Topic: "Unique Vehicles: Submarines that Fly"

Exploring the Oceans: Two-thirds of the earth is underwater. We glide over the surface of the oceans, but we still have very little idea what is going on even a few metres down. We spend billions sending craft and people into space, but we do not really know what happens under the waves. One man who finds that more than curious is Graham Hawkes, a beneath-the-sea maverick who has been working on underwater craft for most of his life. It is a lonely, driven quest, relying rather dangerously on the engagement and backing of a few wealthy enthusiasts. Born in London, Mr Hawkes learnt his engineering expertise in the defence industry, working initially on torpedoes in Norfolk, England. In the 1980s he went to the US, working on oil and gas exploration before setting up on his own, with the aim of bringing a new clarity and purpose to manned exploration of the deep ocean. Another who worries about humankind's middling interest in what is to be found in our oceans is famed explorer and researcher Sylvia Earle, who was awarded the 2009 TED Prize for her work and who started Mission Blue, the goal of which is to "heal and protect the Earth's oceans through the creation and management of essential marine protected areas." In an interview timed to the 50th anniversary celebration of Walsh and Piccard's 1960 dive, Earle told CNET, "We're far behind the curve from where we need to be...People look at the surface, and they think that's the ocean, and because they can't see what's going on below, they think everything's just fine. But those of us with decades of exploration [experience know that] the ocean is in trouble, and therefore so are we." And that's a sentiment that Branson seems to share. In today's announcement, Branson offered this thought: "What if I were to tell you about a planet, inhabited by 'intelligent' beings that had, in the 21st century, physically explored zero percent of its deepest points and mapped only 3 percent of its oceans by unmanned craft, when 70 percent of that planet's surface was made up of water. Then I tried to convince you that only 10 percent of the life forms inhabiting that unknown world are known to those on the surface--you'd think I'd fallen asleep watching the latest sci-fi blockbuster. Then you discover that planet is Earth."

Biography: Graham Hawkes, an internationally renowned ocean engineer/inventor, has been responsible for the design of a significant percentage of all manned (and more than 300 remote) underwater vehicles built for research or industry worldwide, including the Deep Flight series of winged submersibles. With DeepFlight, Mr Hawkes has successfully introduced four generations of ultra-lightweight, cost effective vehicles, including the 36,000 foot submersible, DeepFlight Challenger, which was originally built for the late adventurer, Steve Fossett, and has since been taken over by Deep Sub LLC and Virgin Oceanic. Mr. Hawkes has successfully founded several ocean engineering/exploration companies, including Hawkes Ocean Technologies, and is widely considered to the leader in his field. He is currently offering Flight School courses for individuals, as well as Underwater Flight experiences for corporate retreats, and is also building the prototype of a new generation of highly advanced Remotely Operated Vehicle (See http://www.deepflight.com and http://www.hawkeremotes.com).

Email: info@deepflight.co