Aviation history was made on March 2 when Universal Hydrogen Co. flew a 40-passenger regional airliner using hydrogen fuel cell propulsion.
The airplane, nicknamed Lightning McClean, took off from Washington State”™s Grant County International Airport and flew for 15 minutes, reaching an altitude of 3,500 MSL. For this flight, one of the airplane”™s turbine engines was replaced with Universal Hydrogen”™s fuel cell-electric, megawatt-class powertrain while the other remained a conventional engine for safety of flight.
“During the second circuit over the airport, we were comfortable with the performance of the hydrogen powertrain, so we were able to throttle back the fossil fuel turbine engine to demonstrate cruise principally on hydrogen power,” said Alex Kroll, a former U.S. Air Force test pilot who captained the historic flight. “The airplane handled beautifully, and the noise and vibrations from the fuel cell powertrain are significantly lower than from the conventional turbine engine.”
The flight was conducted under an FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate and is the first in a two-year flight test campaign expected to culminate in 2025 with entry into passenger service of ATR 72 regional aircraft converted to run on hydrogen. Connect Airlines, which will begin regional turboprop service this spring, has placed a first-position U.S. order with Universal Hydrogen to convert 75 ATR 72-600 regional airplanes to hydrogen powertrains with purchase rights for 25 additional aircraft conversions.
Universal Hydrogen is backed by GE Aviation, Airbus Ventures, Toyota Ventures, JetBlue Ventures, and American Airlines, as well as several of the world”™s largest green hydrogen producers and financial investors.
