28 April 2016
This unusual aircraft is the HY4 test platform announced this week at the Hanover Trade Fair by the German Aerospace Research centre (known as DLR). The HY4 is based on Pipistrel’s Taurus G4 experimental airframe which won a NASA award in 2011, re-fitted with a hydrogen fuel cell to generate electricity to power its electric motor. The HY4 is due to make its maiden flight this summer.
The HY4’s drive train consists of a hydrogen storage unit, a low-temperature hydrogen fuel cell and a high performance battery. The fuel cell converts the energy of the hydrogen fuel directly into electrical energy. The only waste product in the process is clean water. The electric motor uses the power generated to propel the aircraft.
If the hydrogen required for the fuel cell is generated via electrolysis using power from a renewable energy source, the HY4 can fly without generating any emissions at all.
The DLR research team has successfully tested the drive train in the laboratory in recent months. To take off, the engine must reliably provide a maximum take-off output for three minutes. This has already been successfully demonstrated for more than 10 minutes.
The ambition for the project is to develop electric drivetrains which can power passenger airliners.
Pipistrel won the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, supported by NASA, in 2011 with the original Taurus G4 which then carried 500kg of batteries. The challenge was to fly 200 miles in less than two hours and use less than one gallon of fuel.
