There’s a new type of electric plane that produces no emissions, the only problem is it is very small and can only fly 55 metres
Steven Barrett, MIT
IT ONLY flew for 12 seconds – the same as the Wright brothers achieved with their maiden flight – but it marks another aeronautical milestone.
After nine years’ work, Steven Barrett at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues have flown a first-of-its-kind zero-emissions plane with no moving parts. The small, unpiloted plane flew for 55 metres in an indoor sports hall, steered by remote control.
Instead of propellers or jet engines, the plane uses electrodes on its wings to produce ions that push against the surrounding …