On Wednesday, in article
<
[email protected]>
[email protected] "Tim Hobbs" wrote:
> >I daresay you could do a bit with that closed-cell foam stuff they use for
> >floatation in boats, and fill all the wheel arch spaces and so on on a
> >series. Whether you'd get enough floation, I don't know.
>
> On the basis of a loaded Series 2 weighing 2 tonnes, you need to
> displace 2 cubic metres of water to get it to float.
>
> If you can
>
> a) seal the passenger compartment and
> b) fit floatation stuff in the wing spaces and
> c) add some flotation tanks fore and aft
>
> then it shouldn't be that difficult to get 2 cubic metres of fresh air
> underwater.
>
> I have to note, however, that Solihull never managed (a) from above,
> let alone from below.
I think you'd also have to take into account the weight distribution.
It would be nose-heavy unloaded and, while you could easily add
flotation between the chassis rails, that would reduce stability.
That's partly why the amphibious Jeep of WW2 had a purpose-built hull,
like the DUKW. No doors, for one thing.
I expect the hull would seal to the transfer box, so that axle movement
wouldn't affect the seals, but engine/transmission movement relative the
the chassis would still be a difficulty. Bilge pumps, of course.
So you end up with a bigger vehicle, likely with a reduced off-road
capacity on land, and of a type not intended for front-line tactical
use, SAS notwithstanding. And you can't fit as many on a landing craft.
An amphibious truck has some point, running between the ship and the
supply dump, but the smaller vehicles seem of rather less use.
--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.
"History shows that the Singularity started when Sir Tim Berners-Lee
was bitten by a radioactive spider."