[EAS]Revolutionary Aircraft

[pjk]

Subject:   Revolutionary Aircraft

This list hasn't seen much activity lately. So to fill the gap here
is a mailing that springs from my hope that US science education can
improve and lessen a popular credulity of almost Medieval
dimensions.  --PJK

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(from WHAT'S NEW   Robert L. Park  Friday, 25 Jul 03  Washington, DC)

INFINITE ENERGY: REVOLUTIONARY AIRCRAFT IS POWERED BY GRAVITY. 
An ad in the Wall Street Journal last week sought investors for a
fuel-less aircraft.  The idea is refreshing; unlike free-energy
scams that tap the zero-point energy, or shield gravity, Hunt
Aircraft Corp. proposes to do it the old-fashioned way, i.e.,
violate Conservation of Energy.  Helium bags lift the winged
craft vertically, whereupon the helium is compressed to make the
craft heavier than air.  It then glides downward.  At low
altitude, the cycle is repeated.  Aha!, you say, compressing the
gas takes work.  These guys aren't that dumb.  As it glides, a
wind-turbine will generate the power.  The inventor has applied
for a patent, but our research uncovered the shocking similarity
to Tom Swift's "Black Hawk" airship described in Tom Swift and
His Electric Rifle (Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1911).

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND and THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY.  
Opinions are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the
University or the American Physical Society, but they should be.
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