Aircraft engineers in Germany have successfully tested the world's first four-seater plane that uses emission-free hybrid fuel cells to fly.
The 10-minute test flight Thursday at Stuttgart Airport in southwestern Germany involved two pilots and two dummy passengers.
The twin-cabin plane, known as HY4, was developed by aircraft maker Pipistrel, fuel cell specialist Hydrogenics, the University of Ulm and the German Aerospace Center DLR.
It uses hydrogen to generate electricity in-flight, giving it a cruising speed of 165 kilometers per hour (102.5 mph) and a range of up to 1,500 kilometers (932 miles), while relying on batteries for take-off and landing.
Jet emissions do produce a measurable effect on our climate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 30 2016, @04:45AM
But, what do jet contrails (from flying transonic at 30,000 ft+) have to do with a general aviation aircraft that cruises at 100mph, low altitude and isn't pressurized or all-weather? That last tag line has almost nothing to do with the main story.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 30 2016, @04:48AM
From the people who brought you Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, it's Six Degrees of Nine Eleven.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Friday September 30 2016, @04:51AM
Fuel cell technology is relatively new and is only just now being implemented in small planes. Obviously the technology must be proven before anyone is going to make the momumental investment to build even one plane jet-class plane powered by fuel cells.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Friday September 30 2016, @09:29AM
But, what do jet contrails (from flying transonic at 30,000 ft+) have to do with a general aviation aircraft that cruises at 100mph, low altitude and isn't pressurized or all-weather? That last tag line has almost nothing to do with the main story.
Fuel cells have passed stage 1 and 2 and are somewhere in the stage 3.5 region. Reaching stage 7, and allowing planes to run on something other than oil, would be a good thing.