> This is actually a reaction drive because it is based on reaction (reactive)
> force, unless I missed something in the description.  In the regular "jet"
> engine the reactive force is provided by expulsion of matter, in this case by
> expulsion of wave, somewhat similar to photonic drive (a-la startrek etc.).
> What they mean is the drive has no momentum because it has no moving parts.

Or, better, reaction MASS-less drive.  It uses no reaction mass to provide
thrust.  Which is EXCELLENT, because most forms of propulsion these days
(rocket, jet, etc.) require quite a bit of reaction mass.

> Also, they have a picture of an aircraft using this type of engine to provide
> hoover capability.  I bet amount of microwave radiation it will produce will
> wreak havoc on electronic equipment below the craft.

The end goal is to have nearly none of that microwave radiation leaking out of
the chamber.  The energy poured into the chamber would go into lift, with
very little (remember the goal of a Q in the billions) leaking out.

If my physics logic is right, once a craft reached altitude, the
amount of energy
required to keep it there would be minimal.  After all, energy is
force integrated
over distance.  If the distance being travelled is zero (no net motion up or
down in the gravitational field), the only energy that would have to be placed
into the "bottle" would be to replace leakage, and with a Q of several billion,
that's not much.

I don't see this making flying cars a reality, but imagine the applications in
trade.  A ship is loaded with trinkets in Hong Kong, a generator on shore is
used to provide the initial umph to lever it up out of the water, onboard
generation good enough to KEEP it up takes over, then it zips across the
ocean to California or where ever.  Or to science:  a satellite using this
could maintain a geosynchronous "orbit" at any altitude!  Power generation:
those LEO geosync satellites could beam down the excess energy they
capture to local power stations.

The possibilities are endless:  what this represents is nothing less than the
means to build a structure at any height from the surface of the Earth,
without the need for physical contact with the Earth.  HUGE.

That's if it works.  Something about it seems not quite right to me.  ;-)

Mike H.
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