Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) this week opened the refurbished research and development facility where it will advance its plans to bring hydrogen-powered regional airliners to market in 2026. The company is working with UK airframer Britten-Norman to produce carbon-free versions of its Islander family of nine-passenger aircraft, which currently run on a pair of piston or turboprop engines.
Operating from a modernized hangar and office on the campus of Cranfield University, which is the UK’s leading aviation school, CAeS is in the process of merging with Britten-Norman under an agreement announced in April. Completion of the legal process is pending, with the merger set to release the remaining tranche of £10 million ($13 million) in new funding from a consortium of investors called HydrogenOne Capital Growth. The consortium includes venture capital group HydrogenOne, Safran Corporate Ventures, and the UAE’s Strategic Development Fund.
The new entity is embarking on a Series B funding round that is expected to yield a further £30 million. CEO Paul Hutton said the money will support work through the end of 2024, by which time the merged company expects to have a technology demonstrator aircraft in flight tests. It intends to market both conversions of existing Islanders and new aircraft.
CAeS has previously completed a £14.4 million funding round supported by the UAE’s Tawazun Economic Council and California-based Motus Ventures. Its work on hydrogen propulsion has also drawn support from the UK government-backed Aerospace Technology Institute under Project Fresson.
Consolidated On-wing Hydrogen Propulsion System Is New
According to Hutton, CAeS is taking a different approach than other hydrogen pioneers by integrating the complete propulsion system into nacelles on the wing, rather than having electric motors in one place and fuel cells in another. He told FutureFlight that its technology will deliver somewhat more power than the existing engines.
“No one has done both of these things, and by doing so we’re facing up to the full challenge of what it will take to get the aircraft certified and in service,” he said. “We are addressing all the needs of packaging the system, how much it will weigh, and how to deal with thermal issues [heat] in this confined space, solving the challenge of how we take away the heat without increasing drag in another part of the airframe.”
The CAeS engineering team is at an advanced stage of the critical design review and Hutton said he is confident that the technology demonstrator will address all the systems-integration challenges. Before the first flight, the engineering team in the new Cranfield facility will assemble an iron bird ground test rig to test all aspects of the propulsion system.
CAeS is aiming to deliver Islanders with the same performance as the current aircraft except for range, which will be less. The hydrogen models are expected to be able to fly for about an hour, with the required 45 minutes of energy reserves. This will equate to up to around 250 kilometers (156 miles), which Hutton said would support around 85 percent of the mainly short-hop sectors flown by in-service Islanders.
Subregional Air Services Set To Takeoff
The aircraft’s short takeoff and landing performance of no more than 1,000 feet (allowing for a 50-foot obstacle clearance) should boost its appeal for anticipated new subregional scheduled air services. This is what prospective operators like German start-up Evia Aero and leasing group Monte Aircraft have in mind, and Hutton said he expects to also be able to deliver 40 percent savings on fuel costs and maintenance, based on the new propulsion system having fewer moving parts.
In pursuit of the goal of achieving net zero carbon air transport, CAeS hopes that governments will start introducing compelling inducements for airlines to phase out fossil fuel, possibly including new carbon taxes. “We believe that by 2026 there will be a massive pull in the market for subregional green aircraft and almost no other available products,” he commented.
Eventually, CAeS hopes to scale up the propulsion system to support 19-seat aircraft and later still 100-seaters. The company intends to take advantage of its airfield location to develop and test hydrogen refueling equipment and processes, as part of work with regulators to set standards that currently don’t exist.
The first Islanders will run on gaseous hydrogen, which is a conscious choice by CAeS to ensure that fuel supplies are available to early adopters. Later, perhaps by 2029, it intends to switch to liquid hydrogen as this becomes more widely available.
Britten-Norman, which is based in southern England, will contribute its extensive manufacturing experience to the newly merged company. CAeS has considerable aerospace engineering design experience and also maintains light aircraft as a side business. It has been working on a project for Dronamics to explore the potential to power its drones with hydrogen.
Other key partners for the green Islander project include Evolito, which will provide electric motors and inverters for the technology demonstrator. Ricardo, meanwhile, is helping to develop the fuel cell hardware with CAeS, which will retain the intellectual property; and Reaction Engines is providing a thermal management system for the equipment.
