Pioneering Moses Lake flight uses hydrogen to power regional airplane

[Caribbeans]

Source: Seattle Times

MOSES LAKE — A small crowd of investors, airline representatives and journalists at Moses Lake in Central Washington got a first look Thursday morning at whether hydrogen power might be the future of sustainable, zero-emissions aviation.

A turboprop De Havilland Canada Dash 8-300 retrofitted by Los Angeles-based startup Universal Hydrogen took off from Moses Lake in a brief pioneering flight aimed at proving the technology viable.

With a large tank of liquid hydrogen in the back of the cabin, reducing the seating capacity from over 50 passengers to about 40 — though only test pilot Alex Kroll and two flight crew were on board — the plane flew with one propeller powered by a regular Pratt & Whitney aviation fuel engine, the other by a motor fed electricity from a liquid hydrogen fuel cell.

The plane took off at 8:41 a.m. and made just two passes around the airfield at a low altitude of about 11,500 feet before landing after 15 minutes.

Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/pioneering-moses-lake-flight-uses-hydrogen-to-power-regional-airplane/?h2fd

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[cilla4progress]

1. Cool!

My neck o' the woods!

[Alexander Of Assyria]

2. Nice! Strap on a hydrogen fuel tank car behind a hydrogen train engine...so logical it hurts.

[Martin68]

4. For a 15-minute train ride?

[Martin68]

3. I totally applaud attempts to demonstrate the benefits of hydrogen fueled power,

but I would have like to hear a bit more about what percent of the power to the plane's flight was provided by the hydrogen. The space for passengers was reduce by 20% and the flight only lasted for 15 minutes. This sounds a little like more hype than substance.