News > Scientists are experimenting with a plane that is propelled only by ions gushing out of its tail

Scientists are experimenting with a plane that is propelled only by ions gushing out of its tail

They applied a high voltage (40,000 V) at the horizontal electrodes — wires that span the plane. This ripped the electrons of the nitrogen atoms in the air, which then became positively charged ions.

A back row of wires carried a negative charge and the positive ions rushed to them, colliding, in the process, with millions of neutral air molecules. Thus propelled, the plane sailed 200 feet at 17 kmph.