The experimental aircraft is flying silently, can lead to silent drones

NEW YORK – An almost silent plane the size of a drone showed that he could fly, thanks to a scientist inspired by watching "Star Trek" in his childhood.

Without propellers or jets, the aircraft receives its thrust by applying a strong electric field in the air. This general idea has been demonstrated at science fairs, but new work shows that it can propel a plane into free flight.

So, can people expect to travel in airplanes that are almost silent and do not pollute?

"Not so soon," says Steven Barrett of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who reported the results in a study published Wednesday by Nature.

It is not clear if the technology could work on such a large scale, he said in a phone interview. And even if it were possible, it would take a few decades to develop such aircraft, he said.

Prior to this, the approach could be used in aircraft type drones that perform tasks such as environmental monitoring and surveillance, he said. While drones are becoming more common in urban skies, the lack of noise would be an advantage to make them less of a nuisance for people on the ground, he said.

The Nature document reports the results of 10 test flights carried out in a sports building at MIT. Of a wingspan of about 5 meters (16 feet), the aircraft weighed 2.45 kg (5 pounds) sailed at a speed of about 17 km / h. Each flight covered approximately 60 meters (55 meters).

Barrett, 35, said he was inspired by watching episodes and TV movies from "Star Trek", where he had been hit by shuttles that flew without moving parts in their propulsion systems. He recalled thinking, "There should be a way in which things should fly without having propellers and (jet) turbines."

In adulthood, he focused on this and came across a concept called "ionic wind".

For the MIT aircraft, this involves a series of thin wires at the front of the aircraft that generate a powerful electric field. The field removes the electrons from the air molecules, transforming them into positively charged particles called ions. These ions move to the negatively charged parts of the plane, colliding with ordinary air molecules and transferring them energy. This produces a wind that gives a boost to the plane, Barrett explained.

A similar process has long been used in space to propel spacecraft, he said.

Barrett said he hoped to find a way to eliminate the "very slight buzz" that one can hear.

"I think they have something to say here," said Pat Anderson, professor of aerospace engineering at the Daytona Beach, Florida campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He did not play any role in the research.

He called the impressive results. But the experimental apparatus lacks reach and endurance to serve as a useful drone, and it is unclear whether the technology could be improved to solve this problem or become useful for propelling a passenger plane, he said. declared.

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Follow Malcolm Ritter on @MalcolmRitter

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