Stralis Aircraft completes successful hydrogen-electric propeller spin test at Brisbane Airport

Credit: Brisbane Airport Australia

Stralis Aircraft has successfully completed a hydrogen-electric powered propeller spin test on its ground-demonstrator aircraft, affectionately named “Clyde,” at Brisbane Airport.

This marks another significant step towards emission-free flight, with much of the work carried out at Stralis’ base at Aviation Australia in Queensland.

Bob Criner, CEO and Co-founder of Stralis Aircraft says, “This is a huge win for Stralis. We have safely trialled the introduction of hydrogen in a controlled environment at Brisbane Airport for use in aircraft propulsion, which required strong collaboration and upskilling of everyone involved. This lays the foundation and builds momentum as we work towards Australia’s first hydrogen-electric flight next year.”

see below how the test went:

Details of the hydrogen-electric test  

The test, which utilised fuel cells and gaseous hydrogen, resulted in only water vapour being emitted. This milestone brings the team closer to its goal of taking “Bonnie,” the sister experimental flight-demonstrator Bonanza A36 aircraft, to the skies over Queensland in 2025.

This event is the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and represents the first hydrogen-electric propeller spin test conducted on a registered aircraft at an international airport.

This progress has been achieved with grant support from the Emerging Aviation Technology Partnerships Program – an Australian Government initiative.

Alan Milne, CEO of Skytrans Airlines, the launch customer for Stralis Aircraft said, “Skytrans would like to congratulate Stralis Aircraft on this momentous occasion. This is a very strong message to the industry that Stralis is on the right track and progressing at a great rate of knots towards emission-free aviation. Skytrans is proud to support Stralis and looks forward to a long commercial relationship.”

This successful hydrogen spin is also groundbreaking for Brisbane Airport, a key partner of the project. This was the first test of hydrogen as a propulsion method at Brisbane Airport and proved up the safety and operational factors necessary for hydrogen powered flight.