Sir Richard Branson billionaire Entrepreneur, recently showed yet again his extravagant side with the unveiling of his new aero submarine christened the “Necker Nymph” which is unlike anything else in the world. Branson, who already owns a mobile phone company, a record label, an airline, a Caribbean island,space travel and a handful of luxury restaurants just added one more frontier to his portfolio- The Sea!
The 3-seater submersible built in the likeness of a fighter plane, uses the same principles of flight through air underwater. The Necker Nymph that runs on battery that’s so quiet it just glides through the water with very low noise emissions and low light to avoid interfering with fragile ecosystems. It has an open cockpit and passengers use scuba gear, stored in the craft which can dive to depths of up to 130ft. The unique submersible cost around 415,000 British pounds and the billionaire has lofty aspirations to eventually create a plane that explore depths of 35,000 feet. Designed by Hawkes Ocean Technologies, the Necker Nymph is the first underwater plane to ever be designed and an entirely new class of vehicle.
As of now it’s a great Boy-Toy to glide around reefs and explore dive sites without having to do any work at all and Branson hopes to uncover some shipwrecks as it can cover more ground than just scuba diving. Sir Richard recently allowed cameras to shoot as he went for his first ride on the Nymph, describing the experience as ‘brilliant’ through microphones fitted on his scuba gear. To catch his ‘virgin’ flight underwater in his shiny new and very awesome underwater plane take a look at this clip from Oprah, where he gave presenter Nate Berkus a tour of his Island, yacht and aero submarine- click here.
For guests who spend $88,000 to rent Branson’s high-end yacht for one week, the Necker Nymph can be hired out for an equally princely sum of $25,000 per week.
That looks very dangerous. If something snags one of the riders and pulls off their mask, then they’re stuck in that thing.
It also looks uncomfortable. Why not dive the usual way and get some exercise?
Just one more way to waste money and get fat. Or die.
you cant dive to 35000 feet normally, dumbass. this is just a preliminary vehicle in what obviously will become a series of projects in an attempt to get deeper..and if you think thats a waste of time..maybe you should go look at the statistics concerning how little of the ocean we have explored.
but you can do so much more. the open cockpit allows for true interaction. Being behind a sheet of glass would be no better than watching it on T.V. risk is small with up against a reward so cool.
plus, you can explore miles at time, longer and father than you could on your own. never mind the fact that you cut out by not having to travel back and forth between boat and ocean, you just take you boat up and down as you feel. you S.A. are just a Debby Downer because that is So Cool.
Looks to me like Branson bought Steve Fossett's project, which was almost done when he was killed
http://gizmodo.com/5059147/a-look-at-steve-fosset…