I thought you guys might get a kick out of these tiny submarines I just got. These are true static divers with ballast tanks, and they're only half the size of the Graupner U16! They're made by SpinMaster AirHogs, but they're so new, they're not yet even shown on their website. In fact, it's not on any website that I can find. It looks like I'm the only one who has any of these. These have surprisingly good control response, as can be seen in my video below.

There is a tiny ballast tank inside the submarine. When you press the 'dive' button, water will start filling the ballast tank. You can then adjust the buoyancy to control the depth of the dive. By pressing the 'surface' button, you can pump the water out of the ballast tank, causing the sub to rise to the surface.
If the onboard, rechargeable Lithium-Polymer battery is depleted or the sub is taken out of range of the transmitter, it will automatically purge the tanks to bring the sub safely to the surface. The battery runs the sub for more than an hour on a charge.

Features:
Unique ballast tank for static diving
Operates exactly like a real sub
Charges in minutes from transmitter
Red LED headlight
Unique rudder design turns sub 360°
3" Long, 3/4" wide, 1" high

Package contents:
1 AirHogs Dive Master Submarine
1 Display stand
1 3 Channel controller
1 User's manual

I'm having a ball with mine! Here's a quick video I put together of it:

Air Hogs Dive Master 3" 3 Channel Micro Remote Control Submarine w/ Ballast Tank (2 min 42 sec)

Rick

I'll bite, if it is not on the website or listed on any website, where did you get yours? Ah, got it! ToysRus exclusive...... I got to go out and get one.

I'd love to own a white one! They're looking damn good

these look very familiar....

http://www.graupner.de/en/products/0...8/product.aspx

Yes, they should be arriving at TRU one of these days. I think they're supposed to be out for Summer. As of now, they aren't on the TRU site or the SpinMasters site. I have what might be the only four available. I figure I'll sell three of them if somebody absolutely can't wait for Summer. (I'm one of the impatient ones; can't you tell?) I have a brand new heli sitting in the kitchen, it's dead calm outside, but I'm charging up my Dive Master. (I'll likely regret this when the wind picks up.) Hey, I didn't see any enemy subs in the aquarium yesterday, but today is another day.

Rick

Originally Posted by tsenecal

these look very familiar....

http://www.graupner.de/en/products/0...8/product.aspx

Yeah, the design is similar, and I think the innards are likely the same, but this little guy is only about half the size of the Graupner. You could actually run it in a standard fishbowl. I never had the Graupner, but I had a similar one sold by Trumpeter. I found the buoyancy impossible to control. The AirHogs sub is still kind of tricky, but much more controllable than the Trumpeter.

I've had many R/C subs over the years - all toy grade. (I still run most of them.) I have a ball with my Nikko Sea Wolf, which I've modified to look like a WWII U-boat (from a GREAT distance). This is the first static diver I've gotten that works properly.

Rick

While this is a really cool sub, its not for outdoors like the graupner u-52 was because this one is infra-red controlled.
Its still bigger than the sub im working on so I'm happy about that
So how much was it?

Yeah, if I put this in my pool, I'd probably never see it again. My aquarium is 35 gallons, so it's plenty big enough. We have a plastic kiddie pool as a sort of a water garden. One night I'll try it in there. That would be like an ocean for this little thing.

That micro of yours is something else. I can barely see to play with the tiny stuff, so there's no way I could scratchbuild one so tiny.

When I could see, I put a differential thrust micro boat system into the little Lindberg Gato class sub. It's merely a surface runner, but it looks good doing it. That was about as small a boat as I'd like to try to build. Unfortunately, I had to build two AAA batteries into it. I should have used rechargeables, although I think they gave me about twelve hours of runtime. I'll have to open it up and put a Li-Po in it.

I got the four Dive Master samples for about $65 each, which is more than I wanted to pay, but I just couldn't resist. I really only wanted one, but I figured hopefully the other three will sell on eBay, so I won't have so much tied up in mine. I have no idea what their retail price will be when they make it to market. I might be really upset when I find out. With my luck, they'll be on the clearance aisle for eight bucks.

Rick

I decided to see what kind of runtime I could get out of this. I ran it aggressively (constantly up and down, back and forth) for over an hour. I also had a 2-1/2 hour mission just puttering around. My other micro. subs with a motor to keep them submerged always had such a short run time. I never knew what I was missing by not having a ballast tank. I've gotten much better at controlling it, and I'll make a better video soon.

Rick

they must have used a very low current motor for both the ballast and thrust motor.
does it say what type of battery it has inside?

It has a Li-Po, but I don't know what size. As far as the motors go, they must be REALLY tiny pager motors. The prop is only about 5mm in diameter, and the hole for the steering thruster is only about 3mm x 1mm. I would love to see inside one, but I'd never get it back together.

I've been running this little guy so much, I actually went out and bought a proper "ocean" looking background for the aquarium. All I need now is one of those cheesy sunken ships, and maybe a few roman columns to explore. My son suggested the Spongebob Bikini Bottom collection. (He's 23; I'm the Spongebob fan.)

Rick

Originally Posted by Ricomon

It has a Li-Po, but I don't know what size. As far as the motors go, they must be REALLY tiny pager motors. The prop is only about 5mm in diameter, and the hole for the steering thruster is only about 3mm x 1mm. I would love to see inside one, but I'd never get it back together.

I've been running this little guy so much, I actually went out and bought a proper "ocean" looking background for the aquarium. All I need now is one of those cheesy sunken ships, and maybe a few roman columns to explore. My son suggested the Spongebob Bikini Bottom collection. (He's 23; I'm the Spongebob fan.)

Rick

this is a cool tiny little toy, i have one of those "ocean explorer" research subs, and yeah, it runs for a good 5 minutes if you are lucky, and isn't a static diver. i also stand corrected, this thing is less than half the length of the graupner.

as to your additional items required for full effect, you might also investigate a red cap, and a french accent.

"Wee wee, mon sewer!"

OK, so I might need to practice the accent.

Rick

Thats a cool background, it fooled me till i read your post
I told my wife i would drain the tub if she lets me buy a tank just for sub testing

do you have a skew number for this?>