Quote:
Originally Posted by RedDevil
I think it should be possible to make an aquatic version of the Blackbird, f.i. by replacing the wheels with paddle wheels for simplicity. But the drag on the hull and losses on the paddle wheels due to the viscosity of the water will make it hard to exceed the wind speed by much, if at all.
You'd need a very big propeller and a fair gear reduction anyway, and with a big reduction you won't get far beyond wind speed if there's no friction of any kind.
A setup with one small high-angled propeller in the water and one almost flat propeller in the air on the same (long) axle would be very simple in construction. Someone must have built something like that already.
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I think you would need a hydrofoil to get low enough drag, but then you need to get up to foiling speeds. Theoretically possible, realistically practicable? I doubt it.