Tuesday, July 05, 2005
If You Have A Couple Of Days...
...then this may be the way to fly.
A US company says it has successfully completed test flights of a potentially environment-friendly aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen.Keeping a plane aloft and actually having it be useful are two entirely differnt things.
Liquid hydrogen stored on board and oxygen extracted from the air are combined in fuel cells. The electricity generated drives the propellers.
California-based AeroVironment says a full tank of hydrogen would keep the unmanned plane in the air for 24 hours.
Planes using fuel cells might help curb greenhouse gas emissions from aviation.
The aircraft, called Global Observer, looks more like a glider than a conventionally-powered plane, with its wingspan of over 15m, small fuselage slung underneath and extended, "dragon-fly" tail.
