Boeing carries out successful tests with two-seater aircraft

By Dave Jamieson
THE WORLD'S first manned aeroplane flight powered by hydrogen has been seen in Spanish skies. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced last Friday that successful trials had taken place during February and March at an airfield south of Madrid.
A US company pioneered an unmanned craft powered by hydrogen three years ago, but the Spanish test flights are the first time ever that the gas has been used in a piloted aeroplane. Boeing's chief technology officer, John Tracy, described the flights as "a historical technological success" with "promises for a greener future."
Hydrogen fuel cells, which produce only heat and water as waste products, were used to power a small propeller-driven, two-seater aircraft on three test flights at Ocaña in Toledo, 40 minutes drive from Madrid. The cells combined oxygen and hydrogen, creating enough energy by to power the electric motor which turned the propeller. Batteries were used to boost power on take-off and climb to 1,000 metres above sea level, but after that the flight at 100 kilometres per hour relied solely on hydrogen for the 20 minutes before landing. Boeing said the potential maximum flying time of the plane was around 45 minutes but that the sole goal of the development programme was to demonstrate for the first time that "a manned airplane can maintain a straight level flight with fuel cells as the only power source."

Experts doubt energy is enough
However, experts believe that hydrogen cells will never produce enough energy to be a primary power source for large, passenger aircraft. Even their development as a secondary source could take as much as twenty years, they say.