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eskimo3883
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Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Mon Jul 27, 2020 1:28 am

Hi,

I recently purchased this vintage two man sub.

Image

I believe it is a home built starting with an aluminum aircraft drop tank with two modified trolling motors. FIberglas seats. I suspect it was built late 60's/early 70's but don't really know. Was told it was built somewhere between Fremont and Hollister CA but I don't really know. At some point it was donated to an air museum in Hollister by the son of the man who built it (it was made from an airplane drop tank). The Museum decided it was not aircraft and sold it a year or two ago before I recently purchased it. Hoping someone may recall seeing it or a newspaper article about it. Any information would be welcome.
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”

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eskimo3883
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Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Mon Jul 27, 2020 1:30 am

Sent a note to S&K Divers in Marina del Rey but got no reply.
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”

BigSwell
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Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Mon Jul 27, 2020 5:56 pm

Popular Science had a write-up about doing this back in the 60's. I got a stack of old PS mags and saw it recently, I can't remember the issue date at the moment. Maybe an interweb search and look for images. That's a keeper for sure. Take it down t the local boat launch just to see the wild looks you'd get, priceless.

These might interest you
www.wanttaja.com/avlinks/sub.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB1A1A2QH88
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/tin-fish ... submarine/
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/issue/?p ... ate=6-1933

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eskimo3883
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Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:48 pm

Thanks for the reply. All good reads. Since I had read Popular Science articles on building DIY subs I had thought there would still be plenty around but I have not had much luck using Google. The Ivan Torrs sub used in Flipper is in Las Vegas but that is the only Healthways sub I could find still around. Europe has a few Havas fiberglass bodies but have not seen an intact sub with motor still working. There is a similar DIY sub on Ebay made from a drop tank but they are asking quite a bit for it in a non-operational state.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/submersible-pr ... 3476884905
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”

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eskimo3883
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Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:19 am

Comparing to online photos I believe the tank is originally from a Korean War era F86 drop tank.These planes were Introduced in 1949 and retired from USAF in 1965. (These planes retired from Bolivian Air Force in 1994). From the 1961 catalog the Healthways sub was $2,500 with canopy and $1,500 for their base version. Don't know how many they sold at that price. Catalog gives some details on capability.

https://blutimescubahistory.com/sites/d ... 961-27.jpg
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”

BigSwell
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First Name: Kevin
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Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:17 am

Scubapro also distributed a French "wet submarine" version known as the Havas Mark 1 and Mark 3. The USN took delivery of at least one but never put it into service, then the SDV came along and changed everything.
Image
A bit off topic but related:

The USMC also had a neato torpedo "DPV" (knot to be confused with a Desert Patrol Vehicle) called Stidd DPD (Diver Propulsion Device) which is more like a round sled made out of an old water heater. The driver sits inside, the passenger hangs on the back and it towed above. A few guys still monkey around with them. :roll:

More info here:
http://www.hisutton.com/Stidd_DPD.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcYSk51vG6A (you may want to have mute on while watching this vid, unless you like euro-trash techno)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpwWuZnvlaM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9LzXFaZ1O0 (and the muzak at this one is very eastern block, classic)
https://survincity.com/2013/10/underwat ... al-forces/
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Britmarine
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Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Tue Jul 28, 2020 2:16 pm


BigSwell
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First Name: Kevin
Location: Kalifornia

Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Wed Jul 29, 2020 6:06 pm

Trying knot to stray too far off topic but related to the links above and "human powered" subs... a brief history of human-powered subs by a good friend of mine, Kevin Hardy. He's definitely BTDT.

http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/hist/hardy_h ... ed-sub.pdf

If you ever find yourself in the Sandy Eggo stop by the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, they had SubDUDE on display there since it opened. And UCSD's pool tests at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjBk-4tcmk0

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eskimo3883
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Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:22 pm

Nice paper by your friend. I did not know Scripps had a sub on display. Last time I was there was almost 20 years ago. Its neat that the Perry Tritech Corporation also built the bond lotus. I had thought that the prop was just a hacked together fiberglass shell but I can now see it was likely a well built wet sub. Heck of a contrast when you look at pics of the Bond Lotus sub next to photos of their actual subs from just a few years earlier. Wikipedia say Elon Musk has owned the Bond lotus since 2013. Would not be surprising to hear he took some pocket change and turned it into a drivable "real thing" instead of just a prop wet sub.
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”

BigSwell
Master Diver
Posts: 128
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 6:57 pm
First Name: Kevin
Location: Kalifornia

Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Fri Aug 21, 2020 5:46 pm

Yeah, Kevin has done some really amazing stuff from designing underwater exploration systems, DIY ROV school curriculum for kids to get engaged in underwater vehicles/ science and probably the coolest, worked with James Cameron on "the" trench dive. But when you meet him, he is the most humble person, always glad to talk with anyone, anytime/ any place and always with a smile and can-do attitude. Wish there were more people like him in this wierld...

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eskimo3883
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Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:25 pm

This speaks a bit on the fire damage to Cameron's sub during transport and has some video of his dive.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news ... ron/#close
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”

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eskimo3883
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Posts: 383
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:15 pm

Re: Anyone recognize this 2 man sub?

Fri Sep 04, 2020 6:33 pm

This old ebay 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Prop listing has a lot of information some might find interesting. Not sure when it will go away but it still showed up today.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Disney-World-SU ... 2619855263
“A skin diver is a fellow who pulls on a pair of fancy swimming trunks, some rubber fins, a diving mask and canvas gloves, then fills his lungs with air and noses down into the ocean looking for two fisted trouble.”

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