IMAGINE leisurely flight through an octopus's garden or getting a good long look at the coral that lies beneath the waves.
These are the things Nuytco Research is aiming for, now that it is taking orders for its Spymaster submarine.
The North Vancouver company has designed and produced a number of underwater vehicles over the years but this is their first foray into "flying subs"
"The flying subs are considerably higher speed and they have these aerobatic capabilities. They literally can bank and barrel role and loop-the-loop - things you could do in a very sporty aircraft," said Phil Nuytten, the company's founder.
There are other flying subs on the market but Nuytten's design differs in a few important ways. Only his models have been certified by nautical agencies for diving to such depths and the Spymaster has the ability to stop and hover, he said.
Most flying subs are positively buoyant and use the vessel's propulsion and dive plane to keep submerged whereas Nuytco has designed his to have neutral buoyancy, meaning the pilot can bring the Spymaster to a full stop anywhere.
"It's kind of the best of both worlds. You have the fun of flying this thing and you can also, when you pass the chest of Spanish gold doubloons, stop and have a look."
The Spymaster has obvious commercial applications for surveying, which could be anything from undersea cables and pipeline crossings to fisheries research or shipwrecks and navigational hazards, Nuytten said.
The other market the company is targeting is yacht owners who want to load the Spymaster onto the back of their yachts for recreational sightseeing.
Depending on which model you order, the Spymaster can dive to 2,000 or 3,000 feet. Lithium ion battery-powered thrusters allow the sub to cruise about 20 miles at speeds of three to four knots.
Nuytten is also preparing to ship his first batch of Exosuits - full-body underwater suits that allow the user to walk around the ocean floor 1,000 feet down. The Exosuit invokes images of the old-style hardhat diving, but the two aren't even remotely related Nuytten said.
"With ours, you can spend all day at 1,000 feet and come straight back up in five minutes. With regular decompression, if you were down 1,000 feet, it would take you a week to come back."
Each Spymaster will be handmade at Nuytco's East Esplanade shop, taking about five months to build. The price of flying under water will be anywhere from $2 million to $2.6 million, depending on the specs the buyer prefers. That price includes a week-long training course.
No word on whether yellow is a colour option.
