ionization and long sparks

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Just Justin <rocketfuel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Thanks to all who replied to my intro post, the links have been extremely 
helpful!


Here is one of the thoughts bouncing around in my mind this afternoon:

Could it be possible to use a laser or _something_ to create an ionized air 
pathway
from the toroid to a further-than-usual ground to get longer sparks?

Would the sparks be straight lines?


I know even less about lasers than tesla coils, so perhaps ionizing a beam 
of air is
harder than it sounds.



Justin