Electrokinetic Apparatus Details

Experience necessitates certain modifications to the new Model B-2B Spirit Lifter Asymmetrical Capacitors for Propulsion NASA / CR—2004-213312 October 2004 ~ PDF Download After only a few minutes of >20KVs operation, it quickly became apparent there was a tremendous amount of electrical leakage in the original design, focused mainly along the thin balsa supports, and especially arcing around the pointed nose of each wing. First trimmed back the aluminum foil from all corners, then using 1cm plastic tubing to reinforce, extended the length of each emitter wire support from 4cm, out to a full 7cm beyond the leading edge of the wings. (Earlier research suggested this setting would offer lots of potential thrust!) Everything once again tightly sealed with a generous amount of electrical tape, with the bases of the plastic tubes firmly attached to the wings. These various modifications proved especially satisfying, since previously it would have been impossible to utilize such heavy materials in Lifter construction, and still have it fly, that is... However, as it is no longer necessary for these wings to actually generate enough Electrogravitic thrust to achieve flight, such previously unsuitable materials and methods have become available for reconsideration.
Once again, the basic information on this particular setup is each B-2B has a full 17 inch wing span, is 6 inches from nose to tail, plus the currently attached 7cm long emitter wire supports. The Electrokinetic Apparatus support gantry reaches a total height of 38 inches tall, while the span of the entire armature is 44 inches from end to end. Dangling at each end are 14 inch long swinging attachment points, from which these Lifters receive their needed high voltage DC, and to which they are most securely affixed. (Certainly wouldn't want some whirling, high voltage object coming loose during operation, now would you...?)
Am mostly conducting these experiments using the older Information Unlimited GRA-30 25kv@1ma DC Power Supply, thanks to it's relative lack of self protecting safety features. Essentially, the Info Unlimited unit will not just automatically shut itself off (unlike the more protective design of the Glassman EH Series DC Power Unit) when there is sufficient high voltage to cause those beautiful blue sparks to fly! Unfortunately, even a single significant electrical arcing event while testing will immediately shut down the refined Glassman power supply. And, as we all know from experience, such sparks are a fairly regular event, expectedly common even in the most carefully constructed Lifters. So imagine... after inspecting a pair of freshly modified B-2B wings, potential leaks tightly sealed within electrical tape and plastic tubes, now ready to charge them up for yet another electrogravitic test flight. Wings securely attached to the armature, emitter wires carefully set to the full 7cm gap, everything triple checked and ready to go, turned on the HV DC power, and GERRZAPP! Tremendous, explosive arcing occurs unexpectedly inside the red spinner, the rotor pathetically sits all but motionless, sparks brightly flashing atop the supporting column. Immediately, I cut the power... and think. My mistake shortly becomes obvious: With the emitter wire set at the full 7cm, this distance is unfortunately greater than the space separating the Positive from Negative electrical contacts, as integrated within the red plastic spinner. Of course, was soon able to restart these Lifters using a more conservative >3.5cm gap for the emitter wire. Understandably, with all those various leaks filled at the lifter end, any excess electrical current simply crossed the shortest path to complete the circuit, which frustratingly just happened to be a far shorter path than was necessary for charging up this pair of B-2B Lifters for their next circular flight. Oh... Double Darn!
So... time break out that tools and building supplies box once again, and begin working this unanticipated problem! Efforts subsequently are focused upon insulating electrically the supporting copper rod in the base, while also insulating the corresponding copper rod screwed inside the top of the spinner cap. Thus, each piece of exposed metal was filled with either thick insulating foam, or layered wads of electrical tape. The current assumption is (since I can't actually see what's going on within the spinner) is the remaining exposed electrical air gap between the top and bottom sections has been reduced to somewhere around <1cm. Once again, reassemble all the various parts back together, and proceed to repeat the experiment...
As an aside here, figured there might be a few individuals interested in various engineering details, specifically these images showing the structure of the central spinner, as well as the flexible armature. Among the more critical design elements was the incorporation of two threaded nylon rods, one suspended upon each arm, with sets of weighty steel washers held securely between a couple of nylon nuts. By virtue of this simple mechanism, I am easily able to quickly make any fine tuning adjustments necessary to the balance of the armature, maximizing the rotational efficiency of the apparatus after both Lifters have been firmly attached.
Perhaps the most entertaining design challenge was constructing these trapeze like extensions from which the Lifters themselves are intended to be hung. Prior to installing the colored wire, these swinging attachment points moved quite freely, but after rigging them with 16 gauge braided copper wire, overall movement stiffened up significantly, while still allowing the wings to pivot outward upon reaching higher rotational speeds. To be frank, everything seen here was constructed using "off the shelf" hobby shop parts, and fabricated with simple hand tools. Still, many assorted small parts were heavily modified or otherwise adapted for use in this project, sometimes in ways for which they were clearly never intended. Personally, it was most gratifying when all these assorted pieces finally came together as a whole, and functioned as expected... well worth all those earlier failed experiments you will never see or hear about.
These B-2B Spirit Lifters have since been safely tested with a maximum >5cm emitter wire gap, powered up to >26KVs @ 0.3ma, while exhibiting only infrequent, minimal arcing between wing and emitter wire in this configuration. Thus, after diligent fine tuning, have completed five measured speed run tests. Observing an average 37rpm, making a sustained velocity for these B-2B wings calculated to be 6.384mph. Although not exactly "earth escape velocity" please consider the following: The full size USAF B-2B Bomber has a 172 foot wingspan, which would equal 123.5 of my tiny Lifters. That would establish a scale speed of approximately 788mph for this humble pair of high voltage toys! Now we're talking some serious Electrogravitic progress being make... Onward to that next experiment!
B-2B Lifters on Electrokinetic Apparatus 25kv @ 0.3ma, 5cm wire gap, rotating at approx 35+rpms Return To Electrogravitics Page