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Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

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Steve Gray
Steve Gray
931 posts

Lifters
Nov 27, 2003, 09:09
Very interesting, I might have a go at making one.

Although I was farming during the '80s, I am, by training, an Applied Physicist and I don't think the principle involved is very mysterious. In fact it's probably a good illustration of the way in which the amateur experimenters vs. scientific establishment, get at cross-purposes. The amateurs come up with something they think is radical, the scientific community are not impressed, so the amateurs immediately think they're on to something really big that the establishment can't explain or wish to cover up.

Surely the principle of the lifter is this:

The corona wire ionises air molecules, which are then atttracted towards the foil skirt. The molecules have mass and are being accelerated downwards, so by Newton's second law of motion there is a resultant force and according to his third law there will be an equal and opposite force on the lifter. This is not unlike using a fan to accelerate air molecules.

As the ions flow, charge is being transferred from the corona wire to the skirt and this "current" means that power is being consumed, so the levitation is not "free", in fact it can be shown by some simple maths that the power required per unit of mass is similar to any other form of levitation such as the helicopter.
In reply to:
Not a bad explanation (BlueGloves)		 Replies:
Lifters (sorry Gandalf) (BlueGloves)
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