Viktor's abiding interest was to discover how to generate energy
using Nature's own methods. He worked out how a trout is able to
screw its way up a waterfall by hitching a ride on strong levitative
currents, and using this principle, the first generator he developed
was the 'trout turbine.' To perfect this he needed more precise infor-
mation on how a trout is able to stand motionless in a fast moving
current, and indeed how it can suddenly accelerate upstream. The
above diagram illustrates this amazing phenomenon (Fig. 1.1).
The trout is holding its station in mid steam where the water is
coldest, densest and has most potential energy. Viktor studied the
gills of the fish and found what he thought were guide vanes which
would direct the water flow into a powerful backwards vortex cur-
rent. Its shiny scales minimize friction with the water, but they also
create scores more of little vortices that amplify the upstream
counter current, particularly towards the tail, which cancel out the
pressure on the fish's snout. A zone of negative thrust is created
along the whole of the trout's body and so it stays in the same place.
These counter currents can be increased by flicks of the tail, creat-
ing negative pressure behind the fish. Flapping of the gills amplifies
the vortices along its flanks, giving it a sudden push upstream. The
Fig. 1.1. The stationary trout.
The trout normally swims in the middle of the
central current, where the water is densest and
coldest. Its body displaces and compresses the
individual water filaments causing them to
accelerate. As their critical velocities are exceeded,
vortices or countercurrents are formed along the
rear part of the trout's body, providing a
counterthmst to the current, allowing the trout to
remain stationary in the fast flowing water. If it
needs to accelerate, it flaps its gills, creating a
further vortex train along its flanks, increasing the
counterthmst upstream.- VIKTOR SCHAUBERGER'S VISION