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By Scott Hamilton

March 6, 2023, © Leeham News: Universal Hydrogen (UH2) last week took off with its demonstrator aircraft for what it believes is the beginning of a new era.

The first flight of a hydrogen-powered De Havilland Dash 8-300, developed by Universal Hydrogen, occurred on March 2, 2023. Credit: Leeham News.

The Dash 8-300 took off from the Moses Lakes (WA) airport at 8:41 am on March 2 for a short flight circling the former US Air Force Base, now called Grant County International Airport. On one circle, the test pilots throttled back the Jet A-fueled Pratt & Whitney PW123 engine, flying on the No. 2 electric motor, powered by hydrogen fuel.

Thus, UH2’s Dash 8 became the second largest plane (after the Soviet-era Tu-155) to fly on hydrogen and the first to fly solely on clean energy given that the No. 1 engine was at idle.

LNA previously reported details of UH2’s airplane plans.

Related Stories

• • Universal’s first flight nears
  • Universal Hydrogen’s ATR project
  • Universal Hydrogen could be first with hydrogen airliner

How UH2 moves forward is detailed below.

Summary

• UH2 raised $100m. Another $200m-$250m is required to bring the aircraft to market.
• UH2 has 247 orders and commitments.
• ATR-72 will be the first H2-powered airliner to enter service. The Dash 8-300 will follow.
• A fueling company, not an airplane company.