history of Electrokinetic Propulsion studies dates back
to the 1920s. The acknowledged founder of the
field is Thomas Townsend Brown who discovered the so-called
Biefeld-Brown effect in the 1920s.
the Cold War years, intense efforts were made to develop
this technology. In 1956 the famous "Electrogravitic
Systems" report predicted imminent announcements by
a number of the major aerospace companies of the day.
Since that time, very little has been heard on the subject
although the patent record shows work continuing into
the late 1960s.
1952 the USA carried out Project Winterhaven to assess
the claims of TT Brown. The results were classified
but are referenced in the 1956 Electrogravitics Systems
Electrogravitics Systems report, apparently originally
obtained from the Technical Library at Wright Patterson
Air Force Base concludes:
Electrostatic energy sufficient to produce low speeds
has already been demonstrated. Generation
of a region of positive electrostatic energy on one
side of a plate and negative on the other sets up the
same lift or propulsion effect as the pressure
and suction below and above a wing, except that in the
case of electrostatic application no airflow is necessary".
Electrostatic energy sufficient to produce a Mach 3
fighter is possible with megavolt energies and a k of
came to the same conclusion independently: that
classical aerodynamic Lift and Drag are Electrostatic
Effects. The whole of fluid and aerodynamics can
be modelled with electrostatics.
is the Electrostatic Theory of Fluid
moment's thought shows that the interactions of a fluid
with a body immersed in it must follow electrostatic
principles, since all mechanical interactions of matter
fundamentally involve the interactions of electron wave
means that classical Lift and Drag are essentially identical
is also well known that the mathematics of plane potential
flows is identical with that of electrostatics.
1990, Dennis Cravens of Science Applications International
Corp. (SAIC) carried out the Electric Propulsion Study
(NASA report AD-A227121 AL-TR-89-040) on behalf of the
USAF. This analysed the work of TT Brown and other researchers,
while "reviewing inductive theories and experimental
approaches which provide for interactions between gravitational
and electromagnetic fields."
report abstract goes on to say that:
"Specific recommendations are made for experiments
that would both verify the theories and serve as a basis
for electric propulsive systems that would convert between
electromagnetic and inertial momentum".
1997 there has been a resurgence of interest in the
field, fuelled by the improved access to information
made possible by the Internet. Numerous companies are
working quietly in this field, including BAE and Honda.
The field of Magnetohydrodynamics, actively pursued
by the Russian Ajax program in the 1980s and the USA
since the 1960s, is in effect identical with Electrokinetics
the 1980s it was known that BAe was working on "anti-gravity"
at Warton. They have closely followed the work of independent
inventor Sandy Kidd. The internal BAe employee magazine
presented artists concepts of an "anti-gravity vehicle"
in the 1990s which are actually in MIR's opinion not
very far from an accurate rendition.
research was led by Professor Brian Young, who died
in 1994, 3 months before he was due to retire.
In 1992 Professor Young was appointed to a professorship
at Salford University and lectured to both the Institute
of Mechanical Engineers and on the Radio 4 Science Now
program on the subject of anti-gravity.
5th April 2002 edition of Air & Cosmos (No. 1837)
made Electrokinetics the subject of its front cover
with a 5 page article by Alexandre Szames reviewing
the history and latest activities to see the light of
interesting development has been considerable amateur
activity in building so called "Lifters" which Szames
covers in the above article.
Lifters are based on the work of Major A.P. de Seversky
and GE Hagen.
US Patent 3,120,363 published in 1958 shows the basic
cellular structure of the electrostatic lifter concept.
de Seversky's concept (US Patent 3,130,945, published
in 1959) is a more advanced lifter design.
de Seversky's and Hagen's patent were assigned to Electronatom
Inc. in Long Island City. In August 1964, Popular
Mechanics visited the company and published an account
of a demonstration of a model weighing 2 ounces.
a sound the peculiar spiky contraption rose straight
up, hovered awhile .... and just sat there silently
in mid air".
cellular structure of these "Lifters" allows for constructive
wave interference between the wave sources in each cell.
This augments the overall efficiency and lifting power
of the devices. Pulsing of the electrostatic fields
with a sawtooth or ideally a capacitor discharge relaxation
oscillator type of waveform (in which the voltage rise
is not a straight line as in a sawtooth but exponentially
decreases) is also necessary.
2000 Hector Serrano was awarded international patent
WO 00/58623 for "Propulsion Device and Method Employing
Electric Fields for Producing Thrust". Serrano
does reference TT Brown and his device is very similar
to the first patent Brown was awarded in 1928 (GB 300,311)
for a stacked capacitor "Gravitator".
is interesting to note that Figure 7 of Serrano's patent
shows an entire space vehicle powered by his electric
thruster. The design of the vehicle is very similar
to the privately developed Roton Rocket which NASA initially
funded and from which it then withdrew support.
2001 NASA were awarded patents 6,317,310 and 6,411,493
"Apparatus for Generating Thrust Using a Two Dimensional
Asymmetrical Capacitor Module". This is essentially
a copy of TT Brown's work and the operating principle
is identical. NASA make no reference to TT Brown.
Pages was one of the leading French post-war researchers
in this field. In French patent 1,253,902 Pages
postulated that a rotating electric current would produce
an anti-gravitational effect. This current was
produced by a circulating beam of electrons held in
a toroidal vacuum tube. Dr Jaegu Kim presented
experimental confirmation of this in 1994 in a paper
in the Journal of the Korean Physical Society.
have recently entered the aerospace field with a light
business jet and small turbofan engine of their own
design (HF118). A joint venture is being established
with GE to manufacture and market the engine and a production
plant for the engine is being established. What is less
well known is that Honda's R&D Institute have also
carried out experimental investigation into TT Brown's
results since the early 1990s, including the interesting
variation in the effect observed with the phases of
the Moon. Measurable weight reductions of 0.8%
of inconsistencies in the stated performance of the
B2 bomber by the French scientist JL Petit and others
(LaViolette) show that this aircraft is almost certainly
an electrogravitic craft. Photographs have been taken
of the leading edge glowing with plasma. The front aspect
of the craft forms a tri-arcuate structure, similar
to that found by TT Brown to be the optimal shape for
an electrokinetic craft. This tri-arcuate electrode
was the subject of a thesis by a USAF officer at Wright-Patterson
in 1960 - an analysis entitled "Ion Wind Device"
was sent for comment to Brown's company Whitehall Rand
is still being actively pursued by BAe and the USA into
the field of Electrokinetics under the name of Magnetohydrodynamics
May 2002 DARPA issued a call for tenders under the SBIR
program called "Multifunctional Light Structures for
Space Vehicles". This is an MHD program supposedly
to match the capabilities of the Russian Ajax program
from the 1980s. As with Electrogravitics or Electrokinetics,
there is a great gap between the 1950s and today in
which the subject of MHD dropped out of sight and nothing
seems to have been achieved. Magnetoaerodynamics
was actually born in the USA in 1957 - but work being
carried out today still seems to cover the same ground
and not to have progressed.
Electrokinetic Apparatus, US Patent 2,949,550
"Gravitational Field of a Moving Spinning Point Particle",
Jaegu Kim, Journal of the Korean Physical Society, Vol.
27, October 1994.
Theoretical Explanation of the Biefeld-Brown Effect,
T. Musha, Honda R&D Institute.
Electrogravitics - What It is or Might be, Journal of
the British Interplanetary Society, AV Cleaver, Vol
16, No. 2, 1957.
"Shuttle Propulsion Using Electromagnetic Force
Fields", J. Cox, AIAA 17th Joint Propulsion Conference,
"Electric Propulsion Study", DJ Cravens, SAIC,
1990, NASA AD-A227121 or AL-TR-89-040.