ZeroAvia to Supply Surcar with Hydrogen Floatplanes

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

An Island-Hopping Customer Surcar Airlines is an enterprise based in the Canary Islands which hopes to serve its island routes with ZeroAvia-motored, hydrogen-fueled DeHavilland Twin Otters.  But not right away. Starting with conventionally-powered turbine twins, Surcar is working on a process, “Based on starting something totally new and that touches so many sectors at the same time. “Today we confirm that we have signed an agreement with@zeroavia to fly its ZA600 hydrogen-electric engines in order to operate ecological flights. “We will operate Twin Otter seaplanes updated with the ZA600 propulsion system on our sightseeing flights.”  This 600 kilowatt (804 horsepower) system is now being tested and certified for aircraft seating nine to 19 passengers. “This implies the commitment to lead the electrification of aviation in the Canary Islands and achieve zero-emission flights in the archipelago.” This ambition drives the airline to follow, and possibly lead in the European Union’s aim to, “…Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030 …

ZeroAvia Has New Airplane, New Motor

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

ZeroAvia has taken delivery of a 76-seat Bombardier* Q400 airplane from Alaska Airlines.  The craft could become a test bed for ZeroAvia’s modular HyperCore motors and hydrogen fuel systems.  The Q400 will carry four times the number of passengers of the company’s current Dornier 228 twin-engine test aircraft – already having made five successful test flights. ZeroAvia proclaims, “The future of flight is renewable hydrogen,” and explains with a mission statement.  “From 20 seat regional trips to over 100 seat long-distance flights, ZeroAvia enables scalable, sustainable aviation by replacing conventional engines with hydrogen-electric powertrains.” Two Dorniers, one in the United Kingdom and one in Hollister, California, are undergoing test flights (five so far in the Cotswolds in England) or awaiting FAA approval for such flights in Hollister. Acquiring the Bombardier brought a lot of attention to the Everett, Washington area recently, where ZeroAvia has a development center.  Governor Jay Inslee came to inspect the project Q400 and prophecy about an increasingly …

ZeroAvia, Mitsubishi, and Alaska Airlines Power Up

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

A Different Type of Kitplane Green Aeronautics are moving beyond small beginnings into grander realms through ZeroAvia, Mitsubishi, and Alaska Airlines. Gabriel DeVault has flown two different electric airplanes of his own, a converted EarthStar Thundergull and a Sonex eXenos (which seems to be his daily commuter between Hollister, California and his home in Watsonville).  Both have been featured prominently in his YouTube channel and your editor has written about them for Kitplanes magazine.  Now, Gabriel is working on a different type of Kitplane at a much large scale. Gabriel managed research and design for the motor and related systems on the Zero electric motorcycle.  The original unit has gone through several upgrades, and is now seen in variants from 27 to 110 horsepower.   The company sold over 4,000 units last year in 30 countries including the United States.  They look to build at an accelerated rate, hoping to double sales every year.  He has taken that expertise to larger …

ZeroAvia Tests 600 kW Motor, Receives Honors

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Val Miftakhov, founder and CEO of ZeroAvia, introduces tests of the company’s 600 kilowatt powertrain, mounted high atop their new mobile test bed.  In recent months, the company has achieved some solid recognition. “In July, 2021, ZeroAvia has successfully tested high-power operation of its flight-intent ZA-600 (600kW) powertrain. The testing has been done on the brand new HyperTruck mobile ground testing platform ZeroAvia has developed based on a heavy-duty M977 HEMTT military truck. The HyperTruck platform is designed to be able to test not only the current 600 kilowatt system for 10-20 seat applications, but also the 2 Megawatt system currently in design phase, targeting 50-80 seat aircraft. The latest series of tests signifies a critical milestone before flight application of these powerplants later this year in the company’s 19-seat test demonstrator.”  Further down the line, plans for a 40-80 seat hydrogen-electric aircraft are in store. Perhaps the high mounting of the powerplant comes from Head of Drivetrain development, Gabriel …

ZeroAvia Gains Backing at High Levels

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

“Cannot be more proud and humbled to be a part of this stellar team!”  That’s power system developer Gabriel DeVault’s response to ZeroAvia’s Chief Financial Officer Katya Akulinicheva’s enthusiastic endorsement of Bloomberg LP’s news.  She listed the investors taking an active interest in ZeroAvia, including Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Horizons Ventures, Shell Ventures and Summa Equity. Already benefiting from a $16.3 million grant from Innovate UK, Aerospace Technology Institute and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), ZeroAvia will be able to push forward on plans to create a 19-seat hydrogen-powered commuter liner. According to Bloomberg, “ZeroAvia aims to demonstrate that it can fly a plane 500 miles (804 kilometers) with as many as 20 seats by 2023. It wants to scale up to 1,000 miles with over 100 seats by 2030.” With individuals such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos taking an interest, an aviation blog now feels a little like …

ZeroAvia First Out of the Gate with Hydrogen Flight

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

An Historic Hydrogen Outing While Airbus and MagniX promote the near- and not-so-near virtues of hydrogen-powered flight, ZeroAvia has demonstrated such flight with the largest H2-powered aircraft so far.  Their Cranfield, England-based Piper Malibu flew on H2 power for the first time September 24 on an eight-minute circuit.  The blue Malibu reached 1,000 feet and a top speed of 100 knots true air speed. Quick to capitalize on the successful mission, , ZeroAvia founder and CEO Val Miftakhov held a press conference the next day.  In it, he explained his team,“has had discussions with seven aircraft manufacturers about possible retrofit and new-build applications for the propulsion system. He said the company has signed letters of intent with 10 airlines that have expressed an interest in the program based on presentations made to around 30 different prospective operators.” Earlier flights in Hollister, California and Cranfield were battery powered “to evaluate different elements of the powertrain.”   Unspecified modifications helped prepare the craft …