When fuel cells fly

Emerging hydrogen and fuel-cell- based technologies are being developed for the future replacement of onboard electrical systems in more-electric or all-electric aircraft.

Hydrogen and fuel-cell-power based technologies are gaining maturity and are ripe to be exploited for a new generation of propulsion systems for light aircraft.

In February and March 2008, Boeing successfully performed flight tests on the first manned fuel-cell aircraft in aviation history. The fuel-cell demonstrator was a modified two-seater motor glider equipped with a hybrid power source powering an electric motor that drove a variable-pitch propeller.