WHEN (NOT IF) YOU LOOSE YOUR R/C MODEL MODEL

If your model fails to regain the surface after the blow command it is either out of gas, lost electrical power, or has become fouled on the bottom. Turn off the transmitter, break out the fins and mask, and read the WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR R/C SUBMARINE chapter for recovery procedures... your go'n for a swim, pal!

Not much of a sell for the hobby of r/c model submarining, but I won't kid you: At some point you (or someone else) will have to go into the water to retrieve your lost r/c model submarine. That's why I recommend taking along a set of flippers, mask and snorkel to the boating site.

I've been operating r/c model submarines for over four years. On three occasions the model became lost in water deep enough and far enough away from shore to require retrieval with the aid of scuba gear. On one occasion a model was lost in 25 feet of water and it took 5 nights of diving in chilly, zero visibility water to find it!

Happily, most of the time your model refuses to surface it will be found within wading distance from the shore.

IT WAS THERE A SECOND AGO...

Rule number-one is to command a stop to the propeller once you become unsure as to the models location - the worse thing you can do is try to 'plane up' to the surface by advancing the throttle to recover a lost model submarine. If it won't come up immediately and there is significant model boat traffic on the surface, let the model sink to the bottom.

Stopping the motor is paramount: the longer the model is underwater and running free, the bigger the search circle becomes and more difficult becomes the recovery task. The WTC is good to at least feet.

LIKELY CAUSES OF LOSS

Your model was trimmed slightly positive in submerged trim. However, hydrostatic compression of the WTC-3 and buoyant foam will render the overall model slightly negative only 3 feet beneath the surface. So, if you were cruising along at that depth or deeper and stopped the motor, the model would slowly sink to the bottom. Not a problem if you have enough Propel to blow the ballast tank. The majority of looses I have experienced and observed were caused by failure to bring the boat back for a Propel charge when it needed it!

Catastrophic loose of power will put a submerged model submarine on the bottom. Usually caused by a blown speed controller overheated to destruction because of a fouled propeller.

Most of us operate our models in lakes that have not been surveyed to identify underwater obstructions and bottom type. Anything can be down there waiting to snag your model submarine: We once recovered our 1/96 model prototype... finding it trapped within an overturned shopping cart at the bottom of a 10 foot deep pond!

Fishing tackle and bottom growing marine plants will snag the propeller in a heart-beat! You likely will not see what's going on if your model is deep, that's why it is so important to stop the motor at the first sign of trouble. Sometimes blowing ballast will not generate enough buoyancy to tear free from something anchored on the bottom and wrapped around the propeller. However, by judicious blow and venting, you can get a fix on the models location by observing the Propel bubbles as they break the surface.

Grounding is another way to get your model stuck on the bottom. As the model skids along the bottom, the lower rudder won't permit the stern planes to push the stern down to rotate the model to a positive angle of attack to produce the dynamic force needed to raise the model off the bottom; your stuck!... the model will just scoot along in the muck until it runs into or (worse yet) under something!

Just stop the motor, check the surface clear, and blow.

ESTIMATING MODELS LIKELY POSITION

If the model fails to surface, turn off the transmitter and identify the spot on the far shore in line with where you stand and the spot on the waters surface over where you last saw your model submarine. That gives you a sight line and range to the models probable location. If someone else was watching the model and was at least 20 feet from you, have him do the same.

Grab a buoy attached to a line and anchor and swim out to the point where the two sight lines intersect. Plant the buoy. Now, you have an excellent chance of recovering your model in the shortest amount of time.

RECOVERY

In most cases, the model is close by and you know pretty well where it rests. However, if the model is lost some distance from the shore have someone spot for you as you swim to the point where the model was last seen. Have an assistant turn on the transmitter and cycle the servos - not the throttle!

With fins, mask and snorkel, dive or stick you head under - don't get near enough to the bottom to stir up the mud if visibility is good. Look around for the model and listen for servo noise. If you don't see or hear the model on the first couple of attempts, have your friend command a blow and vent. Look for bubbles on the surface. If you see bubbles, follow them down to the model.

(insert sketch - swimming for sunken model)

If you hear but do not see the model: Swim back and forth until the sound gets louder (you can't get a direction from your ears underwater, the velocity of sound is too fast to discern a phase relationship between the right and left ear - the only thing you can go on are is changes in volume as you swim along).

Perform the majority of your search by swimming on the surface with your head under water looking and listening. You may have to swim like this for some time, so be patient, and don't over exert yourself. Got plenty of sun block on?

If the model is lost in water deeper than you feel comfortable skin-diving too, then get scuba equipment to do a proper bottom search, or get someone else to do the job.

We recommend you place a card with your name, address, phone number and the words, 'REWARD OFFERED', within the forward section of the WTC-3. You never know: Some years later some fisherman might come knocking on your door with a barnacle encrusted model submarine under his arm.