The drag on an aeroplane, says Daedalus, is largely due to the impact of its 'wetted surface' with still air. Each colliding air molecule is momentarily adsorbed and later re-emitted at some unpredictable angle, running away with energy. The unwetted ideal, in which each molecule bounces off directly like light from a mirror, almost never happens. A rusty wing, resisting the attacking oxygen, seems worth trying; but this still leaves the nitrogen in the air. In any case, most aircraft wings are aluminium. This is superficially oxidized to transparent aluminium oxide, but is still well wetted by oxygen in the air. Surface tension is well understood in liquids, but has been largely ignored in gases. Daedalus recalls the chemical notion of anti-bonding, in which one molecule is repelled by another if the bond between them is raised by light or near-ultraviolet irradiation to an anti-bonding state.

Illuminated aircraft were actually tried during the Second World War to reduce the contrast between plane and sky as seen from the ground. Daedalus reckons that a non-wetted, anti-bonding plane should fly. DREADCO physicists are therefore fitting an aluminium plane with two sets of lights: one to raise the bond between aluminium oxide and oxygen to anti-bonding, the other to do the same for the bond between aluminium oxide and nitrogen. Such an aircraft would then remain untouched by the chief constituents of the air. Illuminated wings and fuselage should simply not be wetted.

Daedalus predicts a dramatic loss of drag. Only the windows would remain to contribute to the normal drag. The new slippery aircraft would require much less power. Even better, the propellers or the inlet fans of the jet engines could also be illuminated. The drag of these fast-moving elements would be cancelled as well, greatly increasing their efficiency. The whole plane should consume a small fraction of the usual power.

Aerodynamicists will at last be able to predict the behaviour of wings and fuselage simply. All the problems of the boundary layer will vanish: there won't be one. Molecules will bounce off an unwetted aircraft perfectly. Daedalus reckons that there should be a great saving of fuel, helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Sadly, the usual painted logos must be abandoned, otherwise more light wavelengths will have to be added to reverse the bonds between the paint and the air's oxygen and nitrogen.