An axial fan includes a rotatable fan blade assembly including a plurality of fan blades, and a plurality of permanent magnets affixed to the plurality of fan blades. A stationary guide channel is located radially outboard of the fan blade assembly. A plurality of field coils are located at the guide channel and are configured to drive rotation of the fan blade assembly via magnetic interaction with the plurality of permanent magnets when the plurality of field coils are sequentially energized. A method of operating an axial fan includes energizing a plurality of field coils, urging a fan blade assembly out of contact with the guide channel via magnetic interaction between the plurality of field coils and a plurality of permanent magnets located at the fan blade assembly, and sequentially pulsing the plurality of field coils thereby urging rotation of the fan blade assembly about an axis of rotation.