Links: DailyMail.co.uk Article / Engadget.com Article / Hawkes Ocean Technologies Website / Deep Flight Merlin /

First Sir Richard Branson founded Virgin Atlantic Airways. Then he founded Virgin Galactic. Given that Hawkes Ocean Technologies has delivered the Deep Flight Merlin, a prototype underwater plane, to Sir Richard, could a large scale underwater enterprise called Virgin Aquatic be in the cards? Christened the Necker Nymph, it reminds us a bit of the 1976 Lotus Esprit S1 in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, as well as the star of Gerry Anderson's Stingray TV series.

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson may already own an airline, a record label, a mobile phone company, several luxury restaurants, and a Caribbean island. But today the entrepreneur unveiled his latest toy - an underwater plane.

The £415,000 prototype submersible is called the Necker Nymph and can dive to depths of up to 130 ft. Sir Richard hopes to one day explore depths of 35,000 ft. - which is far more than the height of Mount Everest.

Sir Richard plans to lend the Nymph out to visitors of his luxury hideaway, Necker Island. Gliding like an aeroplane through the water it can carry a pilot and two visitors on a two-hour trip.

After undergoing scuba training, guests can uncover ancient shipwrecks, fly side-by-side with dolphins, or follow whales.

Such a unique experience comes at a price of course. The Nymph is available to hire for $25,000 a week (£15,000), but only after you have forked out a minimum of $88,000 (£55,000) for seven nights on the luxury catamaran, the Necker Belle.

The luxury sub has fighter jet technology and is piloted with a joystick. While most subs use ballast to propel subs under the water, the Nymph uses downward 'lift' on the wings to fly down.

(Source: DailyMail.co.uk, Engadget.com, Hawkes Ocean Technologies)