Tesla's Flying Machine

[jandell254]

I found some plans for Tesla's mechanical flying machine a few months ago.  They are actually very straightforward.  Some guys have built a model of the machine, you can see it at their website at http://fuel-efficient-vehicles.org/tesla-flying-machine/Tesla-Flying-Stove-motor.php.  I also built my own model but neither of them seem to work. 

After trying to work out why it didn't work, it seems to me that the machine needs an additional eccentricity rotating perpendicular to the other four to shift the centre of mass of the machine sideways at the right timing.  I've shown this extra weight in my own drawing that I've attached.

I built this new design as well, out of aluminium and steel for the weights.  It ended up weighing about 6.5 kg though, and wile I estimate I get about 800rpm from the 2 electric motors powering the thing this doesn't seem to be enough power to actually lift the thing, especially as the weights and lever arm lengths I used were smaller than those used by the guys who built the original, unchanged model at the website I linked to.

I could build the machine lighter and use more powerful motors but I'm a bit tired of messing around with this particular design since I've already spent so much time and money on it.

Tesla calls this a simple mechanical method of flying.  It has nothing to do with atoms or electrons as the author of the book the plans for this machine appears in suggested.  She seemed to think the right-hand rule Tesla mentions had something to do with electromagnetism, but its a very simple high school physics rule for calculating the direction of torque. 
All the machine does is shift its centre of mass and push it out and up using centrifugal force to develop an upward thrust.  If you work through a full revolution of the weights while looking at Tesla's drawing you can visualize the centre of mass rotating upwards out of the page, in a spiral, thus giving a net upwards force. 
(Without the new eccentricity the centre of mass will actually stay at the same level; with the new weight it should move upwards as well).

Diagram from page 31 of Tesla, Man of Mystery © 1992
Chapter 4: "The Tesla Space Drive"

Also from the book (and taken from the website I linked above), Tesla says:

"The first step in developing this system is to cause a counter-clockwise (sense chosen arbitrarily) acceleration of the center of mass of the four eccentrics (refer to diagram) in a circular orbit about the X axis.
"... there is a common point about which the center of mass of the eccentrics and the center of mass of the device as a whole gyrate." pg.32

"The reaction to this angular acceleration is a linear acceleration along the system axis (X) and directed outward from the page. ... this system functions in accordance with the right-hand rule. ... [ It will ] wobble noticeably at low thrust levels. This effect fades out, however, as the thrust is increased."     pg.34-35

[TheOne]

I think the big problem with the site replication show is the motor, its to big, you need smaller motor that can rotate faster then 800RPM, I bet 10000RPM is the range you will see an effect.

Also you need to put a balance under so you can see if the device mass change.

[Yucca]

A fascinating device jandell254.

I wonder if it would be possible to construct it without the need for right angled gears and pillow block bearings using the following method:

Take four brushless 3phase model aircraft motors (an excentric on each motor shaft) and wire them all to the same PWM brushless speed controller, this way phase locking of the rotations could be achieved electrically rather than mechanically.

Just incase phase slip did occur it would be wise to make sure the orbits of the excentrics do not overlap.

Brushless model motors have the advantage of being cheap and very high power to weight ratio and they can be controlled with positional accuracy like a stepper motor.

If this method does work then one could control all four motors using a microcontroller, then the phase relationships could be accurately adjusted in order to maybe achieve solid state control of thrust direction.

Yucca.

[TinselKoala]

I know this is hard to believe--it comes as a shock to me, I assure you--but Tesla was NOT right about everything.
You are looking at one of his worst mistakes.
This device will not fly.

[jandell254]

I know this is hard to believe--it comes as a shock to me, I assure you--but Tesla was NOT right about everything.
You are looking at one of his worst mistakes.
This device will not fly.

I've noticed that Tesla was wrong about alot of things including this machine.  None of his other flying machines were ever built as far as I know, so they probably didn't work either.  He's still the greatest scientist who ever lived in my opinion though for the things that he got right.

I don't know if the machine would work with the simple modification I made to it.  Its possible that the horizontally spinning eccentricity that I added will keep the machine stable by acting like a gyroscope and prevent it from tilting properly as shown in my diagram.  Theres always some flaw in these types of machines that keeps them from working.