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Universal Hydrogen says its hydrogen-fueled test aircraft has won a key certification from regulators and has completed its first taxi tests at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Wash.
Those two developments bring the California-based company closer to the first flight of its modified De Havilland Dash 8-300 aircraft, nicknamed “Lightning McClean.” The plane’s right engine has been replaced with a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain, featuring an electric motor built by Everett, Wash.-based MagniX.
Seattle-based AeroTEC is handling the engineering work for the conversion, while New York-based Plug Power is providing the fuel cells. The Pratt & Whitney engine on the left side of the plane has been kept intact as a backup for flight tests.
Lightning McClean won a special airworthiness certificate in the experimental category from the Federal Aviation Administration — which is a prerequisite for flight testing. Universal Hydrogen hasn’t provided a development timeline, but the first flight could come within the next few months if ground testing goes well.
“My job is to make sure that we can execute this first flight and future flight tests in a safe, controlled, methodical manner,” chief test pilot Alex Kroll said in a video showing the first taxi test. “I’m very excited to be one of the first ever to fly a hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft, and pilot of the largest hydrogen fuel cell-powered aircraft.”
The company is targeting hydrogen as its aviation fuel of choice because, when combined with oxygen in a fuel cell, the reaction produces electricity with water as the only exhaust.
The zero-carbon technology is meant to address the climate-change challenge, which is a significant concern for the aviation industry. The Environmental Protection Agency has said that commercial airplanes and large business jets contribute 3 percent of America’s total greenhouse-gas emissions.
Universal Hydrogen aims to create a modular hydrogen delivery system that reduces the need for new infrastructure, cuts down on leakage and promotes safe handling of the fuel.
“We are simultaneously providing a pragmatic, near-term solution for hydrogen infrastructure and delivery, as well as for converting existing passenger aircraft to use this lightweight, safe and true-zero-emissions fuel,” Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen, said in a news release. “Today’s milestones are essential, important steps to putting the industry on a trajectory to meet Paris Agreement obligations.”
Although Universal Hydrogen’s test plane is a Dash 8, the first target for commercial conversions will be the widely used ATR 72-600 regional jet, configured to carry 56 passengers. The current plan calls for the conversion kit to be certified and in service starting in 2025.
Today the company announced that it has signed a strategic agreement with Air New Zealand to develop sustainable fuel solutions for the airline as part of its Mission NextGen Aircraft program.
“We want to be a leader in the rollout of zero-emissions aircraft in New Zealand,” Kiri Hannifin, the airline’s chief sustainability officer, said in a news release. “Having Universal Hydrogen as one of our long-term partners will grow our collective understanding of zero-emissions aircraft technology as it develops and will give them the confidence they are developing a product that’s well-suited for our fleet.”
Air New Zealand has teamed up with multiple partners to advance its zero-emission aircraft program. In December, for example, the airline signed a letter of intent to order up to 23 all-electric aircraft from Arlington, Wash.-based Eviation. Eviation put its Alice prototype airplane through its first flight test in Moses Lake last September.
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