A few 'gotchas' for which any "AG" research must beware:

  If high voltage is involved, everyone should realize that bare metal can
  emit air jets which create forces.  Even a small corona discharge can
  eject a stream of "electric wind."  Spinning gyroscopes can do the same,
  an unshrouded flywheel can act as a propellor blade.  If we surround our
  antigravity device with a plastic bag, then any thrust from air jets is
  eliminated.  If doing so also eliminates the weight change, then perhaps
  the weight change was really caused by air jets from moving parts or
  from high-voltage all along.

  If high temperatures are involved, then rising plumes of hot air can
  create forces.  If the AG force from your device is small, and if it 
  rises slowly with time and then decreases slowly when power is removed,
  then suspect bouyancy forces and rising hot air. To eliminate this
  problem, operate your device within a vacuum chamber.  Or, if your
  device is meant to create a directional thrust, then rotate your device
  so that all of the expected force is sideways.  Hot air should mostly
  produce up/down forces, and should therefor be separate from any
  sideways forces created by genuine AG effects.

  Electrostatic forces caused by high voltage can masquerade as
  small weight changes.  If any part of your device becomes "frictionally"
  charged, or if your device employs high voltage as part of its
  operation, then electrostatic forces will be present.  One way to
  eliminate them: surround your device with a conductive bag (aluminum
  foil or aluminized mylar), and use a fine wire to connect the
  conductive bag to earth. This will eliminate any electrostatic forces
  between the bag and the outside world.

  Don't trust scales, especially if your device is vibrating.  Some 
  scales are nonlinear, and will convert any vibrations into a false
  reading of directional force.  Better to suspend your device
  from a pendulum, orient it so that it produces sideways thrust, then
  measure any deflection from vertical.  Or, if your device only produces
  changes in weight, then build a balance beam, suspend your device from
  one end of the beam, and attach a counterweight to the other end.
  (And surround it in a conductive plastic bag to eliminate electrostatic 
  forces, AND perform the experiment in a vacuum chamber to eliminate
  forces caused by rising hot air.)

  And finally, beware of PSYCHOLOGICAL forces!  :)  Very often we will let
  our experiments become entangled in our egos.  This is bad, because in
  order to shield against ego damage, we will stop looking for con-
  ventional explanations for apparant success.  If my antigravity device
  seems to really work, my first thoughts should NOT be about how superior
  I am when compared to other researchers, or about the riches and
  accolades I soon will receive.  Those thoughts will steer me away from
  discovering even the most obvious sources of failure.  Instead my first
  thoughts should be "OK, so how am I fooling myself THIS time?"


  Obviously all of the above warnings apply to SMALL forces.  If your
  device can lift itself off the table and fly around the room, then there
  is little doubt that you have a genuine AG effect.  Better put it in 
  a plastic bag anyway, just to convince the doubters that you have no
  electric helicopters hidden somewhere inside it!  :)


http://www.eskimo.com/~billb/freenrg/antigrav.html

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William J. Beaty                                  SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb@eskimo.com                                  www.eskimo.com/~billb
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits          science projects, tesla, weird science
Seattle, WA   206-781-3320          freenrg-L taoshum-L vortex-L webhead-L