The aircraft is a flying wing made of very light materials, including carbon-fiber, shrink-wrap plastic, balsa wood, polystyrene, and Kevlar.
[7] 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.
[2][8] With the aid of a power supply unit these deliver a minimum of 20,000 volts of electrical potential, producing enough corona discharge (EMF) to propel the aircraft.
Air at the front of the wing is ionized by an electrical field near thin filaments of wire called emitters.
[6][9] The aircraft has flown at least eleven times, in the duPont Athletic Center, an indoor gymnasium on the MIT campus.