US Scientists Develops & Test Flown First-Ever Silent Plane With No Moving Parts

US Scientists Develops & Test Flown First-Ever Silent Plane With No Moving Parts: Details, Significance, Highlights

Scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US have developed and test-flown a first-ever silent airplane with no moving propellers or jet turbines. It is the first-ever plane having no moving parts in the propulsion system.

Till date, every aircraft have moving parts such as propellers, turbine blades, and fans, which are powered by the combustion of fossil fuels or by battery packs that produce a persistent, whining buzz.

MIT scientists have designed this lightweight plane weighing about five pounds with five-meter wingspan. It was flown at a distance of 60 meters, a feat that was repeated 10 times. It was the simplest possible plane design that could prove a concept that ion plane could fly.

This new light aircraft does not carry propellers or turbines and also not depends on fossil fuels to fly. It is inspired by the movie and television series “Star Trek”.

It is powered by ionic wind or electrodynamic thrust, a silent but mighty flow of ions that are produced aboard the plane. It can generate enough thrust to propel plane over sustained, steady flight. Unlike propeller-driven planes, the new design is completely silent.

This silent plane has potentially opened new and unexplored possibilities for aircraft which are quieter, mechanically simpler and do not emit combustion emissions. In the near-term, such ion wind propulsion systems could be used to fly less noisy drones. Moreover, ion propulsion paired with more conventional combustion systems can create more fuel-efficient, hybrid passenger planes, and other large aircraft in the future.