Hydrogen propulsion pioneer H2Fly’s efforts to bring the technology to the air transport sector were energized by the breakthrough flight of its HY4 demonstrator aircraft at Maribor Airport in Slovenia last week. Co-founder and CEO Josef Kallo was visibly pleased when talking to media on the sidelines of the event, describing it as “a major milestone” and “world’s first.”
The demonstration flight, which followed earlier test flights and ground tests, validated what Germany-based H2Fly and its partners had hoped for, namely that cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage technology could be safely applied to aeronautical applications. “The message is that we can use liquid hydrogen to support medium and long-range emissions-free flight," said Kallo. We have demonstrated that a liquid-hydrogen storage system with a fuel cell system can be used to propel an electric motor in an aircraft.
