HyFlyer (hydrogen aircraft)

2023: First flight

In mid-January 2023, ZeroAvia conducted the first flight of its hydrogen-electric aircraft, the 19-seater HyFlyer II, based on the Piper M350 six-seater passenger aircraft. The developers claim that at the moment it is the largest aircraft that receives energy to fly from hydrogen. The first flight was a record for the largest hydrogen-electric powered aircraft in the world.

ZeroAvia is a zero-emission aviation company that develops aircraft using a hydrogen-electric propulsion system. As of January 2023, the company operates in the United States and the United Kingdom and previously received experimental certificates for a prototype aircraft from American regulators.

HyFlyer II

ZeroAvia is working to build zero-emission commercial aircraft with its 600 kW powerplant by 2024, planes with a range of 300 miles. This power plant will be followed by a version with a capacity of two to five megawatts, designed for a flight range of 1.1 thousand km. The company already has investments from Alaska Air in addition to another $35 million from United Airlines.

The twin-engine aircraft was retrofitted with a ZeroAvia hydrogen-electric engine on the left wing, which operated alongside a Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine on the right as an emergency. The flight took place from the ZeroAvia Research Centre at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, UK. ZeroAvia founder and CEO Val Miftakhov spoke about this significant event for the company. In 2022, the hydrogen-electric aircraft completed taxiing, takeoff, full circle according to the scheme and landing; the first flight lasted 10 minutes, and all systems worked as expected.

ZeroAvia will work on its certified configuration to be completed and unveiled in 2023. After certification, the company will be able to carry out commercial routes using its technology by 2025. Dornier 228 aircraft, will have a series of additional test flights from Kembla, followed by demonstration flights from other airports. ^[1]

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