Photo: ZeroAvia
From air taxis to large aircraft powered by unconventional propulsion systems or alternative fuels, there’s no doubt that the commercial aviation landscape will look very different in the not-so-distant future. Celera 500L is one of the innovative aircraft promising a remarkable performance, fueled only by hydrogen.
The recent collaboration between ZeroAvia and Otto Aviation makes total sense. The first one is an expert in hydrogen-electric powertrains, while the other has designed a brand-new airframe that looks like a bullet or a torpedo, boasting impressive range and speed. By adding the ZeroAvia powertrain, it will be able to deliver the same performance with zero emissions, which sounds like a winning combination.
This bullet plane’s main innovation is a design based on laminar flow (smooth layers of airflow) for reduced drag. This enables a transcontinental range, a speed of over 460 mph (740 kph), and increased passenger and cargo capacity. Even though Otto Aviation’s airplane was designed with fuel economy in mind, equipping it with a hydrogen-electric powertrain will allow it to operate with zero emissions.
Using hydrogen instead of conventional fuel will take away some of its capacity in terms of range, but a 1,000-nautical mile (1,150 miles/1,852 km) range is still impressive for a passenger aircraft using an alternative propulsion system. The airplane’s unusual design offers enough room in the fuselage for large volumes of hydrogen, according to ZeroAvia. As hydrogen availability increases, the Celera 500L is also expected to become more cost-effective compared to conventional models.
While the two will focus on integrating the ZA600 powertrain on Otto’s bullet plane, ZeroAvia is gearing up for the first flight tests of two Dornier 228 aircraft retrofitted with its 600 kW hydrogen-electric powertrain, coming up in the next weeks. The powertrain expert’s ultimate goal is to have 40-80 seat hydrogen aircraft operating by 2026.
This bullet plane’s main innovation is a design based on laminar flow (smooth layers of airflow) for reduced drag. This enables a transcontinental range, a speed of over 460 mph (740 kph), and increased passenger and cargo capacity. Even though Otto Aviation’s airplane was designed with fuel economy in mind, equipping it with a hydrogen-electric powertrain will allow it to operate with zero emissions.
Using hydrogen instead of conventional fuel will take away some of its capacity in terms of range, but a 1,000-nautical mile (1,150 miles/1,852 km) range is still impressive for a passenger aircraft using an alternative propulsion system. The airplane’s unusual design offers enough room in the fuselage for large volumes of hydrogen, according to ZeroAvia. As hydrogen availability increases, the Celera 500L is also expected to become more cost-effective compared to conventional models.
While the two will focus on integrating the ZA600 powertrain on Otto’s bullet plane, ZeroAvia is gearing up for the first flight tests of two Dornier 228 aircraft retrofitted with its 600 kW hydrogen-electric powertrain, coming up in the next weeks. The powertrain expert’s ultimate goal is to have 40-80 seat hydrogen aircraft operating by 2026.
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