Lifter (aircraft)

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Construction and functional principle

Lifter refers to aircraft whose drive principle is based on the generation of an ion wind through the ionization of air molecules and their acceleration in an electric field with a strong gradient .

Working principle

Lifters usually consist of light building materials such as balsa wood or similar, which are often arranged in triangular structures (although other geometries are also possible in principle) and consist of two levels: a thin wire runs along the upper edge of the device , the lower half consists of a wide one Strips of aluminum foil . In "flight operations" there is a strong high voltage (range 10 kV and up) between the wire ( anode ) and the aluminum foil ( cathode ) . The small radius creates a strong field gradient in which air molecules are ionized around the wire and accelerated towards the aluminum foil. In doing so, they accelerate further, non-ionized air molecules through collision processes , which generate a net push downwards. One speaks of the Biefeld-Brown effect .

Restrictions

Since the Biefeld-Brown effect presupposes the presence of an ionizable surrounding medium, lifters can not function in a high vacuum . However, the main limitation to building lifts is their maximum dimensions . Since the thrust generated by the ion wind is in a first approximation proportional to the applied voltage , the field strengths required for take-off quickly reach the critical field strength of air with larger masses . Then arcs form , which break down the ion wind. The lifter is not a perpetual motion machine : the ion flow is an electrical current supplied by the voltage source, whereby it has to produce an electrical output .

Pseudoscience

The lifter is always the subject of pseudoscientific texts. There are some publications on the Internet that explain a lifter with "antigravity" or similar phenomena that contradict classical physics. Man-carrying lifters are shown on artistic depictions, often even in space flight outside the Earth's atmosphere . In fact, there have been no demonstrations of man-carrying lifters or the functionality of lifts in vacuo . The underlying physical principle does not allow such realizations either. The Biefeld-Brown effect can easily be explained in the context of the physical world view, including that of classical physics , and does not require any postulate of previously unknown natural forces or effects.

literature

  • Ianconescu, Reuven, Daniela Sohar, and Moshe Mudrik. "An analysis of the Brown – Biefeld effect." Journal of Electrostatics 69.6 (2011): 512-521.

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