Imagine getting a design commission requiring: - Capable of carrying three tons of cargo - Speed to outrun any Coast Guard or DEA vessel - No quarters or facilities for crew or passengers - Able to run at full speed in open ocean between Africa and England - Minimal radar profile and probably being paid with duffle bags of cash. A job a little too dodgy for Harry Schoell? Of course not.
This gig ended when the client ended up in prison.
Of all the other Harry Schoell inventions, well, - Pulse-Drive Systems International eventually failed after "Many years of trial and error" - The patented "Delta-Conic" hull turned out to offer a little more speed in calm water but gave boats poor handling in waves. Trojan boats dropped the design after a short production run. - His biggest "innovations" (http://www.schoellmarine.com/innovations.htm) all went nowhere. - His previous attempt at engine design, the "Schoell Rolling Radial" engine was never reported to have been seen running. - His "revolutionary" SR-84 design for setting a speed record (sound familiar?) is now a lawn ornament at Disney. http://www.schoellmarine.com/sr84_files/sr84.htm - And this one has to be the stupidest of all: http://www.schoellmarine.com/bio_files/bio.htm Putting a sail on the front of a power boat. You can see from the boat's wake that it is hardly moving under sail power. There is zero rudder effectiveness as it drifts down wind. The sail on the bow will keep the stern pointed into the wind like a weathervane so the driver's visibility will be 100% obscured of what he is going to run into. Why would anyone have spent a penny to build something just so plain dumb? I guess the answer is that Harry Schoell got a magazine article written about his "genius"...
Cyclone seems to be Harry's final attempt to prove his critics wrong. That's what's keeping it going.
Over on the steam car board Harry once described the bearing failure he was seeing. It was a textbook lack of lubrication failure but instead of letting the data show him the water lubrication wasn't working, Harry came up with his own theory that bearings are really tiny generators and the electricity they generate was destroying the bearings.
The Ohio State University engineers put in no uncertain terms that there is no known way to make water lubrication work in the Cyclone engine. Harry, having stripped the Mark 5 of all his other inventions beyond the spider bearing, kept water lubrication. The latest Mark 1 and Mark 3 designs also rely on water lubrication working.
He's quite determined to prove the rest of the world wrong, no matter how much investor and customer money he has to waste.
Cyclone's business plan has nothing to do with building working steam engines.
In this mission he and Frankie have no problem deceiving investors and customers about engine performance and function. All those engines that completed alpha and beta testing have never had their actual performance released. Beta testing at Cyclone must mean the engine turns under its own power for a few minutes once the mechanic gives it a push.
Even if some benefactor dropped in millions and a full staff of skilled people equipped with top notch facilities Cyclone would still make no progress. Harry Schoell would see to that by demanding his theories be vindicated above all else.
Cyclone spent about $7 million total in R&D and $14 million in General and Administrative. The only place the bulk of the latter could have ended up is Schoell Marine. I expect Harry and Frankie are quite comfortable and can easily afford to indulge Harry's hobby for as long as he wants.
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