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Show r CAPITOL , mSI WATCHDOG J By Bill Hendrix Energy free car It sounds like something a five year old would propose as an answer to the energy crisis. "Mommy, why is Daddy so upset by the price of gasoline?" '"Well, honey, the world is running out of gasoline and that makes it expensive." expen-sive." "So mommy, why don't they just make a car that runs on air?" "Because, darling, that is impossible." im-possible." Or it is. A 75 year old auto engineer in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania has done what seemed to be impossible. He's invented in-vented an air drive car and has been using us-ing it for the past two years chalking up more than 8,000 miles on two vehicles equipped with the system. As reported in the Valley News Dispatch by John Hillkirk, engineer Bill Truitt's vehicle works much like a car battery and alternator system. The motion mo-tion of the car replenishes the engine's power source. Small pistons built into the wheels, or central ring gear, force air into a patented compressor which drives the engine. Others have tried the "air drive car" but always failed to build a compressor which could keep a full sized car moving. Suggested top speed of the Truitt vehicle is 140 miles per hour, for any distance, without a stop. The only oil in the car is lubrication for the wheels. It carries two 12 volt batteries to provide pro-vide heat inside the car and to power important gauges. The engine includes a 13 's inch square compressor and three air tanks which hold 6,000 pounds of pressurized air. According to the interview Truitt has been ducking the big oil companies and auto makers for some time hiding his invention at several locations to avoid harrassment while he experimented on the system. He estimates the cost of his invention at under $7,000 and predicts production models would be very inexpensive. To prove the harmless nature of the vehicle Truitt breathes the exhaust and points out the quietness of the system a slight hiss at top speed. After a radio interview Truitt received receiv-ed over 1,000,000 order of the vehicle, but has turned the patent over to the Army Ar-my for testing. |