First piloted flight of liquid hydrogen powered electric aircraft

H2FLY, the Stuttgart, Germany-based developer of hydrogen-electric powertrain systems for aircraft, has successfully completed the world’s first piloted flight of an electric aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen. The H2FLY team has completed four flights powered by liquid hydrogen as part of its flight test campaign, including one flight that lasted for over three hours. The flights were completed with H2FLY’s piloted HY4 demonstrator aircraft, fitted with a hydrogen-electric fuel cell propulsion system and cryogenically stored liquid hydrogen that powered the aircraft. Results of the test flights indicate that using liquid hydrogen in place of gaseous hydrogen will double the maximum