MIT EAD Airframe Version 2
Ionocraft
The EAD Airframe Version 2, or V2, is a small American unmanned aircraft. It has been described as 'solid state', as there are no moving parts in the propulsion system; all thrust is powered by the phenomenon known as ion wind. As of 2018 it was being developed at the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics by associate professor Steven Barrett and others.
It is claimed to be the first ion-propelled airplane. Tethered ion-propelled aircraft without wings have existed since the 1960s. These had ground-based high-voltage power supplied to the aircraft via wire.
Design and development
The aircraft is a flying wing made of very light materials, including carbon-fiber, shrink-wrap plastic, balsa wood, polystyrene, and Kevlar. It has a very wide open frame serving as a fuselage, in and below which thin wires are strung horizontally. The aircraft weighs just over 2.5 kilograms (6 lb) and has a wingspan of 5 metres (16 ft 4.9 in).
The MIT engineers were able fine tune the aircraft to find the best design and power requirement by employing a technique known as geometric programming.
The public source identifies “MIT EAD Airframe Version 2” as ionocraft. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Airframe, Version and Ionocraft.
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