The Lafforgue's Field Propulsion Thruster
LFPT v1.0
Built and tested by Jean-Louis Naudin
created on January 20, 2002 - JLN Labs - Last update January 20, 2002
All informations in this page are published free and are intended for private/educational purposes and not for commercial applications

The French patent FR 2651388 from Jean-Claude Lafforgue is really a "Must" in the domain of the Electrostatic Field Propulsion. I have really enjoyed to read it and I encourage anyone who wants to conduct some researches in this domain, to study this patent very carefully.... Some translations of the Lafforgue's patent can be found here.

Isolated systems self-propelled by electrostatic forces  by Jean-Claude Lafforgue ( France )
No. Publication (Sec.) : FR2651388 
Date de publication : 1991-03-01  
Inventeur : LAFFORGUE JEAN-CLAUDE; ALEXANDRE  
Déposant :: LAFFORGUE JEAN CLAUDE (FR)  
Classification IPC : H02N11/00  
Abrégé
The electrostatic forces are "generated" by the interaction of polarised atoms (q) on an electric vector field (E), i.e. F=q.E, positive or negative according to the sign of (q). By suitable geometry of the polarised armatures, and/or by the use of electric charges induced by induction effect, and/or by the use of suitably arranged dielectrics, it becomes possible to break the symmetry of the expansion forces on one of the axes of the three-axis reference system and thus to obtain a non-zero resultant force (Fn). The isolated system is then propelled, and it draws the charges (q) and (E) along with it, thus F=q.E remains constant. This force can be used as a means of propulsion for any vehicle or even as motive force for producing energy.

On January 20, 2002, I have replicated and tested successfully the Basic Lafforgue's Field Propulsion Thruster fully described in his patent FR2651388 ( see the photo below ).

Tested apparatus description :

I have used the same design as described in the Lafforgue's patent at the fig7 page 48. The asymmetrical capacitor is built with 3 aluminum armatures ( 0.5 mm thick ). These armatures have the exact shape of the Lafforgue's capacitor described in the Fig 7 of his patent. The entire capacitor is fully enclosed with epoxy resin and sandwiched between two mylar sheets so that there is no contact with the surrounding medium ( the air ). Thanks to Carlos Reis for his helpful advices about the construction.

The LFPT v1.0 is fixed on a high sensitive beam balance previously used during the Frolov's Hat experiment in May 2000. You will find all the construction details for building yourself a such high sensistive balance at : elgbalbld.htm

The Lafforgue's Field Propulsion Thruster v1.0 specifications

  • Conductive Armatures :
    - Aluminum sheet, 0.5 mm thick

  • Dielectric material #1 :
    - Epoxy resin ( permittivity er=3.67 )

  • Size : 70 x 105 mm

  • LFPT Weight : 12.5 g

TESTS RESULTS ( 01-20-02 ) :

When DC pulses are sent by the HV power supply, the LFPT v1.0 goes upward and the beam balance oscillates at the same period than the pulses. The voltage used is 23.5 KV DC @ 42 uA. The red lamp placed just beside the balance is lighted when the HV power supply is switched on.

This experiment is very interesting because the LFPT v1.0 is fully included in epoxy resin and thus it isn't in contact with the surrounding medium ( the air ). This is a full experimental proof of a Field Propulsion Effect.

See the video of Lafforgue's Field Propulsion Thruster v1.0 experiment

To see the videos, the free downloadable RealPlayer is required

Click on the picture above to see the video ( 544 Kb )

Some documents references :

  • FR Patent N°2651388 "Isolated systems self-propelled by electrostatic forces" by Lafforgue Jean-Claude - March 1, 1991
  • Some translations of the Lafforgue's patent can be found here.
  • Patent WO 00/58623 ( Oct 5, 2000 ) " Propulsion device and method employing electric fields for producing thrust " from H. Serrano.
  • GB Patent N°300311 filed on Nov 15, 1928 "A method of and an apparatus or machine for producing force or motion" from T.Townsend Brown
  • NASA patent US 6,317,310 ( Nov 13, 2001 ) "Apparatus and Method for generating a thrust using a two dimensional asymmetrical capacitor module"
  • AIAA-2001-3659 ( withdrawn ) - Anomalous Electrical Field Force Generation Experiment by H. Serrano, Gravitec, Inc., Kissimmee, FL; W. Hammond, NASA Marshall, Huntsville, AL; J. Rusek, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN
  • The " Electrick Rocket "- Capacitor array, Gravity warp drive from Tom Kennedy
  • The " Electrick Rocket " ( Original document with additional datas, August 1991 ) from Tom Kennedy ( gravcap.zip )
  • Dielectric constant reference guide
    •

    See also :

    The Lafforgue's Electrostatic Pressure experiment

    The Lafforgue's F.P.Thruster Solver v2.0

    The LPT v1.0 pulsed tests without leakage current

    Email : JNaudin509@aol.com

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