ZeroAvia has announced that it has secured a Part 21 permit to fly for retrofitted Dornier 228 from the Civil Aviation Authority, following a successful ground testing campaign.
According to a press release this means that “ZeroAvia can now begin the first test flights of its 600kW hydrogen-electric powertrain. The 19-seat twin-engine aircraft has been retrofitted in an engineering testbed configuration to incorporate ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engine powering the propellor on its left wing, operating alongside a single Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine on the right for appropriate redundancy to allow the safe testing of the novel propulsion technology.
“The test flights are set to be a landmark achievement for ZeroAvia and the HyFlyer II project, a major R&D program backed by the UK Government’s ATI Programme, which targets the development of a 600kW hydrogen-electric powertrain for 9-19 seat aircraft.”
Securing the permit the company says “will pave the way for a commercially certifiable configuration for ZA600 to be submitted by the end of 2023, ahead of delivering powertrains for the first commercial routes to commence by 2025.” ZeroAvia says it has 1,500 engines under pre-order, partnerships with seven aircraft manufacturers and multiple fuel and airport partnerships.
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(Image: Oliver Kay)