ZeroAvia – Dornier228 – First Flight
Does Anyone Remember Suckling Airways?
They started by flying a Dornier 228 between Ipswich and Manchester airports.
But look at this Dornier 228 in a short flight from Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire.
This press release from ZeroAvia is entitled ZeroAvia Makes Aviation History, Flying World’s Largest Aircraft Powered With a Hydrogen-Electric Engine.
This paragraph describes the aircraft’s engines in this testbed configuration.
The twin-engine aircraft was retrofitted to incorporate ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engine on its left wing, which then operated alongside a single Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine on the right. In this testing configuration, the hydrogen-electric powertrain comprises two fuel cell stacks, with lithium-ion battery packs providing peak power support during take-off and adding additional redundancy for safe testing. In this testbed configuration, hydrogen tanks and fuel cell power generation systems were housed inside the cabin. In a commercial configuration, external storage would be used and the seats restored.
As I suspect a Dornier 228 can fly on one Honeywell engine, this must be a very safe way to prove the concept of the hydrogen-electric powertrain.
This paragraph indicates their path to full certification and entry into service in 2025.
ZeroAvia will now work towards its certifiable configuration in order to deliver commercial routes using the technology by 2025. The Dornier 228 will conduct a series of test flights from Kemble and later demonstration flights from other airports. Almost exactly two years ago, ZeroAvia conducted the first of more than 30 flights of a six-seat Piper Malibu aircraft using a 250kW hydrogen-electric powertrain.
That is an ambitious date, but, they haven’t got to develop and certify a new airframe.
The Anonymous Widower 
The Times reports today that Brum airport has just signed a partnership agreement with ZeroAvia, and wants to be its UK hub. Also, that Z hopes to hold its first CAA-approved point-to-point flight this spring. Brum wants all its domestic flights to be zero-emission by 2033 – which is ambitious, but probably doable if manufacturers can produce the aircraft as planned.
Comment by Peter Robins | February 20, 2023 |
Thanks! It’s probably possible in Birmingham, as the Mayor has a hydrogen policy. Which is more than you can say for Khan! He prefers to spend my Council Tax on bribes to get elected!
Comment by AnonW | February 20, 2023 |