No matter how environment-friendly in terms of pollution the electric aircraft is, there is still one sort of pollution that they create and i.e. noise pollution. Though, this pollution would have been out of context a long ago.
Researchers from MIT have successfully developed and flown an ionic aircraft that gets it to power from the wind that is not using any sort of moving parts. The machine is 16-foot wide in size and remains aloft by powering the wire with a voltage of 40KV that they take out the negatively-charged electrons from the molecules or air, which are readily attracted towards the negative electrodes placed on the rear end of the ionic aircraft. The collision that happened due to the newly-generated ionic wind develops the thrust required to keep the aircraft airborne.
Theoretically, the Ionic wind aircraft is been possible for many years not, but the real-world design of the vehicle has been limited to the devices that keep it on the desk for these years and that too just due to the fact that they are tied with a high-voltage power supply. The solution here was a personalized power supply that can create the required power and thrust to make it fly.
However, there is a lot of things that need to be taken care off or worked around before you see the ionic aircraft in the skies. The prototype is so sophisticated that it can just fly 197 feet and needed a big electrode region to generate the required thrust.
A completely manageable, efficient air-vehicle might not be seen for a while. However, the potential of seeing one in future is pretty clear. You can soon in future experience the quiet aircraft, like drones that do not produce annoying buzzes.
There is a possibility of hybrid airplanes that can further enhance the full efficiency. And since there are no movable parts, the newly introduced ionic wind aircraft is more dependable than its earlier counterparts.