Two weeks after receiving the Magnetic Effect Generator, John decided I needed to be there for testing and evaluating the generator. Ed would go along for security and Tia insisted on going wherever I went. John was getting reluctant to use his Learjet 45 because he was limited by the amount of jet fuel he had in storage and the availability of fuel at the landing location, but at the moment, the only other way to get to Phoenix was to walk. Dave Saltzman, the Navy Lieutenant, asked to come along. John agreed.
The weather was hot when we landed in Phoenix with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze. We parked John’s jet in what remained of a hanger and left the pilot and copilot to guard the plane. We were met by an enterprising young man and his friend who had built a two-seat rickshaw attached to a bicycle built for two. The bicycle had a small sign attached to the side that read, “Limo Service”. We all had a good laugh over it and climbed into the seat. Tia and I shared the forward facing seat while Ed and Dave shared the rear facing seat. Our luggage, what there was of it, was loaded onto a rack between the two seats. The two young men pedaled hard as we were whisked along the empty road and into what remained of the city.
Damaged buildings were being dismantled for parts and new construction was well underway. We arrived at the Phoenix Super Magnet Cooperative late that afternoon. The manager, Ralph Tobin, showed us around. The ceramic magnets were being cast and baked in a sintering kiln, which had been built to operate with firewood. It looked primitive, but it was working. In order to reach the high temperatures required, fans, powered by people on bicycles were being used. Firewood was being chucked into the burner section as the kiln was run continuously for thirty-six hours. After that the magnets were ground to size on machines powered again by people on bicycles pedaling away in shifts. Once the magnets were finished, they were coated with an epoxy solution to keep oxygen from getting to the Iron, neodymium and Boron mixture that made up the super magnet.
“How did you get so many people to do the pedaling?” I asked.
“My dad always talked about how if people were unhappy with local conditions, they would vote with their feet,” Ralph said. “These people are investing with their feet, literally. When I got the message from John I held a public meeting and explained about the magnets and the new generator. They formed the cooperative with me, and we all went to work to make this happen. They are just as much owners as I am.”
Ralph had built special forms for magnetizing the parts for the generator. Alternators from cars were wired together and powered by bicycle peddlers to charge the magnetizing machine, which used large capacitors and coils to do its work. The final parts were being magnetized and assembled on a wooden work bench.
“It’s smaller than I thought it would be,” I said, as I looked at the nearly finished generator.
“The result of compromise,” Ralph replied. “This is the largest size we could make with the primitive equipment we have. It’s not big enough for the applications John talked about, but it’s large enough to power the more critical operations in our factory, if it works the way the plans say. If this actually proves out, we will use it as our power source to make larger versions.”
“Okay,” I said, “where are we in the process?”
“This unit will be ready for its first operational test sometime tomorrow,” Ralph replied. “This generator has two stationary magnetic cylindrical walls surrounded by roller magnets, and a third wall around the outside where we have the coils mounted. The magnets don’t actually touch one another, so the only bearings are on the steel frame underneath for the roller magnets. The other frame is on the top for the magnetic walls.”
“And the connection to the load?” I asked.
“The two cables here,” Ralph said, as he picked up two heavy wires. “We made them from some old welding cables. They should do the job.”
“Where are we staying?” I asked.
“Ah, got you set up about a block away,” Ralph said. “Not the Ritz, but it’s all we have.”
Tia, Ed, Dave and I unloaded our luggage from the rickshaw and moved into a small building with what the owner described as “cozy” rooms. “Rooms” wasn’t how I would have described them. Standing partitions separated the “rooms” and an old blanket served for the door. Ed and Dave settled into one room and Tia and I shared another. I could stand in the center of the room and touch both side walls. There was very little light and no water or sanitary facilities. The owner pointed us to the outhouse in back of the building. I could sense Tia’s reluctance to stay here, but it had a roof and privacy, well, sort of.
We joined the rest of the people working in the area for dinner that evening, which consisted of a bowl of vegetable and bean stew and some bread with a coffee substitute or tea to drink. As we settled in for the night, everything was quiet. The people worked hard during the day and there was no place for any kind of recreation. We were told that there would be a dance on Saturday night.
We had oatmeal and the coffee substitute for breakfast and met back at the Phoenix Super Magnet Cooperative. We helped with the final assembly and after lunch it was ready for its first test. We watched as Ralph started turning the crank that drove a set of gears under the generator. The roller magnets started spinning as they rotated around the magnetic wall pieces. As Ralph cranked harder and the speed picked up, our clothes started to stick to us. I could feel the static electricity in the air and the hair on my arms was standing up and tingling. It didn’t seem right to me. I looked at the electric cables lying on the table and I remembered that the generator should never be run without an electrical load attached.
“Stop cranking,” I shouted to Ralph. He stopped but the generator continued to increase in speed. It was running on its own. Before I could grab the cables the generator lifted up off the table and rose to the roof of the building. Once the generator contacted the roofing material we could hear a humming noise coming from it. The humming was getting louder and rising in pitch.
“If it gets through the roof, we’ll never see it again,” I shouted. “Get a ladder over here, NOW!”
Two guys hurriedly set up a step ladder, the only one in the place, and I climbed up quickly. As I got to the top of the ladder, I couldn’t reach the I-beam structure that supported the roof. The sheet metal of the roof was starting to bulge upward. I balanced myself as I climbed to the top step of the ladder. The I-beam was only six inches above my reach. I jumped and caught the I-beam. I swung my legs up and into the open I-beam structure, quickly moving next to the generator. The sheet metal of the roof was coming apart and the generator started sliding toward the growing crack in the roof. Once it got out, I knew it would keep on rising clear out of the atmosphere and continue heading into outer space.
I hooked my leg around a diagonal section of the open I-beam and leaned toward the generator. It was sliding into the crack in the roof as I grabbed the two large wires dangling in the air. I jammed the ends of the wires together. A bright white arc came from where the two wires touched. The generator quickly spun down and dropped. I hung on to the wires as the generator hung there in the air.
“Get up here and grab on to this thing,” I shouted, “It’s heavy.”
Ed raced up the ladder and pulled the generator over to him.
“You got it?” I asked.
“I got it,” Ed replied.
I let go of the wires and Ed guided it back down the ladder. Ralph and Ed set it down on the wooden work bench.