X or Cruciform?
 

Poll overload? Maybe.... *shrug* but since I'm in a polling mood.

Your designing a submarine. Do you want the Aft rudder configuration in the classic cruciform configuration as seen here...
http://www.fxmodels.com/688192-2.shtml (2nd picture down)

or...

do you go with the sometimes use X form that some subs are now toting like seen here...
http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/model...erkuijl_13.jpg

Which would you prefer and why?

I would answer if I knew the differences in performance between the two types of ruder. :oops:
But based on a purely estetic point of view I choose cruciform configuration. :-j

I would choose the simple old design. There's less to go wrong, and less to fix if something really does go wrong.

There's definantly some collness to the X form. Its a sexy design.

To sum up the performance differences in a quick nutshell, one could basically say that the X form produces more turning power and thus improved manueverability, but is mechnically more complicated and operationally more complicated. A cruciform gets less turning power, but is simpler.

Cruciforms are pretty inuitive to operate, just at a glance, and in the situation where a computer goes down, or for whatever other reason, the ship needs to be steered manually on manual control it can be done pretty successfully. The X form on the other hand, is more complicated, and in the event of a systems failure, would be a nightmare to control.

One could go into more detail about the why's and ifs of each design but that about sums it up. I chose the cruciform.

Oh, and I'm not sure how easy it is to stream a tow array through an X form rudder... :hmm: