Flying Saucer Fueled by Air?

July 9, 2008 — Your eyes may not be playing a trick on you as you look up into the sky. You may actually be seeing a flying saucer. Subrata Roy, an associate professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville, has submitted a patent application for a saucer-shaped aircraft that turns the surrounding air into fuel. Roy calls his design a wingless electromagnetic air vehicle, or WEAV for short. Scientific American reported the saucer will hover and propel itself using electrodes that cover its surface to ionize the surrounding air into plasma, Gases (such as air, which has an equal number of positive and negative charges) become plasma when energy (such as heat or electricity) causes some of the gas's atoms to lose their negatively charged electrons, creating atoms with a positive charge, or positive ions, surrounded by the newly detached electrons. Using an onboard source of energy (such as a battery, ultracapacitor, solar panel or any combination), the electrodes will send an electrical current into the plasma, causing the plasma to push against the neutral (noncharged) air surrounding the craft, theoretically generating enough force for liftoff and movement in different directions. Roy plans to have a 6-inch model ready to demonstrate his theory within the next year, but says the flying saucer can be as large as anyone wants to build it because the design gives the aircraft balance and stability. He has been working with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base since 2001 to study how plasma could be used to control the flow of air—pushing air in different directions—and thereby the vehicle's movements. At this early stage, and without a clear decision on how the craft will be powered, Scientific American reported that it is unclear how much a WEAV might cost to build and operate. Still, Roy is optimistic. "All of the materials needed to make this aircraft currently exist," he says, "and plasma is the most abundant form of matter in the universe. If we can somehow tap into that in the future we should be able to fly anywhere."		Artist’s illustration of what a wingless electromagnetic air vehicle might look like as it flies in the atmosphere above Mars. Credit: Danielle Zawoy for the University of Florida. A cross-section of the Wingless Electromagnetic Air Vehicle, where the yellow dashes outside the craft are electrodes for ionizing surrounding air. The inside of the WEAV would house a camera, control system, battery (or some other power source) and payload. Courtesy of Ryan Durscher, Computational Plasma Dynamics Laboratory and Test Facility, University of Florida.

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