"New Air Dream-Planes Flying
Outside Gravity"
NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE
Lawrence D. Bell, founder and president of Bell Aircraft
Corp., of Buffalo, using a Japanese ivory ball to illustrate his view
that humans before long will operate planes outside the earth's
atmosphere, then outside the gravity field of the earth. The pilots
with him, three top test pilots of the Air Force, are, left, Lt. Col.
Frank J. Everest; centre, in light suit, Maj. Charles Yeager, and, in
uniform next to Mr. Bell, Maj.
Arthur Murray."
"ABLE TO GO WHERE WE WANT"
This is the third in a series of three articles on new
pure and applied research into the mysteries of gravity and the
efforts to devise ways to overcome it. Written by Ansel E. Talbert,
Military and Aviation Editor. N.Y.H.T.
"The current interest in America's aircraft and
electronics industries in finding whether gravity can be controlled or
'cancelled-out' is not confined to imaginative young graduates of
engineering and scientific schools. Some of the two industries' most
experienced and highly regarded leaders today are engaged directly or
deeply interested in theoretical
research relating to gravity and universal gravitation. Their basic
aim is eventually to build 'hardware' in the shape of planes, earth
satellites, and space ships 'which can go where we want and do what we
want without interference from gravity's mysterious trans-spatial
pull.'
BELL IS OPTIMISTIC: Lawrence D. Bell, whose company in
Buffalo built the first piloted aircraft in history to fly faster than
sound, is certain that practical results will come out of current
gravity research. He told this correspondent: 'Aviation as we know it
is on the threshold of amazing new
concepts. The United States aircraft industry already is working with
nuclear fuels and equipment to cancel out gravity instead of fighting
it. 'The Wright Brothers proved that man does not have to be
earth-bound. Our next step will be to prove that we can operate
outside the earth's atmosphere and the third will be to operate
outside the gravity of the earth.
OPTIMISM SHARED: Mr. Bell's company during the last few
days made the first powered flights with its new Bell X-2 rocket plane
designed to penetrate deep into the thermal or heat barrier
encountered due to atmospheric fiction at a speed above 2,000 miles
per hour. It also is testing a revolutionary new jet
vertical-rising-and-landing 'magic carpet' airplane.
Grover Loening, who was the first graduate in
aeronautics in an American University and the first engineer hired by
the Wright Brothers, holds similar views. Over a period of forty
years, Mr. Loening has had a distinguished career as an aircraft
designer and builder recently was decorated by the United States Air
Force for his work as a special scientific consultant. 'I firmly
believe that before long man will acquire
the ability to build an electromagnetic contra-gravity mechanism that
works,' he says. 'Much the same line of reasoning that enabled
scientists to split up atomic structures also will enable them to
learn the nature of gravitational attraction and ways to counter it.'
Right now there is considerable difference of opinion
among those working to discover the secret of gravity and universal
gravitation as to exactly how long the project will take. George S.
Trimble, a brilliant young scientist who is head of the new advanced
design division of Martin Aircraft in Baltimore and a member of the
sub-committee on high-speed
aerodynamics of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics,
believes that it could be done relatively quickly if sufficient
resources and momentum were put behind the program.
'I think we could do the job in about the time that it
actually required to build the first atom bomb if enough trained
scientific brainpower simultaneously began thinking about and working
towards a solution,' he said. 'Actually, the biggest deterrent to
scientific progress is a refusal of some people, including scientists,
to believe that things which seem amazing can really happen.
'I know that if Washington decides that it is vital to
our national survival to go where we want and do what we want without
having to worry about gravity, we'd find the answer rapidly.'
SIKORSKY CAUTIOUS: Dr. Igor I. Sikorsky, one of the
world's outstanding airplane and helicopter designers, is somewhat
more conservative but equally interested. He believes that within
twenty-five years man will be flying beyond the earth's atmosphere,
but he calls gravity, 'real, tangible, and formidable.' It is his
considered scientific observation that
there must be some physical carrier for this immense trans-spatial
force.
Dr. Sikorsky notes that light and electricity, once
equally mysterious, now have become 'loyal, obedient servants of man.
appearing or disappearing at his command and performing at his will a
countless variety of services.' But in the case of gravitation he says
the more scientists attempt to visualize the unknown agent which
transmits it, 'the more we recognize we
are facing a deep and real mystery.'
The situation calls for intensive scientific research,
Dr. Sikorsky believes. Up to now all gravity research in the United
States has been financed out of the private funds of individuals or
corporations. Leaders of the nation's armed forces have been briefed
by various scientists about the theoretical chances of conquering
gravitation but so far their attitude is 'call us when you get some
hardware that works.'
Dudley Clarke, president of Clarke Electronics
laboratories of Palm Springs, Calif., one of the nation's oldest firms
dedicated to electronic research and experimentation, is one scientist
in the hardware stage of building something that he believes will
prove gravity can be put to useful purposes.
Mr. Clarke's company has just caused a stir in the
electronics industry by developing pressure-sensitive resistors having
unusual characteristics for parachute and other aviation use,
according to 'Teletech and Electronic Industries' magazine of 480
Lexington Ave. Mr. Clarke who years ago worked under Dr. Charles
Steinmetz, General Electric Company's electrical and
mathematical 'wizard' of the 1930s, is sure that this successful
harnessing of gravitation will take place sooner than some of these
'ivy tower' scientists believe.
Like Sir Frank Whittle, Britain's jet pioneer who was
informed in 1935 by the British Air Ministry that it could see no
practical use for his jet aircraft engine, Mr. Clarke has a
particularly cherished letter. It was written about the same time by
the commanding general at Wright Field giving a similar analysis of a
jet design proposal by Mr. Clarke.
Mr. Clarke notes that the force of gravity is powerful
enough to generate many thousand times more electricity than now is
generated at Niagra Falls and every other water-power centre in the
world - if it can be harnessed. This impending event, he maintains,
will make possible the manufacture of
anti-gravity 'power packages' which can be bought for a few hundred
dollars. These would provide all the heat and power needed by one
family for an indefinite period.
Dr. W.R.G. Baker, vice-president and general manager of
General Electric Co.'s electronics division, points out that
scientists working in many fields actually are beginning to explore
the universe, learning new things about the makeup of 'outer space'
and formulating new concepts. He says:
'Today we in electronics are deeply interested in what
lies beyond the earth's atmosphere and its gravity field. For there we
may find the electronics world of what now. Such questions usually
have been reserved for the realm of physics and astronomy. But through
entirely new applications in radar for example science already is able
to measure some of the properties of the world beyond. 'Warm bodies
radiate microwaves, and by recording noise signals, we are learning
about invisible celestial forces we did not even know existed.'
Dr. Arthur L. Klein, professor of aeronautics at the
California Institute of Technology, is certain that 'if
extra-terrestrial flight is to be achieved, something will be required
to replace chemical fuels.'
Dr. Hermann Oberth, Germany's greatest rocket pioneer,
who is now working on guided missiles for the United States Army,
calculates that 40,000 tons of liquid propellents will be required to
lift a payload of only two tons beyond the earth's gravitation.
Regarding this chemical fuel problem Dr.
Klein says, 'there are no other serious obstacles.'
Many thoughtful theoretical scientists and practical
engineers see a space vehicle de-gravitized to a neutral weight and
following an electronically-controlled route charted by radar as the
ultimate answer."
Conquest of Gravity Aim of Top Scientists in U.S.
"ANTI-GRAVITY RESEARCH - Dr. Charles T. Dozier, left,
senior research engineer and guided missiles expert of the Convair
Division of General Dynamics Corp., conducting a research experiment
toward control of gravity with Martin Kaplan, Convair Senior
electronics engineer."
Artist's conception of a vertical rising, disc-shaped
aircraft which could result from a project under development for the
U.S. Air Force by Avro Ltd., Canada (Official U.S. Air Force
photo).
Tuesday, November 22, 1955
pp. 6 & 10