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Can a plane without engine fly?

Image source: https://cleantechnica.com/2018/11/22/solid-state-airplane-with-no-moving-parts-takes-flight/

Yes….it is a reality that a plane without an engine can actually fly. Hats off to the inventor(s) and all the researchers of   Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who had been keenly working to create the ‘first airplane without any moving parts’ by using EAD propulsion system (electro aerodynamic propulsion).


-No moving parts like propeller or thrusters.

-Uses electricity to charge ions and attract each other.

-Powered by electricity

-The electrodes create a potential difference of 40,000 volts

-On board battery for electrical power supply (battery).

-Doesn’t produce any kind of sound and green house gases

-The air travels at the speed of 321.869 kmph between the electrodes.

-Silent propulsion opposite to conventional aircrafts

Science behind the invention

The plane produces thrust directly from electrical energy without the need to transform it into kinetic energy (propeller or thruster). The plane uses “ionic wind” created by the electrodes (a conductor through which electricity passes in or leaves a matter, substance, or place). It has two different sized electrodes. The smaller electrode creates the electric field around the smaller electrode which becomes very high and it pushes away the air molecules around it which creates positively charged ions. The electric field accelerates these ions from smaller electrodes to larger electrodes with a negative charge. While moving from a smaller electrode to larger electrode the ions collide with neutral air which creates thrust for the “first plane without any moving parts”.

By: Hemanta Shrestha | Class 10 | Mitrashree Pathshala 

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