Pushing Air

MORE THOUGHTS:

it might produce a significant pressure-gradient in the surrounding air. A fraction of a PSI per foot would be more than enough to prevent someone from walking forward. If this is the origin of the effect, then the repulsion forces you experienced involved air pressure rather than electrostatic attraction/repulsion.

This might be an entirely new way to accomplish levitation. Attract
a whirling blob of ionized air to an oppositely-charged plate, then use
the resulting pressure gradient to lift and manipulate uncharged objects.
Sort of like a fluidized bed, but using charged air instead of sand.




How does it do that?

The motor works by ionizing the air, and then pushing against the ionized air. ...

Since the air has the same charge as the wire, the two repel one another. You can actually feel a small wind coming from the sharp point. As the wire pushes on the charged air, they both move away from one another. The air blows away, and the wire spins.



Formula 1 team using shaped air at front of car.

 

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Could sound waves also be sued to shape air in front of a vehicle? 

17-percent increase in boiling efficiency by using an acoustic field to enhance heat transfer. The acoustic field does this by efficiently removing vapor bubbles from the heated surface and suppressing the formation of an insulating vapor film.