Solid-state aircraft without moving parts takes flight

November 22, 2018 by Steve Hanley

A plane without moving parts traveled a distance of 60 meters. Is this a big deal? That's if you consider that in a cold month of December 1903, the first plane of Orville and Wilbur Wright changed the world by traveling only 37 meters. What new ideas could a solid-state aircraft without an internal combustion engine or jet engine succeed?

Steven Barrett is a professor of aeronautics at MIT. He leads a team of researchers who have been studying ionic wind propulsion for more than 5 years. He says The Guardian the inspiration for the research came directly from watching the episodes of Star Trek when he was young.

"I was a big fan of Star Trek and, at that time, I thought the future should be made up of planes that fly silently, without moving parts – and who may have to be a blue glow. But certainly not propellers or turbines or anything like that. So I started looking for physics that could make flight without moving parts, and came across a concept known as the ionic wind, which was first studied in the 1920s.

"It did not make much progress at that time. It was again examined in the 1950s and the researchers concluded that it could not work for aircraft. But I started studying the issue and going through a period of about five years, working with a series of graduate students to improve fundamental knowledge on how to effectively reduce ionic winds and optimize them. "

The first successful prototype, bearing the decidedly sexy name of version two, uses wing-based wires that carry 600 watts of electricity at 40,000 volts. The current gives a positive charge to the nitrogen molecules near the wire, which then retreats to a second wire located at the back of the wing, transmitting energy to the molecules of the nucleus. Neutral air along the way. When the neutral molecules fly back from the wing, they create a thrust equivalent to that created by a conventional jet engine.

Barrett is the principal author of a report that was recently published in the journal Nature (subscription) which describes the work that made the solid state plan possible. Professor Guy Gratton, aerospace engineer and visiting professor at Cranfield University, tells The Guardian"It's clearly very early, but the MIT team did something we had never understood before that was possible using accelerated ionized gas to propel an aircraft.

"Aeronautical engineers around the world are already trying to find ways to use electric propulsion. This technology will offer something else that, in the future, will make piloted and unmanned aircraft more efficient and less polluting. In particular, the fact that they have already taken this out of the lab and piloted a miniature model driven by drums – though up to now on a very small and controlled scale – is very exciting. "

The prototype in the solid state has a wingspan of 5 meters. Even with its battery pack and high-voltage transformer, it weighs only 2.45 kg. Low weight is a key element to fly the plane. Researchers have now focused on ways to increase the speed and reach of the aircraft.

The concept of a plane without moving parts could result in emissions-free air travel, but could also make possible new types of aircraft. Perhaps a solar-powered version could skyrocket for years at the edge of a space only powered by sunlight, making it a pseudo-satellite. Barrett explains that propulsion in the solid state is particularly suitable for miniaturization. "Solid state products are a good fit for downscaling," he said, "creating extremely small flying vehicles that serve uses that we can not imagine." Distortion factor 3, Mr. Sulu!

Nobody in 1903 could imagine the implications of that fateful day to Kitty Hawk. The invention of Steven Barrett is also unknown to this day. Watch the video below to learn more about the MIT semiconductor airplane project.

Keywords: aircraft without moving parts, ionic reader, MIT, semiconductor plane, Steven Barrett

About the author

Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and wherever the singularity could take him. Charles Kuralt is his muse. "I see the road is turning, I wonder what's going on around the turn?"

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