was in its first run, too. Did you ever build the Aurora kit of this . . . ?
I'm sure that someone, in a certain other department of engineering, took a look at this at some stage and wondered "Hmmm what if we replace the crew capsule for a nuclear warhead and have nukes popping out of the ocean to deliver the soviets a nasty second-strike surprise"
Only they then trimmed the plane down to such a degree that it was no longer a plane at all but a missile.
They did literially that. then they went- what if it was piloted by someone? and then we have the submerging convair missile haha
Just a thank you for all the efort you put into each video
Some smartass: heh-heh, there are more planes in the sky than there are submarines in the sea.
The US Navy: that's a neat concept you got there, champ!
The smartest: what the f*ck. WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK.
I've been hooked to this channel this past few days (feels like Mustard, only with lots more frequent videos and still hq). Congrats for the great work!
I think there was something like this that had test runs in the 40's (different purpose probably, was most likely used to get out of the ocean and surface near shore and either bomb or rain fire on beaches or land and dive back down).
Misspelled "Torpedo" at the ramwing plane part, otherwise as quality as always!
Thank you for the great content! Makes my day especially while studying for tests.
That has reminded me the Barracudas of XCOM 2 Terror from the Deep. Yes, I have finished that game multiple times. And I didn't see any mentions of XCOM 2 among comments up to now. I have seen 2 comments of Shado though, a show that can be seen as among the main influencers of XCOM series. I don't live in UK or US so I didn't watch that show but I would like to.
I noticed you had footage of a _ballistic_ missile when talking about the first cruise missile-equipped subs. Any chance of a video about USS Halibut and the Regulus and Regulus II cruise missiles? (Might have to do a second video about Halibut's second career as a spy-sub, though.)
The inginuity in these concepts is amazing!
There isn't criativity like this nowadays.
And I can imagine some things.
this reminds me of those propeller planes diving straight into the ocean
Thank you for making such great videos. I look forward to each one. I learn so much and enjoy then more then I can say. Please don't ever stop.
Crazy idea. Good for "Thunderbird" though.....
This design: exist
Sonobouy: I am about to end it's whole career
The animations are most likely the best part of your videos.Keep the good work up.
Wow, thanks!
I could see the 3rd gen version of this plane capable of diving into the water directly w/out landing. Coooooooool. Love this.
Your videos are always informative because most people don’t knows these secret plane
Might be a design failure, but damn it's really cool looking =)
Love this so channel so much! Also thanks for postingt while I was drinking sonic lol
Love the new canvas blueprint style!
Fantastic graphics guys, love your work.
Geez you make some great videos. Well narrated and the CGI are very well done!
Cheers dude! How have you been!
@@FoundAndExplained good! Working up in Darwin at the moment getting sunburnt and chasing crocs.
Wow, definitely a creative concept, thanks. Wouldn't it make a big detectable sound on landing?
Totally unaware of this project. Also that it is possible to prounounce ‘underwater’ as ‘undawawtah’ :)
Great video; keep these coming!
Love all your videos, keep up the good work
I'm just curious- do you do the 3D modeling of the planes yourself from the ground up if there isn't a starting point (like a 747 variant)?
He makes the 3d models.
Yeah he’s done a couple live-streams showing him create models and stuff for vids
I’m glad this was found and explained
This is old the Seaview had a flying sub.
"Dex rigged it up. got the idea from one of his comic books."
I love this and the WIG craft concept.
The ability to dwell on the surface conserving fuel until needed is a neat feature.
you should do more videos about submarines. the way you say 'wotah' is just perfect😂😂
This is a great video! Your channel is one of the few that shows aircraft that I've never seen before and I love it! If the aircraft could go down to 75 ft as a submarine, then that would be more than enough to facilitate an attack on an enemy submarine that is much deeper. The torpedoes can go far deeper than 75 ft and the sonar that it carries would be able to detect a submarine below them unless they're under a thermocline but that's a whole different discussion. Keep up the great work man have a good day!
Ithink main reason it was cancelled is introduction of sonobuyoes ast they provided underwater listening for aircrafts above
@@hphp31416 Right. A decent sonobouy contact and a Davy Crocket-sized 0.1KT nuclear depth charge and your done. That's NOT, however, going to solve your clandestine ops.
The sea plane with sub underneath would have been an enemy submarine's worst nightmare. It could drop an active sonar bouy first, and once an enemy sub is located, set the sub hunting sub on top of it.
Fascinating. Great video.
There was also a Russian design being developed from 1934 to 1938 called the Ushakov Flying Submarine (Летающая Подводная Лодка Ушакова) that would have been comparable in overall purpose - though their focus was more on rapid attacks on enemy surface ships rather than submarines. And there was also Donald Reid's RFS-1 (Reid Flying Submarine) - which was actually built, but it was a tiny one-man experimental craft.
We made a 3 hull submarine with a aircraft deck,the middle section took the conning tower with weapons front and back the right hand side took the crew and vessel operation and the left hand side took the fuel for itself and anything else like a plane landing on the deck.
I would imagine that the biggest obstacle would be making it light enough to fly, yet strong (heavy) enough to withstand water pressure. Even at 75 feet the pressure on the hull would be over 2 atmospheres. I suppose pressurizing the cabin before it submerges would help.
There are a number of such concept planes. Prototypes were built but often have to be discarded for certain reasons.
They would remain as beautiful concepts until such day when some actually turn out to work beautifully..
plane: sees sumbarine
also plane: i wannna be one!
Ok thats it. Coolest aircraft concept ever
I was designing something like this.
But like one of the others, mine also was 2 different crafts. Basically the sub was carried under a ground effect vehicle. To many complications.
My design has moved to an all electric Experimental Underwater Research Vessel.
The vessel can be used for tourism, research, government, and more..
In fact, there is a market for the public in underwater tourism.
Imagine being able to go down and learn about the history of ships or government experiments.
Just like National Parks, there are underwater beautiful wonders.
Really? That’s really cool! Keep up your work! 👍
I literally was just thinking about this idea for the longest time unaware that this actually a real thing
Amazing! Love this
Incredible. I didn't know it was possible !
Convair was a company that people would expect could pull it off. Them or Martin.
Convair built the F2Y Sea Dart, a jet powered fighter/interceptor seaplane.
Martin built the P6M SeaMaster, a jet powered bomber seaplane.
It would make for an interesting private jet/sub, especially with todays tech, esp better batteries. That would free internal space for passengers.
We need to somehow convince Elon to do it.
Reminds me of the Futurama bit about the Planet Express Ship only being designed for between 1 and 0 atmospheres.
My father worked on a flying boat project. I think it would now be a great drone / man less hunter killer
Wow that looks very awesome!
I remember reading a story by Jules Verne called, “Master of the World” and he dreamed of a similar vehicle like this called, “the Terror.” The difference is that it was one part rocket car, one part speed boat, one part submarine, and one part jet plane.
" Mighty Jack " was a tv series based on a super flying sub big enough to deploy fighter jets wich could take off / return while the sub was submerged ( 1968 Japan).
FWIW: A while back I read an article/technical paper/{whatever} from the 1960s or early 1970s, written or cowritten by Francis M. Rogallo It was about the potential future uses of the flexwing/parawing he invented.
ONE of those uses was for a _flying submersible._ There was no real detail about the design other than it was mentioned, so I do not know if there was any actual research towards a prototype or not.
Good video never knew about this
In theory, aerodynamics is just hydrodynamics with less dense fluid. In practice, an aircraft and a submarine are VERY different.
This idea would only work if the wing and tail were retractable.
Heard more about the twin engine Russian propeller driven submersible aircraft. Never heard about this one though. Thanks
Ekranoplan laughs at your flying submarine !
US:
"We got a submarine that can fly!"
The Soviets:
- Laugh in ekranoplan 🤣😎
There was a pre-war soviet project of flying submarine
It can’t go under water only above water
@@nobpyxl5389 It was one of the only somewhat analagous technologies the Soviets had at that time. That's the only reason I brought it up.
What about closing intakes on engines & injecting high volume air artificially by compressor(s) high boost flaired air w/direction nozzle for steerage on fuselage
engine lateral control and possibly single sublevel propulsion w/other engines for linear boost to accelerate. ?
I can't imagine how heavy that would be
I was thinking of the weight of the lead acid batteries necessary to enable the range/endurance. I suppose it could have used silver oxide - zinc batteries which I think the Soviets used in some of their subs and torpedoes.
Some of the ideas remind me of SkyDiver from 1970s UK TV series 'UFO'. Their submarine had a fighter plane attachment that was shot underwater to break water surface and fly off to the skies.
The Soviets looked into something similar before ww2 called the flying submarine but used props not jets.
Yup.
This has got to be the coolest plane that was never built
How " THUNDERBIRDS " are ALL of the Concepts . No surprise Convair came up with the most viable option . Always cutting edge designers/builders .
Yeah. Convair engineers were so good they could make even useless ideas work. 😎
(My dad was on the flight test team at Convair. His friend got killed in the Sea Dart.)
I didn't know they had crack in the 1960s. But apparently the engineers at Convair got a hold of some.
The USSR made a ship that glides, The USA made a plane that swims. The Cold War was a truly crazy time.
I love these videos!
Adding a teaser preview on the next topic make me want to watch the next video now
The engineers at Convair were wild.
Most of the Convair engineers were actually practical people. My family's friends were all on the flight test crew. But they were willing to study useless nonsense like this if the military or top management paid them to do it.
Merci werner !!!!!
I believe there was a model kit available briefly but I did not have enough money the one time I saw it on the shelf.
Johnny Quest; I love it ⚡
everybody gangsta until the plane can submerge
Thank - you .
imagine the travelling possibility's if this was built.
the submersible capability is just useless and redundant for normal travel.
What planes are those at 1:17 taking off from the carrier ?
a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.....
The British were doing something like this also in the 60s, but they went the other was round, they started with a submarine and work on it that way to the air, They hit the same problems as the USA, the propulsion will not combine marine and atmosphere or the other way round. But what did come out of it was a sub that could fly underwater at a faster speed than any normal submarine. Branson took up the idea and develop it even more to go faster underwater and have a glass dome cockpit that could take water pressures of up to 120 feet underwater
SHADO has a submersible similar to this - 🛸👽
It seems to me like if you could have both a submersible carrier and submersible planes it would be incredibly beneficial.
6:00 "it's not like it was afraid of getting wet" damn I hate my mind
Honestly had never heard of this one