MIT Ion Drive Plane No Moving Parts
With global fuel prices on the rise, it’s only fitting that we take another look at the first-ever plane with no moving parts, developed by MIT engineers. That’s right, there are no propellers or turbines, as the light aircraft is powered by an “ionic wind,” which is essentially a silent, but powerful, flow of ions generated aboard the plane, resulting in ample thrust to propel the aircraft over a sustained, steady flight.



That’s right, it’s not dependent on fossil fuels to fly, and is completely silent to boot. A prototype version of this plane resembles a large, lightweight glider that weighs around 5-pounds and has a 5-meter wingspan. It sports an array of thin wires, which are strung like horizontal fencing along and beneath the front end of the plane’s wing, that act as positively charged electrodes, while similarly arranged thicker wires, running along the back end serve as negative electrodes. The lithium-polymer batteries are located in the fuselage, connected to a power supply that converts its output to a sufficiently high voltage to propel the plane.

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MIT Ion Drive Plane No Moving Parts

This is the first-ever sustained flight of a plane with no moving parts in the propulsion system. This has potentially opened new and unexplored possibilities for aircraft which are quieter, mechanically simpler, and do not emit combustion emissions,” said Steven Barrett, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.

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