11 April 2023
For electric aircraft to have any future there will need to be ground infrastructure for recharging batteries or refuelling a hydrogen fuel cell.
H2FLY, a German developer of hydrogen fuel cell systems for aircraft, has successfully passed ground-based liquid hydrogen filling tests with a newly developed liquid hydrogen tank. The tank is integrated into its HY4 aircraft.
The tests are part of the European project HEAVEN, a five-strong consortium, to demonstrate the feasibility of using a liquid, cryogenic hydrogen-powered fuel cell powertrain in aircraft. H2FLY led the test campaign on Air Liquide’s Campus Technologies Grenoble, in Sassenage, France together with Air Liquide.
Prof. Dr. Josef Kallo, co-founder and CEO of H2FLY, said, “The successful on-ground filling tests today, mark the next milestone in our pursuit to doubling the range of our HY4 aircraft. It is a critical step for our upcoming flight test campaign this summer, which will demonstrate the feasibility of liquid hydrogen as a fuel for medium and long-haul flight.”
H2FLY has been researching, testing, and refining, resulting in the development of the HY4, a four-seat aircraft with hydrogen-electric propulsion, that first took flight in 2016.
There have been several key milestones across the past three years, including:
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