The future of flight is here
Problems with current flights
The problems, as you might know, with the current state of flight are many. So many that I would just prefer to make a small list: * too many moving parts to make the engine work * the fuel is too dangerous (fire and other things can occur) * replacement parts are usually knockoffs which introduce more and more risks every day.
The future: solid-state propulsion (Ion-Drive)
An MIT team of researchers managed to build and successful test an ionic wind-powered aircraft. The beauty is that it requires NO moving parts. The flight was done using a small craft/drone but the science behind it shows that the efficiency would double with a larger craft.
While in the conventional aircraft the air is simply pushed around the moving parts (propellers or turbines) the new ionic drive uses electrical fields to push air around.
How does it work?
As you might know, the air is made largely of uncharged molecules and do not respond to electric fields. However, as we know from lightning, at sufficiently high voltages it is possible to ionize the nitrogen and oxygen that makes up the atmosphere. That way the electrons come out rushing and they collide with other molecules while ionizing some. When this happens in an electric field, the ions will move towards the closest electrode. In this process, they will collide with neutral molecules and push them in the same direction thus resulting in the movement of atmospheric molecules which is called ionic wind.
Why didn't we've done this earlier?
Well, decades ago when they made the calculations it was suggested that it was not possible, with the then currently available batteries, materials, etc. However, as we know advances in those fields in the last decades are, well, let's face it, AWESOME and thus opening the gates to new technologies.
Limitations
There are trade-offs. The lower the electric field strength of an ionic drive, the more thrust you will get for a given power, however, if you lower the field strength too much no ionization will occur resulting in no flight. because thrust/unit area is small it makes sense to have a more extensive thruster system however that brings in another problem. The craft will have more drag and thus slowing down its speed.
But I rambled too much. You can see a video of the flight below.
PS: Wrote this at 5am so please be kind if I did mistakes.
