Hydrogen Demonstrator Applies Lessons Learned from Battery Flight, With Impressive Results

Joby Aviation managed to pull off a 523-mile flight using their hybrid electric/hydrogen VTOL aircraft, once again putting them near the front of the sustainable pack in terms of real-world accomplishment.

Joby Aviation managed to pull off a 523-mile flight using their hybrid electric/hydrogen VTOL aircraft, once again putting them near the front of the sustainable pack in terms of real-world accomplishment. Their demonstrator finished off a 523-mile flight putting out nothing but water as the byproduct of its hybrid powerplant. That's pretty good for a draggy VTOL aircraft, though unsurprisingly achieved by using a liquid hydrogen fuel source. While many in the industry have had similar successes with liquid H2, the fuel remains a tough nut to crack on the production and transportation side, being much more finicky to contain and retain in liquid form. Gaseous hydrogen has been the easier version to deal with for a while, but its lackluster energy density means it's probably better suited to smaller UAVs and outlying, off-grid production systems than full-size crewed aircraft like Joby's. After finishing off their lengthy test flight, Joby found that they still had 10% of their hydrogen fuel remaining, too. While 520-plus miles aren't too impressive among fixed-wing operators, it should be remembered that Joby's aircraft is geared towards urban travel, being quieter, smaller, and less intrusive to locals while operating in city limits, with enough range to connect outlying transit hubs. From that standing, it's not too shabby at all, particularly considering the end result is emissions-free travel.

While competitors are nipping at their heels, Joby is one of the few brands that's been able to pull off some good old aircraft records throughout the design process, nabbing headlines and proving their full-size demonstrators are pushing the limits of their performance envelope. Joby Aviation, one recalls, is the one that pushed a prototype up to a brisk 272 miles an hour during a test flight before a component failure destroyed the whole thing. Its design top speed sits around 200 mph, though it can apparently push that limit quite a bit under the right conditions. That's good to see in the eVTOL space, given so many brands are stuck in early to middle phases of development building scaled wind tunnel mockups or ground testing prospective motors.

JoeBen Bevirt, Joby Founder, said there was a lot that carried over to the hydrogen-powered version of their aircraft. “Imagine being able to fly from San Francisco to San Diego, Boston to Baltimore, or Nashville to New Orleans without the need to go to an airport and with no emissions except water. That world is closer than ever, and the progress we’ve made towards certifying the battery-electric version of our aircraft gives us a great head start as we look ahead to making hydrogen-electric flight a reality. The vast majority of the design, testing and certification work we’ve completed on our battery-electric aircraft carries over to commercializing hydrogen-electric flight. In service, we also expect to be able to use the same landing pads, the same operations team, and Joby’s ElevateOS software that will support the commercial operation of our battery-electric aircraft.”

FMI: www.jobyaviation.com