As kids, we dreamed big dreams of silent spacecraft shooting between the stars. We imagined marvelous creatures inviting us on board to take a look around. If UFO’s existed they could well be using electro-hydronamics. We had thought the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was first to demonstrate this method when we wrote that post. However, we have since learned of an earlier pioneer in ionocraft history, Ethan Krauss.
A Short Survey of Ionocraft History Down the Years
Electro-hydronamics is too big a topic to explore here. Suffice to say it ionizes air molecules so they become an ionic wind propelling the vehicle. Francis Hauksbee first proposed the idea in 1709 although he was a theoretician and did not follow through.
Thomas Townsend Brown was the first practical innovator in ionocraft history. However he mistakenly thought he was working on an anti-gravity device. American aircraft designer Major Alexander Prokofieff de Seversky filed a patent for an ‘ionocraft’ in 1959. According to Wikipedia this was “capable of sideways maneuvering by varying the voltages applied in different areas. Although the heavy power supply remained external” and it tethered to the ground.
Ethan Krauss’s Self Contained Ion Powered Aircraft Test
Early Work on Ionocraft With Energy Onboard
Ethan Krauss was the first person to achieve a breakthrough in ionocraft history when he filed a patent in 2014. His wingless craft “develops enough thrust to rise rapidly or to fly horizontally for several minutes,” Wikipedia says.
The patent describes “A self-contained ion powered aircraft assembly. … This includes a collector assembly, an emitter assembly, and a control circuit operatively connected. … When the voltage is provided from an on board power supply, the aircraft provides sufficient thrust. … To lift each of the collector assembly, the emitter assembly, and the entire power supply against gravity.
However, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created the first fixed-wing version of this method of propulsion and that is where the confusion crept in.
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Video Share Link: https://youtu.be/XB9bkSRDfW8
1 Comment
MIT continues to claim that they made “the first heavier than air ion propelled aircraft -of any kind- in history to carry its power supply.” So long as their Journal of Nature paper and video claim that, people will still be led to believe that, even though they were >10 years late.
>>90% of the power and a large percentage of the energy used for their glide as shown, came from a catapult and inertia. They calculated in their V1 paper that they also needed a 1kg air frame and 16 foot glider to hold up a power supply. Their power to weight ratio is over 1,200% lower than the earlier patented invention that hardly makes the news.
It should be apparent that all ion propulsion is by nature fixed wing, especially the type that have wing shaped collector surfaces, that can be used exactly as wings.
They imply that they are “just like the Wright Brothers,” by saying that their flight “compares well the the Wright Brother’s first flight in 1903” : The Wright’s however did not use a catapult for their first 1903 flight, only later in 1904. They carried a person with expert control for a long distance, not a model, and the Wright Brothers actually were first.