'Tessaurian' Submersible Biplane Concept (1920).

[Wingknut]

Hi folks,
Hope this isn't old news (in which case I'll remove this post asap) but I've just found this concept-art showing a biplane submersible aircraft with retractable wings. According to the source-article, it appeared in the 'Illustrated London News' (24th January 1920), and was supposedly based on genuine research from an undisclosed aviation company. More details and larger versions of attached image can be found at the source:
http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2009/12/a-warready-submersible-aircraft-1920-the-tessaurian.html
All best,

Wingknut

 

[Jemiba]

Good find !
Ahead of its , but ten years later telescopic wings wings were used by Ivan Makhonine
for his MAK 10. What probably couldn't have been achieved is to place the batteries in
that small space.

 

[Grey Havoc]

From 1920, the Tessaurian: http://longstreet.typepad.com/thesciencebookstore/2009/12/a-warready-submersible-aircraft-1920-the-tessaurian.html

 

[Johnbr]

DARPA has had a long-standing Christmas wish—a high-speed, durable, fast, agile tacticly-beautiful submersible aircraft. Such a thing has evidently been on the wish list of many agencies in many countries for many years.
I found the Royal Navy’s version of the DARPA wish in the 24 January 1920 issue of The Illustrated London News—the Tessaurian, a dreamable plane capable of long flight and long trips under the sea, as well as being able to float on the water and land on dry earth.

Even the modern Tessaurian has been evasive—certainly this 1920 version is nothing short of nothing. The craft just looks too bumpy to do well in any sort of fluid environment, air or liquid, the thickness of its skin (necessary for the heavy undersea pressures) looking just too heavy to lift off the ground. Of course the powertrain is suspect, and the retracted wings don’t look like they would do anything to glide the beast further underwater, assuming it got there (on purpose) to begin with. Even though I doubt that it could fly, it may be able to float a bit—I do think that it could sink like a champ.
And so I reproduce these heady, unacknowledged and unclaimed drawings (“designed by a leading aircraft company”), as I can’t find anything offhand online that comes remotely close to its age and concept.



An undergraduate (!) team (headed by Daniel B. Coltey et alia )at Auburn came up with the following research paper earlier this year: “Conceptual Design of a Submersible Tactical Insertion Aircraft” “This…senior design program…the creation of a conceptual design for a submersible airplane is being undertaken as a response in part to a challenge by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).” The authors then state the checklist of DARPA’s needs: “The design is expected to be a clandestine, coastal insertion vehicle with specific abilities of an airplane, surface ship, and submarine vessel, which would greatly increase the tactical ability of the United States. The aircraft is expected to accommodate eight passengers, including any necessary equipment and operators, and an additional 2,000 pounds of cargo, and also to have an unrefueled range of 1,000 nautical miles in cruise flight, 200 nautical miles surface transit or very low altitude flight, and 24 nautical miles of submerged travel. The aircraft requirements also include the ability to complete one tactical transit (1,000 nautical miles airborne, 100 nautical miles surface, and 12 nautical miles subsurface movement) in a time limit of eight hours. This concept also addresses challenges in the areas of structural design, effective propulsion in dual fluid flow regimes, and control surface duality…” I’d want one, too.

 

[Avimimus]

There were a few others: http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,20414.msg199960.html#msg199960

I suspect that the design would work on paper. I also suspect that any attempt to complete it would have been abandoned part way through... for so many little reasons.