Hovering Vehicle and Gravity

Enter your search terms Submit search form

Home

This article is divided into three parts. Firstly, it’s described what men have achieved in realizing his dream to fly. Secondly, what men dream of to fly in the future. And it’s concluded with an introduction to gravity.

At present, men have been truly able to fly. Let’s us describe the present techniques that men use to fly.

The oldest technique used by men to fly is balloon. Unfortunately, there is one disadvantage of balloon, that is its huge size if compared to the load it lifts.

Men then dream of making flying machine that has compact in size. And it’s created a machine with wings and rotors, which we know it as airplane.

Beside this airplane with wings and rotors, there’s one more type of flying machine that has uniqueness. That is helicopter. Helicopter has an advantage that airplane doesn’t, that is it can take off and land vertically. Besides that, helicopter can also float stand still in the air. Because of its unique characteristic, helicopter is used as transportation vehicle for extreme area that airplane can not reach, such as on the forests or offshore bridges. Helicopter is also very ideal for SAR (Search and Rescue).

Men also create amphibian airplane and amphibian helicopter that can take off and land over the water (sea, river or lake). Men also create an airplane with the movable rotors, so that can it can take off and land vertically, and also can fly as fast as an airplane.

Nowadays, faster airplanes are needed. Due to the limitation speed of airplane using rotors, men create jet plane. Using this jet engine, airplanes fly faster. Now we have been able to produce jet plane that has speed over the speed of sound in the air. We call it supersonic jet plane. These days, many commercial planes use jet engine. It’s also created a movable jet engine, so that a jet plane can take off and land vertically, still it can fly fast.

The latest flying technology is rocket engines. Rocket engine has an advantage over jet engine, it can operate in vacuum, such as outer space. So that rocket engines are applied to space flight.

Beside those, there are other flying technologies developed by men. One of them is hovercraft (see fig. 1). Hovercraft can cruise on the land, water and swamps. The principle of hovercraft is that this vehicle moves on an air cushion. The disadvantage of hovercraft is that this vehicle can not fly high, so it’s categorized as flying machine that has ground effect.

Figure 1. Hovercraft

There is other technology developed by men, that is train that hovers over magnetic rail. Since there is no friction with the rail, this train can go with very high speed.

There are a few companies try to make a flying car. One of them is Moller International from United States of America. This company has succeeded in creating 4-seater hovering vehicle called Moller skycar (see fig. 2)

Figure 2. Moller Skycar

Those are the achievements of men in realizing his dream to fly.

Next, what kind of flying machines that men dream of ? An ideal flying machine should fulfil these criteria :

1.        have compact size
2.        do not cause air blow
3.        do not have ground effect
4.        can take off and land vertically
5.        can float stand still in the air
6.        do not use special track (such as rail)

(see table 1).

Table 1

As we see in table 1, until now, there is no flying machine that fulfils all these criteria. We can say that men still can not create “ideal flying machine”.

Ideal flying machines are often visualized in the movies. For example, firstly, in the film Back to the Future II with its car called Delorean.

Secondly, in film Starwars with its car called landspeeder (see fig. 3). In this film, it’s told that flying machine is created using a technology called repulsorlift. Repulsorlift is an antigravity system that works when a thing (e.g. car) is nearby a huge mass (e.g. planet). But surely this technology is only a fiction or speculation.

Figure 3. Landspeeder

Thirdly, in film Fifth Element. In this film, it’s shown explicitly what flying machines look like (see fig. 4). And there are still many movies that visualize flying machines.

Figure 4. Future cars

How to produce such an “ideal flying machine” that men dream of ? The key is gravity. Men have to understand the meaning of gravity in order to create that dream flying machine. Unfortunately, there is no one – for the entire history of mankind – understands gravity. Great scientists living or ever lived on earth still can not reveal the secrets of gravity.

Though, we know that revolution will occur when men understand the meaning of gravity. This revolution will be as great as other big revolutions ever happened in human kind, such as the invention of fire, wheel, alphabets, mathematics, steam engine, mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum theory, relativity, transistor and superconductivity. It’s almost certain that the first man who is able to explain gravity will receive Nobel prize.

If the meaning of gravity has been found, the technology will be available soon. And wheels are not needed anymore. Asphalt roads can be changed to green grass lanes. And we can fly as freely as birds. If this is achieved, then another mystery of nature is revealed before us, and we can understand more of the grandeur of the Creator.

Is there anybody interested in this matter and challenged to learn gravity ?
2^nd August 2004