Fran McCabe (RIP) Gyroscope Demo

[lancaIV]

flywheel ( as energy storage ) research and development : https://web.archive.org/web/20070519235153/http://flywheel.esmartbiz.com/


some dis-/advantages comparisons about low/heavy weight material use ( appropriate application )


https://web.archive.org/web/20070523064716/http://flywheel.esmartbiz.com/facts.htm

[antijon]

Thanks Magnaprop, gyros really are a mind blow, like they work directly against free space.

Btw, I've tried to source flywheels before but never turned up anything except, like you said, small sterlings on Amazon or eBay.

[kajunbee]

I picked up a 12" spoked flywheel off eBay. It came off and exercise bike I believe.

[telecom]

So I've looked into Laithwaite before, but trying to understand precession. Basically, gyroscope precession shouldn't exist, right? I mean, it's illogical that because a disk is spinning and a torque is applied to the top that force is exerted at 90 degrees. Just a question for you more knowledgeable guys.

Forgive the low quality of the paint image, but if we had a gyroscope mounted on a gimbal on a large platform that could rotate with little resistance ( imagine a large barge on water), and the gimbal was free to tilt side-to-side, but not free to spin around the mounting axis. As you see in the image, the rod tilts the gyro, but it's not free to be moved left or right. Does that mean tilting the gyro would apply a torque to rotate the entire platform on the water?

I believe it should pull the whole platform

[MagnaProp]

I picked up a 12" spoked flywheel off eBay. It came off and exercise bike I believe.

Thanks. That pointed me to some good options like the "9 Inch Hit & Miss Witte Gas Engine Flywheel Engine Cart Wheel Cast Iron" one I found on Ebay around 55$ shipped. Have a couple on order. When Eric Laithwaite and Fran start talking about propulsion and antigravity, I get interested. Not sure how well cast iron will hold up under the high speeds I'm thinking of. Might have to wrap it up in fiberglass cloth to help keep it from exploding but we'll see, from a distance.


Starting to see what Fran meant by it needs to spin faster than the natural rate of procession. That makes the gyro move up. Up sounds like antigravity to me. Eric said he couldn't get past the fast he could lift such a heavy gyro over his head which kept him intrigued. I can't get past the end of his "Heretic" video where he says he "cracked it". Got the same good results without breaking any physics laws.