One of the more spectacular visual effect in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was the bright yellow Flying Sub with blue striping on it’s tailfins, also known as FS-1, though we’ve pretty much lost count on how many of these flying subs NIMR went through, and were they insured?

In the series, very little is known about NIMR’s creation of the vehicle, except that it was supposedly top secret, (at least at first), could emerge from the sea at supersonic speeds, didn’t fly like a plane, and was powered by a nuclear reactor.

At first there was no visible landing gear, but it appeared later on in the show, and had two grappling claws which proved very useful in rescue operations.

Yes the Flying Sub was quite a functional craft, leaving us to ask two important questions:

Was FS-1 painted designer yellow to augment Captain Crane’s banana yellow wetsuit?

And did our boys pester Nelson successfully for permission to borrow it on a Saturday night to impress their hot dates.

A boon to fan fiction writers, modeling experts, and fans, there are several websites with their own take on the Flying Sub’s development and procedures,  including some ultra sophisticated mini movies that Irwin would have been ultra proud of.  

Memo

From  Capt. J.  Hawkins

USS Enterprise

To Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

Re: Birds of a Feather

Captain,  I understand your boss’s need to invent something. I even understand your need to put in a bit of time on his latest inventions, but did you have to scare the bejesus out of us? Heavens, man, we almost shot you down, thinking FS-1 was a flying saucer or something!

Just when we had a fix on you, you had the gaul to make us think you crashed into the sea, and brief as the respite to our nerves was, did you have to emerge like a bat out of hell, and deliberately  fly overhead, dripping seawater all over our nice clean deck?

Top secret aircraft or not, how did you bypass our radar anyway?

From Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

To Capt. J. Hawkins

USS Enterprise

Re: Birds of a Feather

Didn’t you remember our message about Seaview conducting some tests and not to be alarmed by anything unusual? Besides, you should have been able to pick up the Flying Sub’s experimental beacon so your flyboys wouldn’t try to shoot me down if you’d given the order. As for bypassing your radar, well, you see, it’s kind of top secret. Like our bypassing your sonar the last war game we had together. It’s a Seaview thing.

Sorry about dripping all over your nice clean deck. Charge any additional expenses to NIMR. We’re good for it.

From  Capt. J.  Hawkins

USS Enterprise

To Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

Re: Birds of a Feather

Look you bubblehead, if your boss had really planned ahead, he would have added landing gear to that contraption of yours and we could be discussing this over coffee in the Wardroom on my ship instead of through these blasted memos!

From Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

To Capt. J. Hawkins

USS Enterprise

Re: Birds of a Feather

Coffee? Did you say coffee? We’ve been out of it the past two weeks. I don’t suppose we can trade? Say I give you ten hard working deck hands to clean your deck spic and span so you could eat off it, and you loan us a couple of crates of coffee beans? We’re getting desperate here. The Admiral’s a real bear without his morning crew, and Morton’s impossible. And my crew is on the verge of mutiny.  It’s not exactly procurement’s fault for not sending us enough. The flying sub kind of uses it to augment the uranium. Call it a design flaw, but the fact remains that we can’t use any of what’s left for personal use.

What about it, huh? Pretty please? I’ll even let you win at cards. Your men wouldn’t be the wiser and you’d be able take home a pretty kitty.

From  Capt. J.  Hawkins

USS Enterprise

To Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

Re: Birds of a Feather

The only kitty I indend to take home, you reprobate, is Fluffy.

As for coffee, well, I can see you’re in a bind, but feeding over 5,000 men and women aboard my ship takes priority over Nelson’s fantasy sub and all it’s bewildering hardware.

Crane? You there, Crane?

From Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

To Capt. J. Hawkins

USS Enterprise

Re: Birds of a Feather

Sorry, brief flashback to a very bad aquaintance of ours who said practically the same thing…So what kind of cat is Fluffy? Does it purr? I’d give you ten bucks for a half hour with it to lower Nelson’s blood pressure. Doc’s threatening sickbay.

From  Capt. J.  Hawkins

USS Enterprise

To Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

Re: Birds of a Feather

Tell you what, Crane. Find Fluffy’s kittens a good home when  they’re born, and I’ll spring for one crate of coffee beans personally. That’s all I can promise.

From Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

To Capt. J. Hawkins

USS Enterprise

Re: Birds of a Feather

It’s a deal. By the way, since you outrank me and everything, perhaps you can just mention in passing to the Admiral (who’ll be piloting FS-1 over to you), how much better Seaview and the flying sub would look red.

From  Capt. J.  Hawkins

USS Enterprise

To Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

Re: Birds of a Feather

Oh gawd, don’t tell me you still have a thing about that color? I thought when you bought that Italian import of yours you’d settle down. Poor Nelson.

From Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

To Capt. J. Hawkins

USS Enterprise

Re: Birds of a Feather

It was just a suggestion, and I’m not that bad.

From  Capt. J.  Hawkins

USS Enterprise

To Cmdr. Lee Crane

Captain, SSRN Seaview

Re: Birds of a Feather

I know kid, sorry. We have your blasted contraption on visual, and the coffee beans are waiting.

You know, that flying submarine really would look good red.

Over and out.