GRUMMAN/PICCARD PX-15 "BEN FRANKLIN" SUBMERSIBLE MODEL.
GRUMMAN/PICCARD PX-15 "BEN FRANKLIN" SUBMERSIBLE MODEL.
Contractor's model in painted wood with metal fittings, 20 x 10-1/2 x 9 inches, in custom wooden case.
Provenance: Manufactured by a major aerospace model shop.
The manned submersible PX-15 (Ben Franklin) was first conceived by Swiss explorer Jacques Piccard and developed together with Grumman in the U.S. It was built at Piccard's factory in Switzerland, then disassembled and shipped to Florida, and sailed on a voyage from the Palm Beach area to Halifax, Nova Scotia. NASA send a scientist, Chester May, along on the mission to observe the operations inside a small enclosed vehicle, in order to gain insights into conditions of space travel. Ben Franklin ran aground in 1971 and was sold to a Vancouver businessman. Today it is on display outside the Vancouver Maritime Museum.
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GRUMMAN/PICCARD PX-15 "BEN FRANKLIN" SUBMERSIBLE MODEL.
Contractor's model in painted wood with metal fittings, 20 x 10-1/2 x 9 inches, in custom wooden case.
Provenance: Manufactured by a major aerospace model shop.
The manned submersible PX-15 (Ben Franklin) was first conceived by Swiss explorer Jacques Piccard and developed together with Grumman in the U.S. It was built at Piccard's factory in Switzerland, then disassembled and shipped to Florida, and sailed on a voyage from the Palm Beach area to Halifax, Nova Scotia. NASA send a scientist, Chester May, along on the mission to observe the operations inside a small enclosed vehicle, in order to gain insights into conditions of space travel. Ben Franklin ran aground in 1971 and was sold to a Vancouver businessman. Today it is on display outside the Vancouver Maritime Museum.
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