Boeing Readying Fuel-Cell Aircraft For Tests

Makarand writes "An experimental one-person aircraft built by Boeing and powered by fuel cells could be ready for trials in Dec 2003. Once in the air the aircraft will be propelled by two 25-kilowatt fuel cells and will still rely on batteries to accelerate before taking off. If the propulsion system fails for any reason the aircraft will be capable of gently gliding back to earth. Boeing also has plans to replace re-chargeable batteries used on larger airplanes by fuel cells to cut down on pollution."

Comments

Fuel Cells for AIRCRAFT?

[AB3A]

I like fuel cells. I think they have a lot of future to them. However, installing them in to weight critical applications doesn't make sense.

Modern piston, turbo-jet, and turbo-fan engines aren't efficient compared to a fuel cell. What they have to offer is high power to weight ratio. Remember, for every weight unit of fuel they burn, they suck in as much as fifteen times that weight in air. What they're really burning is not the Jet-A or Avgas, it's air. That's a hell of a lot of weight they don't have to carry.

Now, fast forward to fuel cells. Yes, their efficiency can be quite high --but they have to carry all their propellant, not just 1/15 of it. Unless someone figures out how to engineer some kind of fuel cell which uses air as a reactant, I just don't see how such a thing will be practical.