Thanks for the post. Kinda puts what were chatting about in perspective.

Brian

Rod:
I think it is great that you consulted an expert on a relevant topic, so as to learn the well-established facts. Such experts also exist in the field of wind energy. I've found that consulting experts can improve the performance of your system a LOT. Whether you are talking about the field of Intellectual Property or the field of wind energy, both have a HUGE body of knowledge going back over a thousand years. Most problems and topics have been covered many times. We AWE people like to think that we're the first thinking beings to emerge on the planet - that nothing has come before us. In reality, most seemingly new obstacles encountered have been overcome many times in the past, and most topics we discuss have been laboriously worked out long ago.
:)
Doug S.

Bob:
The patent system is one place where the small inventor becomes equal to the big boys. It's your foot in the door, if you have a new and useful idea. No need to feel intimidated, any more than you might say "I don't want to drive" because of an already-established, confusingly complex maze of roads, freeways, laws, insurance, breakdowns, accidents, repairs, etc.

The whole idea of the patent system is to empower the small guy and give him an edge. One can currently have a U.S. Patent issue for around $1500 total, if you fill out the paperwork yourself. It takes a couple of years.

The budget-challenged inventor has been accomodated: Initial filing of a provisional patent, capable of providing full protection with future conversion to a full U.S. Patent, cost only $100 to get your priority date, and your first year of protection.

Sure transportation is full of annoying details but it gets us from point A to point B so we suffer through it. Nothing is perfect but the patent system is there for your use, just as the roads are there for you to drive. It is hoped that you will find both the patent system and the roads helpful and useful.
:)
Doug Selsam

Rod:
By the way, and sorry for so many posts, but I just thought of this, and I think it is important to mention:
Placing your IP into the public domain is a well-established and perfectly legitimate IP tactic. Nothing wrong with that approach at all, and it can have good reasoning behind it.
:)
Doug S.

The first time I had an idea I thought worthy of a Patent, I spent most of my savings on a patent search.  It found half of the patents I already knew about, so I knew that any further funds would be a total waste.  I know that a few non-millionaires have made money from patents, but overall, I think that the lotteries have much better odds, and are far less frustrating to play.  James Lancaster came from the electronics field, but his screed against patents seems true for most of us.  Companies hate to commit to paying royalties, and will typically budget ten times the estimated royalties to break a patent.  Usually, all it takes is time to drive the inventor bankrupt.  However, I recall a patent backed by Czechoslovakia for a plastic injection molding machine.  Every description mentioned the moving plunger, so the Italians just bolted their plunger to the floor, and moved the mold.  When Bruce Myers invented the Dune Buggy, he got both patent and design copyright protection, and set about filling orders.  After two years, when he caught up, he noticed that he only had 15% of the market, so he called the lawyers.  Two more years, and he was broke, and divorced as well, but the rest of the dune buggy business was still thriving.

I thought I remembered a team from MIT placing a wind turbine in the hole of a helium-inflated donut. My thought was:
1) The "smartest people in the world"
2) a simple, workable AWE concept.
All that seemed left was to consult Nike on the next step.
("Just do it!")
I'm a bit puzzled at not hearing about it lately. Seemed like a slam-dunk. Anybody heard of any results?

Amazing Joe. What inspiring scenery and footage of an amazing concept!
That location in Norco, near Corona, California, is about a half-hour South of Oak Hills where we are located. That hill is about 1400 feet elevation. East of there, you can drive up the 330 to the 18, headed toward Big Bear, and look down from over a mile in height. They call it "The Rim of the World". From that vantage point, you can see a LOT of Southern California, including Catalina Island in the Pacific Ocean perhaps 120 miles to the West.

Further up the 15 Freeway, toward Las Vegas, is the Cajon Pass which is at around 4000 feet. Just past the edge of the pass with its seemingly perpetual cloud bank, we're a couple miles out into the high desert, at 3600 feet elevation, in the highest concentration of homes powered by wind energy in the world. We have miles of relatively clear land upwind of us, so the wind can really get a running start. I'd like to get into ultralights too - we have what seems to be potentially a decent small runway here.

What a beautiful area. Not only is it (usually) perpetually summer, but we have decent local skiing too! Hard to resist - let's see - ekiing / work.... skiing / work - wait lets add snowboarding, skiing, work hmmm so hard to decide when its all so fun!
:)
Doug Selsam
PS Darn it I gotta fill an order but reserve the right to suddenly drop everything and head for the slopes!

http://www.omegasails.net 

In 1947 something that seems to follow Jalbert's kytoon: 

oh blimey
Absolutely Dave S.
I was giddy and awe struck first time I got a reply from this group. Hence my belief that all I am doing is standing on the shoulders of giants. All input and help to my project is welcome, I am eternally grateful for the help you have all given me already. Here's hoping we can all keep freely offering help and advise on relevant discoveries.

Thanks Doug!

A l'occasion du Nautic, Oméga Sails, le spécialiste des kites pour bateaux à moteur, présente deux innovations : un modèle grand format destiné aux bateaux de pêche mais aussi un modèle plus petit pour les canoës et les paddles.

Vincent Leblond nous présente cette actualité chargée sur Actunautique.com TV ! 

Accédez à l'article complet, texte + vidéo + photos sur 

That power can be tapped with a large ground based ring of double pulleys driven by multiple kite stacks pulling gondolas.

You do make it sound very tempting to come out there Doug.

I'm going to have to make do with a surf trip to Morocco and skiing in France . . . Maybe after March then.

Thanks, Dave! For the momemt I have more time to continue my investigations. I try now to use a common wind turbine like Doug uses. It axe will be set not parallel to rope, but with some angele. I hope this will make more vibration. Anouther idea is to use Gorlov turbine. But I red it had to make a good one.
Thanks for inspiration!

Alex

http://player.vimeo.com/video/31481531?autoplay=1

Though not directly involed in AWE, still wonderful.

Dan'l

--- In AirborneWindEnergy@yahoogroups.com, "Dan" <spiralairfoil@... wrote:
One response:

Actually, Dan, our AWES-coming world will affect wingsuiters, hang
gliders, skydivers, paragliders:

1. AWES tether sets will need to be mapped and respected by such
airspace users in order to avoid being sliced in half or more parts!

2. Some AWES maintenance workers very well may return to ground base by
wingsuit gliding.

3. One of the coming sports involving AWES will be riding "those wings"
and "climbing those spiderweb tether sets" constructed by the AWE
industry!

4. A coming tourist attraction will be the riding of AWES lines. This
might be extra income for an AWES installation in particular location.
The combination of activity might help an AWES installation to occur
when otherwise such might not occur.

5. AWES installations will be affecting the sport flying sites. Such
matter may be entered to the FAA or other airspace governance for
attention.

JoeF

Two stakes set very far apart:  rotating-ribbon kite arch. 
And the high spread of other arch-kite complexes.  Yaw well fixed!  Roll naught!

A mention of regeneration has not yet been seen in the literature concerning E-Walk (tm). 

Our new member tells us that his first familiar name is  Khaled.

Co-Inventor Greg Smedley and I have met several times in the past. I never knew he had an interest in airships. My advice for anyone filing such patents is to get your stuff built and proven first, even at prototype scale, then file patents for what you end up with. That keeps you focused on what works, rather than what you patented at a time when you had less experience.
:)

Some craft notes of the following may be of interest for the development of some AWES: 

Smart parachutes, computer-guided parachutes, manned or unmanned smart parachutes, 

Video 1 

AWES realm may receive some lateral vibrations from the artistic effort

Reminiscent of Figs. 86-91 in US Patent 6616402
:)
Doug Selsam

but just way better

Well that makes me more confident packing kites densely around my ring.

If you use twice as many "blades" in a turbine, they only have to be half as strong, because they share the available force and energy.  The main merit of the classic water pump turbines is that they have a high starting torque.  Efficient designs only pick up the energy of the whole swept area when turning an a reasonable speed.

Chinese New Year begins today: Year of the Dragon

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