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SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- With the launch of the holiday season, American engineer, explorer, entrepreneur Graham Hawkes hopes his latest invention -- a winged submersible that soars beneath the ocean surface -- will land on Santa's most-wanted list for the rich but not necessarily famous.
Buoyed by the splash his sub-sea flying machine generated at its public debut at the world's largest boat show last month, Hawkes foresees the small, swift, sleek craft making waves as the ultimate luxury toy.
Twelve years in development, the vessel billed as the first underwater airplane retains a unique set of features and promises to create a novel niche in the seemingly recession-proof mega-yacht market, the $1.7 million starting asking price for a two-person model notwithstanding, its admirers enthuse.
"It's amazing to see what accouterments accessorize the super-yachts these days: state-of-the-art diving equipment, cutting-edge speedboats, helicopters with deck-side landing pads," marveled John Jo Lewis, co-owner, partner and investor in the winged-submersible venture. "This is infinitely the best one of those toys."
Lewis, a Malibu, Calif., commercial and industrial real estate developer and 20-year scuba diving veteran, fell under the sub's spell while learning to pilot the craft at Hawkes's underwater flight school in the Bahamas.
"The experience of soaring in the deep without the confines of diving equipment or the distortions of a mask is so exhilarating -- like hang-gliding or motorcycle jumping -- it becomes very addictive," Lewis said in a telephone interview.
Even those without a first-hand taste of the sub's underwater antics seem captivated by the glossy, bright-blue vessel, which made its entry into the marketplace at the 44th Annual International Boat Show in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Oct. 30 to Nov. 3.
"I've seen personal submarines and underwater jet skis, but I've never seen anything as revolutionary or cool as this sub that looks like a plane," gushed Mary Sudasassi. For the past seven years, she has handled publicity for the extravaganza that this year showcased 1,650 boats, including 230 super-yachts, worth $1.6 billion at six sites covering 3.2 million square miles of land and sea.
"There are, of course, other submersibles out there," conceded Hawkes, an intrepid trailblazer who has spent most of his 55 years designing and constructing underwater vessels for everyone from the British government to researchers and filmmakers. "But these are all conventional subs that sink and rise in the water column, using ballast."
In contrast, his one-of-a-kind, 22-foot-long, 3,800-pound, two-person model, dubbed the Deep Flight Aviator, slices through the seas like a jet through the skies, portending a new era in deep-sea exploration and recreation, Hawkes asserts.
Strapped securely in tandem cockpits, their heads popping up in individual see-all acrylic bubbles, the crew members pilot the craft, using dual-control joysticks. The unconventional sub boasts a lightweight, high powered, composite airframe with wings, thrusters and flight controls similar in configuration to the U.S. Air Force's A10 Tank Buster of Gulf war fame.
"The Aviator is unlike anything in existence, and the underwater experience is unparalleled," assured Hawkes, who has had a hand in constructing a significant percentage of manned submersibles and more than 300 remotely operated vehicles built for research and industry worldwide in the past 34 years. "In conventional subs, you perch on a seat; in the Aviator, you strap tightly into the same five-point harness restraints used by Indy car racers."
A number of mega-yacht owners as well as the military have expressed an interest in acquiring a flying sub, which Hawkes and company will custom-build to accommodate a crew of up to four for a price of up to $2.2 million, investors in the enterprise told United Press International.
"The interest at the boat show was overwhelming from all parties," recalled Jay Wade, an Oklahoma software entrepreneur who along with Hawkes and Lewis earlier this year founded Deep Flight Submersibles, a San Francisco area company commissioned to manufacture and market the winged submersible series.
"Since then, we've spoken with numerous people interested in owning an Aviator," said Wade, who departs for Freeport, Bahamas, next week to film a television commercial featuring the craft. "I'm very bullish on our business right now."
Wade first glimpsed the craft and met Hawkes last February through a mutual friend, Amos Nachoum, an adventurer and artist whose global big game and underwater photographic expeditions have been featured on Discovery, National Geographic and BBC Wildlife programs.
"I've always been enamored with adventures in general and the
oceans in particular, my entire life (probably due to being stuck in
Oklahoma and forced to watch Jacques Cousteau specials as a child)," Wade confided. "Of course, I fell in love with Aviator at first sight, and determined that if I could ever expand my business acumen to submersibles, I would."
From experienced pilots to long-time scuba divers, those who have taken the Deep Flight plunge express excitement and exhilaration at the experience.
"When I was scuba diving, I was blowing bubbles which annoyed the other creatures, even sharks and whales, which don't like the sound of the scuba gear and with which you can't keep up anyway," Lewis recalled. "But when the dome closes over you in the Aviator and you slide into the water, you feel like you're flying under an open canopy, with nothing between you and the sea and its remarkable creatures."
Hawkes, a San Anselmo, Calif., inventor who counts more than 60 manned submersibles to his creative credit, lists safety as another of the Aviator's strong selling points.
"The sub is positively buoyant and will float to the surface unless powered down," explained Karen Hawkes, Graham's personal and professional partner. "Deep Flight submersibles operate as high performance aircraft, introducing the overwhelming advantages of pure flight: range, speed, safety, agility and sheer operational exhilaration."
Next: Inventor Graham Hawkes is banking on the notion his underwater flying machine would make the perfect gift for the yacht-owner who has everything, including shipfuls of cash.
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(Editors: UPI photos available)
