Nice milestone Boeing.

A question would by why would you want to replace the APU?
Existing APU's run off the same fuel as the primary engines, feed off the same fuel tanks and are proven reliable.

is it possible to take hydrogen and/or water from the air, during mid-flight. please comment back.

I'm guessing they would so that they could save fuel. If they save 1% total fuel cost by not having to power the APU directly from the main tank that will amount to a large annual savings. Also keep in mind they wont change something like that unless it was really reliable and saved money. The airlines dont like throwing money at their craft when they dont have to.

@greggantic: Yes it's possible, but not logical, the amount of equipment needed to do this would weigh more than amount of fuel you would get out of it.

Well I would think that this research would do wonders to the automobile industry as well wouldn't it? If they are able to create an engine to fly through the skies for a minimum of 20 minutes, how hard could it be to adapt the technology into use for cars/busses. Sure, there's definitely work going on for that industry, but this can only help improve/speed the process.

Ithink this week's congressional testimony has revealed the airlines (Southwest and others) PREFERRED method of reducing costs - cut maintenance and then intimidate the FAA inspectors (sounds like the meat industry, now). I guess if a plane falls from the sky, they figure the insurance will cover it!

@ittekimasu: Creating a working prototype is a far cry from manufacturing an affordable product (and distributing the fuel) on a mass scale. There are lots of hydrogen-powered automobiles out there; this doesn't necessarily bring us any closer to their replacing internal combustion.

I just did some time travel back from the future to post a comment.

This clip was totally ripped off from my Microsoft Flight Simulator 15 from the year 2012.

I'm running a 512 terahertz CPU with 4 exabytes of RAM, and Word for Windows still comes up slowly, and hard drives are for losers in 2012 BTW.

I HOPE NORMAL PEOPLE WON'T BE TRICKED BY THIS RUSE OF HYDROGEN POWER RESEARCH. JUST BECAUSE HYDROGEN IS A MAIN INGREDIENT IN WATER DOES NOT MEAN IT IS A GOOD SOURCE OF ENERGY. IF ANYONE WANTS TO READ UP ON IT THEY SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE AMOUNT OF ELECTRICITY IT TAKES TO EXTRACT HYDROGEN FROM ANY SUBSTANCE. IT'S MORE THAN IT TAKES TO CHARGE A BATTERY THAT WILL PRODUCE MORE HORSEPOWER THAN THE AMOUNT YOU WILL GET FROM HYDROGEN EXTRACTED BY USING THE SAME AMOUNT OF ELECTRICITY. PRODUCED BY WIND OR WATER MOVEMENT THAT OCCURS NATURALLY THE ELECTRICITY CAN ALSO BE USED TO PRODUCE LIQUID PLANT DERIVED FUELS THAT CAN BE USED IN ALL OF THE ENGINES THAT WE CURRENTLY USE WITH NO NEED TO REBUILD THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF ENERGY DELIVERY AND CONSUMPTION. DON'T LET THE BUSH CRIMINAL CARTEL MAKE YOU THINK THAT EXTRACTING HYDROGEN FROM COAL MAKES SENSE. COAL KILLS MINERS IT CONTAINS MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF CARBON DIOXIDE THAT IS RELEASED DURING ANY TYPE OF CHEMICAL PROCESSING. AND NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO DO IT. IT'S A STUPID IDEA.

Hydrogen-powered airplanes and cars are already reality. The question is how can they be usable for normal people with normal costs. However, this kind of technology should be researched for the benefits of mankind and nature. I'm collecting innovative news about technologies creating a better world for a close future: www.sikantisearth.com.

It's not a very big deal... Ooh they made a plane with an engine that uses hydrogen instead of gas.

We can already fly planes on pure Electricity...Why waste electricity making hydrogen and then using the hydrogen to power the plane... So ridiculous.

@sikantis:

We need to work towards just using electricity to power our vehicles and not using electricity to make another fuel to power a vehicle.

that shit has some long ass wings! Damn!!!

Jesus,

So you are for La Ribera... I should have guessed. Rioja rules!

For the moment, nothing is going to replace jet fuel on big passenger jets. The only thing that comes close is bio-fuel, and bio-fuel simply isn't feasible on a large scale. As for Hydrogen, the problems are as follow.

"Liquid hydrogen has to be stored at minus 424 degrees F (minus 253 C). While lighter, it also takes up far more space than regular jet fuel. Airplanes would have to be redesigned to accommodate it."

"Also, since hydrogen occurs mainly in combination with other elements, such as water, it's costly and takes a great deal of energy to produce it."

bring on the hindenburg!

@MACPollo: I'm for everything wine. I just had an amazing ribera going out last night, and that's why I mentioned it.

@Jesus Diaz: Just joking. I love wine also. Hope you enjoyed (¿Alion perhaps?). Regards.

Vega Sicilia FTW!

Spanish wine and Iberian ham? My ghetto ass can't get enough of the jerk chicken on Air Jamaica :P

The long wings make it basically a powered glider, so you have more options if the engine takes a dump.

I wonder if this was the first test flight undertaken where the pilot wore flip-flops and a hemp shirt? (J/K)

I still don't understand why we need large commercial jets, most of the same needs could be filled by hydrogen-powered dirigibles. It would be slower, but so much cheaper and energy efficient its worth the sacrifice, IMO.

Yes, there are things that are time-sensitive and need jet travel, not to mention military needs, but I feel safe in predicting 75% of domestic air travelers would be just fine with cheaper tickets and longer flights, especially in light of the new fees being levied because of rising fuel costs.

@DaiMacculate: Or Solar Powered, or Natural Gas Powered, etc. Hydrogen is just one fuel that would work, and as others have noted the distribution and production remains an obstacle there.

A nice milestone, but a sad one overall. The aircraft in question is a converted glider, and watching how sluggish it handles and how gently they have to climb to keep from stalling tells me that this particular hydrogen power initiative is a colossal flop. Other converted gliders I have seen exhibit immensely more impressive performance. Most literally leap from the ground under power. This thing barely manages to climb after a long takeoff run. This tells me that either the technology is excessively heavy, or the power it produces is excessively paltry.

@DaiMacculate: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard TortoiseAir flight 344, hydrogen powered dirigible service from Los Angeles to New York's LaGuardia. The captain has informed me that with current weather our flight time will be just under 24 hours! Please put your seat backs and tray tables in the upright position, and have a nice flight!"

@Kakkoister:
Because Hydrogen is by far more energy dense than any battery technology that currently exists.

@Whyaduck: Again, price the Tickets for 40% of what a current flight costs, with vertical takeoff you have fewer complications to takeoff and landing so theoretically more vehicles per airport and less delays...I mean even a 4 hour flight includes another 4-6 hours to get to and from the airport and through security, etc. I'd take that (with more expansive seating for my 6'8" frame BTW) over the system we have now any day.

We have to make some sacrifices to retain the majority of our civilization and technology, is all I'm saying. Jet Travel is a useless luxury for most of its users, and thats just all their is to it. Its not the only major thing we need to change, its just one of many.

@chaoslink:

Yes but that is slowly changing. There have been a lot of major break through's in battery technology that have happened in the past few years. That will bring massive amount's of electrical storage into small spaces.

We shouldn't be working on creating a Hydrogen powered future is what I'm saying. We should be working on an Electric powered future. Designing better electric engines and batteries instead of designing better Hydrogen engines.

And many electric cars you get this days can drive quite a long time before needed a recharge.

@Kakkoister:

Because all it's going to do is bring us into another money wasting situation in the future just like we are for gas right now. People will have to waste a ton of money again to convert from there hydrogen car to a pure electric car.

Just skip the damn Hydrogen and work on Electric. It's common sense.

@daimacculate:

By further elaborating on your argument that jet travel is by large a useless luxury and that people should accept slower travel to help civilization as whole, couldn't the same be said for the automobile? By accepting slower travel we could eliminate this entire fuel issue. Let me be the first to suggest that we park our cars and buy a carriage and a couple trusty steeds. Without the automobile, we no longer have a dependency on oil and gas. Without a dependency on oil and gas, all the money tied up in wars, politics, and researching alternate fuel is freed up for other things like education and finding a cure for cancer. We may be onto something. It turns out the secret to world piece and eternal happiness is getting rid of any useless luxury that uses gasoline.

@brian8655: No I totally agree with that, though just plugging horses into the equation wouldn't be as simple as it sounds, especially given the sanitation issues that would normally arise. Much of the goal could be accomplished by a more intelligent commercial/residential zoning style that what most cities have now, if more people could walk to work that would help right there.

Nothing is going to be a quick fix, its going to take decades and a ton more research to address these issues. Hopefully we have the time and somewhere will find the will needed ;)

I had a hydrogen airplane once. It was small, red, and balloon shaped. Actually, thinking back, it might have been a balloon...

Actually, that would pretty much be 1,300 feet above Madrid, given that city's elevation of about 2,000 feet above mean sea level. Buuuuuuut it's a start...