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Hello d. Talk to Gregg Cottrell about what's available. I know you can get
a 10 inch thick piece cast in one piece but it'll be expensive. Still, it's less
than casting a 59 inch dome.
I've heard that tiny bubbles form on the "wet" outer dome. I am installing
a 24 inch disk, and will have a 1 inch cover piece to deflect water while at the
surface. I'm going to try using "Rain-X" and if I still get bubbles, a small
water jet to blow them away when submerged should work.
To me, the reason to build a sub is the windows, so the expense is
something that just needs to be justified.
Like Jim said, the 39 inch dome is the boundary where the cost jumps way
up. I would suggest building a full size mock-up of your sub, and use that to
determine the window size you need to accomplish your goal. Every sub is
designed for a particular person's needs. You may find that 59 inches is larger
than you need.
The aquarium near me has a window 13 inches thick, 40 feet long, 9 feet
high.
If you've got a big enough check book, anything is possible. The sub Alicia
has a big dome bonded to a tube and the cost to fabricate that was more than my
house cost. I think the 5 man sub came in at $2.3 mil.
It's a beautiful boat and it will give you an idea of what it's like to
look through a 59 inch window.
Here's a sketch of my sub with the 1 inch cover piece. Frank D.
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