Watch how an airplane without an engine flies and creates its own airflow

With
electric fields and ionic wind, that is, without the use of engines or fossil fuels. For example, a team of researchers at the Boston Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) managed to keep a small airplane built to scale in the air.

It's only 9 seconds, but Nature magazine is already predicting new forms of transport for pbadengers. "Anyone who sees the machine fly can get a glimpse into the future with cleaner, quieter planes," says the magazine, referring to the prototype.

The dimensions of this model, which has a wingspan of 5 meters and weighs only 2.5 kg, correspond to about one-tenth of luggage allowed for a single pbadenger on a typical commercial flight.

Instead of propellers or turbines, it is powered by an "ionic wind": a powerful stream of ions that emit no sound and that is produced aboard the plane. This method generates enough thrust to propel the aircraft in a sustained and constant flight.

New possibilities

"This is the first sustained flight of a plane without moving parts with this propulsion system," says Steven Barrett, an badociate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.

"This has potentially opened up unexplored new possibilities for quieter, mechanically simpler and emissions-free aircraft." For the scientist, environmental problems are the first advantage of the prototype.

Unlike turbines, the aircraft does not depend on fossil fuels to fly,
MIT explains in an article on its website. And unlike propeller powered drones, the new design is totally silent.

The prospects of building something with wings that extend up to 15 or 20 meters are good, but to "make something with wings of 30 or 40 meters, like those with large pbadenger planes, we speak development and design that can take more than 10 years, "said the scientist in the program" The Science Hour "of the BBC.

Drones and hybrid planes

According to Nature's article, Barrett and his team hope that in the short term, this ionic wind propulsion system will be able to be used to make less noisy UAVs. Unlike planes equipped with turbines, the aircraft does not depend on fossil fuels, explains the MIT in an article published on its website. And unlike propeller powered drones, the new design is totally silent.

The chances of building something with wings that extend up to 15 or 20 meters are good, but to "make something with wings of 30 or 40 meters, like those with large pbadenger planes, we are talking about development and design that can take more than 10 years, "explained the scientist in the program" The Science Hour "of the BBC.

What they see is possible is to develop a design that combines ion propulsion with more conventional combustion systems. This would create more fuel-efficient hybrid pbadenger aircraft.

But what is the wind of ion?

Also known as electro-dynamic thrust, it describes a wind, or thrust, that can occur when a current flows between a thin electrode and a thick electrode. If enough voltage is applied, the electrodes can produce energy to power a small plane.

Star Trek, inspiration

Barrett said the inspiration for this plane had been found partly in the famed film and television series "Star Trek", which he had seen in his childhood, and that he was particularly attracted by futuristic shuttles that moved effortlessly No moving parts and almost no noise or emissions.

"That made me think that in the future, planes should not have propellers and turbines," Barrett said. "They should rather look like" Star Trek "shuttles, which only have a blue glow and glide silently."