HEAVEN'S FLAME SOLAR COOKERS by Joseph Radabaugh reviewed by Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze At SEER '90' I met Joseph Radabaugh and had my first view of a Heaven's Flame solar box cooker. I purchased his book, Heaven's Flame and by reading it and following the plans for the cooker I have assembled and tested a working solar oven. So far the materials for the oven have cost me $3.37. I used anything that I already had on hand and that kept the cost way down. Had I bought everything I needed it still would have been under $10.00. Joseph has spent the last 15 years designing and using solar ovens. The culmination of his experience is the Heaven's Flame Solar Cooker book. It is simple and interesting to read and easy to build the Heaven's Flame solar cooker. After briefly touching on the history and theory of solar cookers, the author describes the workings of different box cookers with drawings to illustrate the different qualities of each. In one chapter he answers the most often asked questions about solar cooking. I found this highly informative and, indeed, it answered my questions on the subject. The small, softcover, 41 page book is full of one man's enthusiastic love for and experience in solar cooking. Joseph's method of construction, using cardboard boxes, does involve some searching. I have found that the produce departments of large supermarkets, small convenience stores, furniture and appliance outlets are the best places to get the cardboard you'll need. All the materials are common everyday articles. Many people who will build the Heaven's Flame solar cooker already have most of the materials on hand, as I did. In case you would like to design your own solar oven, Joseph provides a general flow diagram containing a checklist of essential components to consider. He then takes each component and discusses boundaries one must work in to obtain the efficiency needed for the oven to perform well. Joseph describes an effective method to use recycled jars as cooking vessels. The variety of foods that can be cooked in the oven are endless. One certain limitation is that you cannot fry foods. The oven temperatures do not get high enough. Any recipe for use in a crock pot is perfect, with no adjustments. A rule of thumb for solar cooking is that it will take twice as long to cook the dish as in a regular oven. I have had great success with beans, I didn't have to soak them first, I did get them boiling on my gas stove first then put them in the solar cooker. Vegetables need no additional water as they cook in their own juice. The thing I found I really liked was being able to start dinner in the morning and not think about it again until dinner time. You can bake bread but it takes more attention. If you are interested in Solar ovens but can't afford the manufactured model I recommend the Heaven's Flame. Easy, informative and affordable Joseph's book will get you cooking with the sun in a short time so that your personal experience will convince you of this cooking style's utility and fun. Joseph has a small supply of the books left as he is rewriting more of his experience into a revised edition to be published. The book is $5.00. You may get a shortened one page version containing the plans for the Heaven's Flame solar cooker by sending a S.A.S.E. and $1.00 to Joseph Radabaugh,POB 1392, Mt Shasta, CA 96067. Boundary-Layer Breakthrough - The Bladeless Tesla Turbine Reviewed by The Wizard This book is a compilation of articles & essays concerning a turbine and/or pump and/or compressor first designed and patented by Nikola Tesla in the early part of his century. This design has been refined and extended by C. R. "Jake" Possell. It uses the phenomenon of boundary layers drag which is a result of the properties of all fluids. These properties are adhesion and viscosity. The Design Basically, the design consists of a series of parallel circular plates attached to a central shaft. Each circular disk has openings close to the shaft. When configured as a turbine, the driving fluid is injected at the periphery of the plates , tangential to them. The fluid travels in a spiral path exiting at the center thus turning the shaft. When configured as a pump, the shaft is turned and the fluid travels in a spiral from center to periphery. The Book The book describes this in much more detail. There are also many applications noted, most of which are now in use or development. Anyone interested in turbines, pumps, compressors or Nikola Tesla disciples will enjoy this book. Access Boundary-Layer Breakthrough, The Bladeless Tesla Turbine; As developed by C.R."Jake" Possell; Compiled by Jeffery A. Hayes; Volume II The Tesla Technology Series. The cost is $19.95 ISBN 1-882137-019. Available from High Energy Enterprises, INc., POB 5636, Security, CO 80931.