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Enter the dragon: DeepFlight tests new submarine in Lake Tahoe

Staff report
The DeepFlight Dragon prepares to descend to Lake Tahoe's depths on Aug. 12 at the Homewood Marina.
Courtesy David C. Antonucci |

HOMEWOOD, Calif. — The Dragon, the latest addition to San Francisco company DeepFlight’s fleet of advanced personal submersible watercraft, has made its debut at Lake Tahoe.

The company’s design team brought the sub to the lake last week to test its dive capabilities in deep water at the Homewood Marina, officials said.

The team is spending two weeks in the Sierra, fine-tuning all aspects of the Dragon. Crews first launched the sub on Aug. 12,



And DeepFlight isn’t just testing out the Dragon in Lake Tahoe, DeepFlight officials said.

“We’re also testing out our new Launch and Recovery Dock, which the team used to tow the Dragon into the water,” officials wrote in an Aug. 14 blog on the company website.



Over the next 10 days, the team will test the Dargon’s flight controls, tuning it for performance.

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More online

Visit http://www.deepflight.com to see more photos of the DeepFlight Dragon’s Lake Tahoe voyage.

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“For example, we want to make sure the vertical thrusters cause the sub to descend while staying flat, and not tipping to one side or the other,” officials wrote. “If it’s not flat, then we’ll need to do some tuning or biasing of the thrusters to make sure the power is evenly distributed.”

Officials report the Dragon is designed to run smoother and more effortlessly through deep waters, but it will also have the capability to “hover,” officials said.

“For example, forward motion while hovering will naturally cause the sub to want to dip its nose, so we have to ensure compensation across the thrusters,” the team wrote. “The team will also be testing the emergency gasbags, the stability of the sub, and giving some demonstration rides to press.”


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