The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday granted California-based Universal Hydrogen clearance to proceed with a first flight of its hydrogen-powered Dash-8-300 test airplane at Moses Lake.
(TNS) — The dream of carbon-free flight is inching toward some reality.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday granted California-based Universal Hydrogen clearance to proceed with a first flight of its hydrogen-powered Dash-8-300 test airplane at Moses Lake.
On Friday, the aircraft began initial ground taxi tests and on Monday the propellers ran up to their full RPM. The FAA's grant of the special airworthiness certificate in the experimental category means that, provided the taxi tests go well, the plane could fly as soon as this month.
Universal, led by Paul Eremenko, former chief technology officer and leading clean energy visionary at both Airbus and United Technologies, is developing the technology to retrofit midsized turboprop aircraft to run on hydrogen.
To create the necessary infrastructure for hydrogen-powered aviation, the company is developing modular pods of liquid hydrogen that can be easily transported to any airport by truck and loaded onto an airplane.
Separately, Universal's engineers are developing a power system inside the plane's nacelle — the casing around the motor — including a fuel cell that converts the hydrogen to electricity that turns the propellers.
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Published on 2/20/2023 (30 days ago) Solar, Wind & EV's