the lower end. Attempts to use swaged rings on the cable to 

 support the clips have thus far been unsuccessful because the 

 rings become loosened when the cable elongates under load. 

 Recently, studies have been initiated to develop better 

 methods of securing supporting rings on the cable but this 

 problem is not yet solved. The problem of fairing stretching 

 is minimized in our present design because each section of 

 fairing will be less than 200 feet long. Each section would 

 be supported at the upper end by a swivel attached to the 

 lower end connector of each instrument module. The problem 

 of bunching can be easily avoided if provision is made for 

 slight stretch of the fairing sections at the bottom ends. 



In specifying the use of cable fairing it is important 

 to consider the manufacturing cost. Most fairing is made of 

 natural rubber which is hand-layed to approximate size and 

 then cured in a heated mold. This process is expensive, and 

 even fairing of small section costs as much as five or six 

 dollars per foot. Although studies of alternate materials, 

 and possible development of an extrusion technique, have been 

 initiated, no material has yet been found to possess as 

 many desirable features as a rubber compound. Furthermore, 

 extruded plastic fairings are subject to non-uniform stresses 

 which cause asymmetries in shape and consequent erratic towing 

 characteristics. 



39 



