Alauda AirspeederMK4  and  AMSL Speed Toward Records

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Alauda and AMSL – two companies down under – are pressing ahead on divergent missions, but both powering “flying cars” with hydrogen.  Both craft will achieve higher speeds and cover longer ranges than most other electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) craft. Alauda Airspeeder MK4 Alauda’s brief history of creating Airspeeders hits its latest iteration, the MK4.  It replaces batteries with a 1,000 kilowatt hydrogen-fueled turbo generator driving ducted fans in place of previous open rotors.  Up to now, the various Marks were remotely controlled and battery powered.  MK4s will be “crewed” and powered by green hydrogen. Evolved over the last few years, MK4 will be much faster than its 100 kilometer per hour predecessors, and we hope, more controllable.  Remotely controlled  crashes, as shown in this2022 MK3 race, are no more harmful to human operators than a video game – although probably more costly. Looking a great deal like a Formula 1 or Formula e race car, the …

Universal Hydrogen Certified, Ready to Fly

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On February 7, 2023, Universal Hydrogen received a Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental category from the Federal Aviation Administration.  This will allow their DeHavilland Dash 8-300 to begin test flights.  Universal boasts their craft will be the largest hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft ever to fly.  Up to now, it’s been performing taxi tests and motor runups, getting ready for the big day. On a Mission Universal Hydrogen’s web site opens with this statement: “Our mission is to put aviation on a trajectory to meet Paris Agreement emissions targets by making hydrogen-powered commercial flight a near-term reality.”   The coming flight tests are a major step toward fulfillment of that mission. Inclusion of the large hydrogen-carrying modules reduces passenger carrying capacity to 40 seats.  But, the modules allow easy loading and unloading and “eliminate the need for costly new infrastructure, with any airport capable of handling cargo being hydrogen-ready.” Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen, explains, “We are simultaneously …

AeroDelft and ETH Cellsius’ Future Flies in Clean Skies

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Two groups of students, AeroDelft in The Netherlands and ETH Cellsius in Switzerland, are making great progress on some extremely advanced aeronautical projects.  Each school’s ultimate goal seems to be flying with liquid hydrogen, and each has a slightly different approach to that goal. AeroDelft: Starting Small AeroDelft, the student-led project at Delft University of Technology, flew a 1/3 scale model that closely resembles e-Genius in July.  Its 1,500 Watt (two kilowatt) motor is powered by 40 grams (1.411 ounces) of gaseous hydrogen initially, but will transition to liquid H2 later in the program.  380 grams (13.4 ounces) of the more potent fuel will allow three hours endurance and a range of almost 300 kilometers (186 miles) Since that flight, the team has exhibited at various trade shows and advanced work on its Sling 4 two-seat light aircraft.   The 920 kilogram (2,024 pound) maximum takeoff weight aircraft, powered by a 110 kilowatt (147.4 horsepower) motor flies on battery power for …

ZeroAvia Flies Dornier 228 on Left-Wing Hydrogen

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Stephen Bridgewater made a quick announcement on ZeroAvia’s Twitter feed Thursday January 19 about a Dornier 228 that flew with a hydrogen-powered motor on its left wing.  ZeroAvia continues making the largest-yet H2 flights. ZeroAvia’s 19-seat Do228 flew today (from Kemble) at 13.35 UK time. It’s the largest hydrogen-electric powered aircraft yet to fly (hydrogen-electric engine on left wing and Honeywell TPE-331 on the right).  This comes a year after the firm started modifications to the twin-engine Dornier aircraft in both England and California, and a little over two years since it flew a Piper Malibu first on batteries, and then hydrogen.  Despite a crash landing that ended the Cranfield, England-based Malibu, ZeroAvia has stuck to its ambitious schedule.  Another Piper Malibu continued testing at Hollister, California, part of the company’s efforts toward achieving both English and American certification. Performing engine tests early last years and following up with taxi tests at increasing speeds, ZeroAvia made a 10-minute airport circuit …

Air New Zealand Plans for Zero Emissions

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Biofuels, Electric Powerplants, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Air New Zealand has a five-part plan for reducing and even eliminating aviation emissions with some well-defined approaches and goals.  The airline hopes to achieve net zero by 2050, with demonstrable steps toward that starting now. Five Key Elements ANZ will rely on five key elements in its quest for zero-emission flight.  They are already involved in producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), partnering with makers of zero emission aircraft technologies, renewing their fleet, reducing carbon emissions through improved flight and ground operations, and removing carbon using best known techniques.  You can read the full sustainability report here. Producing SAF Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), explains Air New Zealand, “Is made from a variety of sustainable resources other than crude oil, such as used cooking oils, landfill waste, forestry waste, carbon captured from the air and green hydrogen. It has the potential to dramatically reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80 percent or more compared with traditional jet fuel.” Since New …

H3 Dynamics and Its Hydrogen-Electric Nacelle

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H3 Dynamics (formerly HES – Horizon Energy Systems) has flown a small example of its hydrogen-electric nacelle that could power many craft now in the concept phase.  H3 headlines its web page with the words, “Dreaming Big,” followed by the premise, “The future of aviation is hydrogen-electric, autonomous, and digital.”  Their press release declares, “The future of hydrogen aviation powered by H3 Dynamics’ distributed hydrogen propulsion nacelles has taken flight for the very first time in France.” Hydrogen could be a dream fuel, clean burning and leaving only a little water vapor in its wake.  It has a few drawbacks, though.  H2 takes up four times the space of gasoline or kerosene for a roughly equivalent amount of energy.  In something sizeable like a semi-truck or a seagoing ship, such space requirements can be accommodated.  Airplanes need to be streamlined and svelte, so trying to carry enough energy for long ranges and endurance can spoil otherwise beautiful lines. H3 claims its …

Jekta’s Amphibious Commuter Liner

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Aircraft Materials, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Jekta’s amphibious commuter liner made its debut at the Abu Dhabi Air Expo 2022.  The 10-motor amphibious, 19-passsenger craft could become a familiar sight at coastal landings around the world based on initial interest. Deena Kamel, reporting for The National News, revealed PHA-ZE 100, short for Passenger Hydro Aircraft Zero Emissions, is now in its design stage, “with a prototype scheduled for 2026 before entry into market by 2028,” according to Jekta CEO George Alafinov. Intended to transport people in mega-cities and coastal areas “sustainably and affordably,” according to the article, the 19-passenger is a response to a “world population with an appetite to travel safely, cheaply and ecologically.” Mr. Alafinov makes the case for amphibious craft.  “The solution is in front of us: Instead of building airports with devastating irreversible environmental impact, we can use nature’s gift of oceans, lakes and rivers to create an affordable transport system using amphibian aviation.” Further making his case, he added, “Today’s seaplane …

Hydrogen Capsules for Swappable Energy

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Hydrogen capsules, quickly swappable and motor pods easily switched on a long wing share a common theme.  H2-Mobile, a French web site, shared three stories that share forms of encapsulation, one pointing back to a story your editor wrote about a decade ago. An HUV (Hydrogen Utility Vehicle) from NamX A French-Moroccan company, NamX showed a car co-developed with Pininfarina, and the sleek sedan reportedly can hit 294 kilometers per hour (182 mph) and accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) in 4.3 seconds.  Most surprising, perhaps is the car’s method of storing energy. Michael Torregrossa, writing in H2-Mobile, reports that, “Present for the first time at the Paris Motor Show, NamX lifts the veil on its NAMX hydrogen capsule distribution device.  Called CapXtores, this new network will begin its deployments in 2024.”  Seemingly a larger version of a capsule battery distribution system created for Gogoro, a Taiwanese scooter manufacturer, the NamX concept car can be refueled …

Electrifly-In Bern 2022 – The Year of the Hybrid

Dean Sigler Batteries, Biofuels, Diesel Powerplants, Electric Aircraft Materials, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, GFC, Hybrid Aircraft, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Electrifly-In Bern 2022 is a new location after five years at Grenchen, Switzerland.  The Electrifly-In moved about 25 miles down the road to Bern’s bigger airport.  Started by the designers of the SmartFlyer, an innovative hybrid touring craft, the event was originally called the SmartFlyer Challenge. Organizers have the serious intent of saving aviation from the “shame” that has come to accompany flight itself.  “Aviation is pilloried by the public. Flying is seen as the main problem of the climate catastrophe and everyone who books a flight should have a guilty conscience and is labeled as a climate sinner. The social and political pressure to phase out combustion technology is steadily increasing worldwide. So the question is no longer if, but when electrically powered aircraft will become the norm.”  This year, the fly-in offered the public several defenses against sin and shame. Beginning with the original namesake, the Smartflyer SFX1 was on display in the hangar, its carbon-fiber blackness showing …

Smartflyer Moves, Along with Former Namesake Fly-in

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Smartflyer is a four-passenger, proof-of-concept light aircraft that can fly on pure electric power, as a hybrid with an av-gas powered generator, or as a hydrogen-fuel-cell-driven airplane.  It’s been under development for several years, but is moving production to Stelzach – just nearby.  Likewise, the Smartflyer Challenge, an electric aircraft fly-in, is moving from Smartflyer’s Grenchen, Switzerland home to Bern, a much larger field about 20 miles south. The Smartflyer SFX1 Electric-Flight.eu reports, “The fuselage of the Smartflyer SFX1 is slowly taking shape.”  Company founder Rolf Stuber OK’d production of the first carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) fuselage at Aerolite near Lucerne.  In a rented hall of 500 square meters (5,382 square feet), the “ready-to-install” drivetrain, consisting of a well-tested Rotax 914 engine coupled to a YASA generator, workers will assemble the major components. The SFX1, due to fly next year, has the following specifications: Cruise Speed: 120 knots / 222 km/h (138 mph) Take off Power: 160 kilowatts (214.5 …