Aircraft manufacturer Beyond Aero has completed the flight test campaign of its hydrogen-electric propulsion system, with the powertrain architecture retrofitted to a ULA G1 SPYL-XL aircraft.
The prototype, named the Blériot (named after the pioneering French aviator), completed ten takeoffs and two complete flights. During the course of the testing, the aircraft reached an altitude of 2,3000 feet AMSL and achieved a climbing speed of 110km/hr.
The propulsion system, first unveiled at the Paris Air Show, derives two-thirds of its power from a hydrogen fuel cell, with the remaining third supplied by batteries. Three tanks of gaseous hydrogen stored at 340 bar generate a maximum electric power of 85 kW.
“[The flight test campaign is] the culmination of two years’ hard work by our teams and collaboration within a network of partners with a real technological expertise,” commented Hugo Tarlé, Beyond Aero co-founder and chief operating officer.
‘This successful flight test campaign underscores the feasibility of the manufacturer’s powertrain architecture, with the goal of making possible, certifiable and profitable, the first electric business aircraft designed for hydrogen propulsion within the decade,’ concluded Beyond Aero.
Beyond Aero achieves France’s first fully hydrogen-electric piloted flight
