The Lifter1 replicated successfully
by Mike Ady ( USA )

created on January 14, 2002 - JLN Labs - Last update January 15, 2002
All informations in this page are published free and are intended for private/educational purposes and not for commercial applications

Hi Jean-Louis,

You can add 53N latitude and 113W longitude (Edmonton Canada) to your Lifters map, if you like.

I finally got a lifter to fly.  I built a balsa frame according to the dimensions on your "Lifter 1" web page, except I allowed room for a greater separation between electrodes. I still don't have a supply of fine wire, so I used 0.25 mm bare copper wire for the anode.  I first tried an electrode separation of 38 mm and wrapped a single sheet of aluminum foil (650 x 40 mm) around the frame for the cathode.  The leakage current was too high, probably due to the sharp leading edge.  There was no measureable thrust (less than 0.3 g) and very little electric wind.  Next I cut a 650 x 45 mm piece of aluminum foil and I "gently" folded over the top 5 mm of the foil (i.e. no sharp crease) and this time, the lifter skidded across the floor, but failed to lift off.  I moved the aluminum foil up until the separation was 36 mm, and finally it lifted off.  The leakage current was still very high, but could probably be reduced with a greater radius of curvature on the leading edge of the cathode.

Regards, Mike Ady

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