Some twenty years after my first suspicion that submersibles were stuck in a dreary chrysalis stage and needed to spread wings, we have achieved our long term goals; having proven underwater flight the limits of full ocean depth (37,000 feet) with Steve Fossett's Deep Flight Challenger, and evolved the art of underwater flight for its own sake through three generations of pure fliers. For me, the butterfly has finally fully emerged… Deep Flight Super Falcon.

So with what was supposedly a lifetime's goal reached, we face the challenge of what is next?

Plans are now well underway to build what we published in concept form almost twenty years ago as the practical end result (Deep Flight II): high utility, modular manned vehicles that can hover and be twinned to take passengers/ mission specialists and carry the tools needed for science and industry. We have formed a new company, Ocean Access International, which will de-mystify the deep oceans and make human access routinely available at low cost world-wide.

In addition, underwater flight seems to have opened up an entirely new market for us: recreational submersibles. We are very excited to be building the first Deep Flight Super Falcon for Tom Perkins, founder of the venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. Deep Flight Super Falcon will make its home on Tom's sailing yacht, The Maltese Falcon. Additionally, we are building a second Deep Flight Super Falcon for ourselves which will be used for our marine archeology, film/television projects, as well as for our Sub-Sea Flight Schools. All inquiries regarding submersible sales should be directed to Karen Hawkes at karen@deepflight.com.

Personally the ultimate dream for me was always was to go fly the design, and building subs always was just a means to an end. Our Flight School lets us do that in great company.