Ionic Propulsion Aircraft: An Alternative to Ground Vehicles

Overview

Engineering Problem: In the area I live in, I always see roadkill, scraps/trash, potholes, and debris from accidents on the road. All of which could potentially cause accidents or even death. So, for my science fair project, I am proposing a new way of travel for the future with my ionic propulsion aircraft, potentially replacing land vehicles, such as cars, for more safe and efficient travel. Procedures: I tested 1 of 3 ionocrafts made of balsa wood sticks and aluminum foil which were powered by a 12v battery pack, connected to a 20kv transformer. Additionally, I also placed tiny pieces of tissue under the ionocraft to see if any thrust was being produced. Then, the ionocraft was switched on. After testing, a discharge stick was used to discharge the ionocraft. I collected data in the following areas: amps, altitude, voltage used, test time, weight, and thrust. Initially, the tools I used to collect data were a multimeter to check voltage and amps, as well as a scale to measure the weight of the ionocraft. Once I achieve vertical ascent, I will also be using a yardstick to measure altitude, a digital force gauge to measure thrust force, and use the multimeter to measure the amps and voltage running through the wires of the ionocraft’s circuit. Results: So far, I tested the ionocraft 10 times. No thrust was produced in the first 3 tests, nor was any sound coming from the transformer. I predicted this was caused because there was no current flowing into the ionocraft from the transformer. In the 2 tests that followed, no thrust was produced, but a humming sound was coming from the ionocraft which I predicted was the sound of the transformer charging up its voltage with the battery pack. I predicted that this was possibly caused because I used bare copper wire instead of enameled copper wire like in the previous 3 tests. Then, in the following 5 tests, I used 2 6v battery packs instead of 1 12v battery pack which increased the amps in the ionocraft. This resulted in a loud humming sound being produced, and through my observation, I noticed that the bits of tissues that I placed under the ionocraft to check for thrust were moving, which indicated thrust may have been produced but unmeasurable. Conclusion: Overall, this prototype has not yet helped to simulate the solution to the problem I was attempting to solve. I will continue to follow the iteration process and develop the ideal prototype until it can fully capture how my concept aircraft might function if it were ever to exist in the future.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Electronics & Electromagnetics (Senior Division) · Entry S-10-11

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• All Physics and Astronomy projects
• CSEF Physics and Astronomy projects
• Every CSEF 2026 project