From HvWiki
This experiment should be carried out in a well-ventilated area! Lifters produce a lot of ozone which could, if not removed, make you feel quite ill. If you can smell the ozone you should consider opening a window, the same if you can hear any hissing which is a sign of corona discharge. Any sharp points or edges on the foil or wire may cause corona discharge and ozone production.
A good starting point is the Blaze Labs lifter simulator
You will need a 30-50 kV DC power supply capable of currents up to 1 mA to power the lifter.
Function
The small diameter of the corona wire will cause the gradient in the electric field to be very steep. Air molecules close to the wire will become charged as they lose or gain electrons in the field. Charged molecules are attracted to the opposite charge which in this case is the skirt of the lifter. It does not matter if the corona wire is positive or negative it will still work but it works best when the corona wire is positive.
Newton's third law states that "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." so if the lifter drags the air down, the air will drag the lifter up. When the force is large enough to overcome the pull of gravity the lifter will become airborne.
Power supply
The simplest way to power the lifter is to use the power supply of a TV or computer monitor. Connect the skirt of the lifter to the metal frame in the monitor and the corona wire to the end of the thick high voltage cable that is plugged into the tube. Remember that the tube is a capacitor that may be charged even if the monitor is turned off and can give a very painful shock. Always unplug the monitor before opening it since it contains dangerous voltages. See electrical safety. Another way to power the lifter is to make a flyback driver and use a flyback transformer from an old TV.
The frame
The frame components used here were cut up and joined drinking straws. Most people prefer to use balsa wood for this, however plastic does not seem to burn and carbonize as easily and gives much more rounded edges. Remember to add extra length for your stands otherwise the foil will be electrostatically stuck to your launching surface
The frame has been held together with tape to help keep things in place while the frame is superglued together, you can avoid using tape if you have a suitable technique to hold your triangle in place while preventing the glue from hardening to your holding device.
The foil strips are cut. It is a good idea to make them a bit longer then you need such that it bends around the corners and contacts the foil of the next side. Remember to add additional height to wrap around your frame, this can be calculated by the formula (PI*Diameter)/2 for half a turn.
The foil strips are attached to the frame, In this case, 3 small strips of double sided sticky tape were using on each side to hold it in place. This will not be possible using small diameter materials. Most people prefer to use superglue (cyanoacrylate glue). Note: try to make the folding over as round and smooth as possible.
A top view showing the top side of the frame covered with the foil strips.
Corona wire
Attach some very thin insulated (was found to work the best) wire about 3cm or more above your foil skirt on all 3 sides of your lifter (this is known as the corona wire). Note: the backing paper is NOT part of the lifter, it is simply for photographic purposes only
The wire should run as parallel as possible with a reasonable amount of tension. Too sloppy and it will be attracted to the foil and begin sparking, too tight and you risk breaking your stands or wire slipping off them.
The setup so far should look something like this when seen from the bottom.
Once you have placed the wire along all 3 sides, you may twist it together with the starting end to hold it in place, then add an additional length of wire to connect to that will allow for movement. Note: be careful of this wire's final placement when running, ensure it cannot get close to the foil skirt.
Connection wires
Start a new length of thin insulated wire and de-insulate a fair amount from the end.
Using a small bit of extra foil (you can use your off-cuts) punch 4 small holes through it with a pin or the end of a wire.
Weave the de-insulated end of your wire in and out through these holes in the foil off-cut.
Place a small strip of sticky tape over the top of this foil.
Attach it to the foil skirt facing downwards near any stand other then the one which is terminating your corona wire, you may wish to wrap or tie it around to hold it in place, This will prevent the foil from tearing.
Movement restriction strings
Cut 3 equal lengths of fine flexible light weight string, these will be used to limit the lifters movement while running. There is risk of electric shock and burns should you avoid this step since the movement is rarely fully predictable.
Attach a small strip of tape to the end of the string.
Wrap it around the bottom end of the stand, and repeat for all remaining stands. Secure the other end of these down on a non-conducting surface with some slack.
Lift off
Connect the corona wire to positive 30kv to 50kv DC. Connect the negative or ground lead to the foil skirt wire. If everything is right, stand clear and hopefully it should lift till your supporting strings are tight.
You should be able to achieve quite a significant gap between your lifter and launch surface. You may wish to experiment with the strings and see how high you can keep it stable. Also seen in this picture is a series current limiting resistor. If your power supply is capable of delivering large amounts of current capable of starting an arc, you need to use such a resistor to avoid starting a fire.
Corona
The blue spots are corona discharges that produces ozone and reduces the efficiency. They are caused by sharp corners and kinks where the field strength is high enough to ionize the air and generate
plasma.
Troubleshooting
IMPORTANT: before making any modifications to your lifter, ensure your high voltage power supply is FULLY DISCHARGED!
If your lifter is sparking between the corona wire and the foil skirt, try increasing the distance between them on all 3 stands equally.
Large amounts of visible corona discharge should also be avoided as is wastes energy, this can also be fixed using the method stated above.
If there is not enough thrust to lift off, try moving the corona wire closer to the foil skirt (if this causes sparking to occur, increase the distance slightly). Using thinner wire or uninsulated wire may also help if the power supply is strong enough. It will reduce efficiency but may generate higher thrust.
