TESTING THE
NAUTILUS MINISUB
Proving Tests at the Benicia Marina, March – August 1991
Float Test #1 was scheduled at about
0500 in the morning, because that’s when the tides would give us enough water
on the ramp to float the sub off the trailer, and because we wanted to minimize
spectators.
The objectives of the first test were to see if the submarine
would float, and to make sure it didn’t leak.
Pat with the sub on a jack, prior to hooking up to the van
after the second float test.
Trailering the NAUTILUS home after
the second float test. The sub sits
nose-high and backwards on the trailer, but this enables it to enter the water
straight forward and level on an inclined launching ramp.
It wasn’t long before people were talking about the house
with a submarine in the front yard.
Lynn checks float and stability during the early morning
launch for Float Test #3.
Pat piloting the NAUTILUS on the surface with the tanks dry
during the third float test.
A 50-foot cable enabled us to get
the trike-trailer deep enough to float the sub without getting the van
wet. This was the Fourth Float Test,
done in the afternoon of the same day we did FT#3. It was also the first time we operated the submarine with a large
number of spectators looking on.
Though we made no announcements beforehand, word spread quickly and
quite a few people showed up to watch.
NAUTILUS MINISUB entering the water on the ramp during Float
Test #4.
Pat closing the hatch at the start
of the fourth float test. This was the
only time we tried a dock entry; we learned it’s much easier to enter and exit
the sub while it’s still on the trailer.
Lynn guides the NAUTILUS away from the dock at the start of
Float Test #4.
A closeup of the pilothouse as the NAUTILUS MINISUB motors
away from the dock.
Running on a 24-volt electric motor, the NAUTILUS MINISUB
heads out into the Benicia Marina.
This was a surface maneuvering test. Running with the ballast tanks dry, the
submarine sits a bit high in the water, as expected. Design weight-and-balance calculations proved accurate to within
one pound.
Lynn takes a moment to smile for the camera at the end of a
very good day.
Pat and Lynn securing the sub on the trailer prior to
extraction after Float Test #4.
Surface run with the ballast tanks flooded down to normal
waterline during Float Test #6.
NAUTILUS spouts a plume of water vapor as Pat purges the ballast
system during the sixth float test.
NAUTILUS at sunset.
Lynn guides NAUTILUS backwards onto trailer during recovery.
Lynn steadies NAUTILUS on trailer while Pat opens hatch from
within.
Pat emerges from NAUTILUS after successful ballast system
test during Float Test #6.
NAUTILUS MINISUB begins
to submerge during first dynamic dive, Float Test #7.
Completely submerged except for the tail fin, first dynamic
dive test.
Friends help with launch while spectators observe during
Float Test #9.
Sub enters the water straight and normal during the launch for
ninth float test.
Safety Diver Lynn makes a last moment
directional check as the NAUTILUS MINISUB, ballasted down to dive, begins what
will be a submerged run across the Marina in zero visibility water.
The NAUTILUS MINISUB picks up speed and begins to dive.
GOING…..
GOING…..
GONE!!!
At this point I was running on
instruments and instincts: using dead reckoning, estimating time-and-distance,
and holding a course calculated to bring me up near a buoy on the other side of
the Marina.
The NAUTILUS pitches steeply down and dives at the start of a
submerged run.
I came up right next to the buoy, and was joined by Lynn who
stood by while I purged the ballast tanks.
NEW! This picture was shot on color slide film,
but the lab got the developing process wrong so the roll came out looking like
color negatives instead of slides. L Recently, I scanned this slide and then reversed the polarity to
create a positive image from the negative.
This is Lynn relaxing in the water alongside the sub, after a successful
test. The Nautilus is sitting with a
high waterline because the ballast tanks are empty and the pilot (me) is on the
dock, taking the picture. Note the
ramming spur is visible underwater. J
Safety Diver Lynn and friend Paul Silva steady the sub during
extraction after a successful test.
Pat Regan and the NAUTILUS MINISUB: Benicia California, USA,
1991.