Submarines are usually the sort of thing governments keep track of. This one, however, answers to a handheld remote control and someone standing at the edge of a pond looking very pleased with themselves. Well, this someone today is ProjectAir a.k.a. James, the same engineering buff who built the world’s fastest remote-controlled jet-powered car.
The giant RC submarine shown in this build video is not your typical weekend hobby project. It is really a small engineering thesis that accidentally learned how to dive. Inside the hull sits a full ballast system—enabled by giant syringes, if I may add—that takes in water to sink and pushes it back out to surface again, just like the real thing, except this version does not require a crew or a classified budget.
What makes the model especially satisfying to watch is how methodical the setup is. Electronics stay sealed. Compartments stay dry. The propulsion system behaves exactly the way a submarine should, which is to say quietly and without drama while disappearing beneath the water like it has somewhere important to be.
And then there is the size. Most RC boats look like toys until they move. This one looks serious even before it leaves the shore. And the fact that it is mostly transparent adds to the appeal. Wait. Is it just me who thinks that way? Never mind. But you know it looks absolutely cool, right?
Anyhoo, enough of our talk of admiration. Skip ahead and catch the video yourself and witness the birth of a beautiful, carefully engineered, homemade giant RC sub. Oh, did we mention that it is a grand 2.72 meters (8.9 feet) long? It out-lengths the previous biggest RC sub, the 1/48 scale Russian Akula, which measures 2.4 meters (8 feet).
Images: YouTube (ProjectAir).
