Page 28 - The Remains of the Original HD-4

ISSUE : Issue 21

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1978/12/1

chaser. They put it through every kind of a test. First was whether they could pick up the sound under the water. They had a hydrophone in the water on the end of the dock • and they couldn't pick it up. See, they only had the 2 or 3 bottom foils in the water and they were very small. They couldn't pick up the sound of the engines because they were up in the air. They fig? ured if she was going full speed a subma? rine couldn't pick her up from underwater. Then they tested her stopping dead and go? ing suddenly full speed • and the length of time it would take for her to rise and get going. It was terrific. She'd get up on her foils and just take off as soon as she got her hull above the water. Then they'd stop her. And all the time they'd be lis? tening under the water, whether a subma? rine could hear her approaches. And they had a submarine out here, Canadian subma? rine and several destroyers • in deep water in the lake • and they were trying to pick up the submarine on the hydrophone, and they did • but they couldn't pick up the HD-4. As I remember, they proved they could sneak up on a submarine without be? ing heard. She could stop and start with? out being heard. Then they tried loading her down with pig lead and she picked it right up. And that impressed them. But mainly they were impressed by the fact that they couldn't pick her up under water. Well this board went back to Washington and gave a very glowing account. We know they did because they were very enthusias? tic. And my grandfather was so pleased, he thought they'd get some backing. 10,000 was what he thought he needed to carry on this work. Up to now he'd done it at his own expense; he'd sell his telephone stock to pay for it. I mean, he couldn't support that laboratory of 30 men and more indef? initely on his income from the dividends of his stock. So he'd sell and he'd keep selling to pay for his experiments. So he tried to get government money. Well, he never heard a word from them till the day he died. He never heard a word of even thanks for all the trouble, although he put them up here in the house for a week or so. Casey would be down in Wash? ington, trying to find out from the navy department, what do they think of it, what's the report. Just recently friends located this report and the way it came to me is that it had gone up through every? body, all favourable. Went right to the top • C.N.0. • Chief of Naval Operations. This is what's been told me; I haven't seen it with my own eyes so I can only tell you what I've heard. He wrote, "An old man's toy. An airplane that won't fly* And it's worthless." Put his initials on it and sent it back. Well, the underlings wouldn't touch it from then on. Just that one admiral stopped it. Amazing. And grand? father died disappointed, because he never knew. It was a shame.

Cape Breton's Magazine