If all goes according to plan, at this point in 2022, the British project FlyZero will enter its second year with a pair of low-emission aircraft concepts on the drawing board and firm plans on how to deliver them - or at least the necessary technology. - become reality.
Launched last year, FlyZero is aThe British FlyZero project is booming government-supported initiative through the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) with a vision to 'the UK achieve zero carbon commercial aviation by the end of this decade'.
One hundred "employees" will be seconded from industry and academia, with the Department of Business, Energy and Industry Strategy providing £ 15 million ($ 20.5 million) to cover staff costs and overhead costs.
Chris Gear, an industry veteran whose most recent role was Director of Technology at GKN Aerospace, is leading this effort as Project Director.
While several global aerospace companies have set their roadmaps for a low-carbon future - Airbus champions hydrogen, for example - and ATI is funding research projects with specialized propulsion technology in them, FlyZero is taking a different approach.
In a November blog post, Gear presented an effective mission statement: "It's not about building a unique vehicle for a particular market sector, but exploring the art of possibility and determining the facts needed to bring this technology to market."
In other words, FlyZero is not associated with any particular solution, architecture or segment, but seeks to analyze the best way forward, and then to pool the resources behind it.
This openness is key to the project. "Carbonless commercial aviation" is very nonspecific in terms of aircraft size, covering everything from 19-seat sub-regional aircraft to narrow-body jets.
Speaking to FlightGlobal, Gear said FlyZero's mission was to "conduct an independent assessment of what might be the right solution," including business cases and industry strategy.
Compare this approach with France, which appears to be betting big on hydrogen, a technology that, according to Gear, is "not proven on a large scale."
"I don't want to predict the answer. I want my technicians and researchers to look at the facts and find answers that match, "he said.
FlyZero took a big step forward in early January with the appointment of its management team, and in early February will recruit 30 employees, Gear said. But at this point, only the first year of operation was funded.
Although December may seem a long way off, the ability to recruit staff fast enough to deliver the expected production by year's end is a potential limiting factor. Covid-19 restrictions and spillover effects for the aerospace industry are not helping hiring, he said.
"The biggest challenge for me is building the size of my team," said Gear. “The main thing for FlyZero right now is finding the right people and getting them to develop it.
"We are progressing as fast as possible, but it is not on schedule. We are on the right track but I would love to see more people. "
Anyway, work starts now, said Gear. Its first year is divided into two partially overlapping phases: the first, the "design phase" will last four to six months, while the "delivery phase" will last eight months.
The design phase aims to narrow down the hundreds of possible solutions and "reduce to the two solutions we think are best for the [relevant] market sector and desired payload and reach."
This decision will then inform the delivery phase in which these two solutions - possibilities for two different industries - will be explored, including operational and environmental benefits, and potential benefits for the UK aerospace industry.
"My goal at the end of the process is to have two concept vehicles that we studied in enough detail to show they can take the next step," he said.
If funding for the second and third years of the project becomes available, then the technology described will be included in the flight test, Gear hopes, pushing them towards certification.
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