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Engineers at MIT fly first plane with no moving parts

1,712 views · Published 26 December 2018 · 1:01 · Indexed 27 September 2026

Channel: News Direct · 2018 · Education

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RESTRICTIONS: Broadcast: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN Digital: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN
Engineers at MIT have designed a plane that flies using only ionic thrust. 


The aircraft was designed to resemble a glider, it weighs roughly two kilograms and has a 5-meter wingspan. The plane has two rows of wires under its wing. The row at the front end of the wing carries 20,000 volts of positively charged particles called ions. 


The ions are then attracted to the row on the back end of the wing which carries a negative charge of 20,000 volts. As the ions move to the back row they collide with neutral air pushing it behind the glider and generating electroaerodynamic thrust, driving the aircraft forward. This air is called ionic wind.


According to their study, published in the journal Nature, the team tested the glider inside a gym where it managed to sustain flight and travel 60 meters, making it the first solid state flight—or flight without moving parts like turbines and propellers.


Engineers participating in the study hope this technology can be the first step towards designing aircrafts that are quieter and do not emit combustion emissions. 


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SOURCES: 
http://news.mit.edu/2018/first-ionic-wind-plane-no-moving-parts-1121
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0707-9


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