The fLHYing Tank project was conceived in response to the urgent need for lightweight, efficient, and certifiable liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage solutions in aviation - an essential enabler for achieving the EU’s climate neutrality goals.
The project aimed to design, manufacture, and flight-test a 1,000-liter, flight-load-bearing, vacuum-insulated composite LH2 tank onboard the Pipistrel Nuuva V300 cargo UAV. This approach was disruptive in several ways:
- It targeted the end-to-end development and qualification of a relevant-scale, fully composite LH2 tank.
- It proposed a fast-track flight-testing methodology using UAVs to safely accelerate the validation of low-TRL, high-risk technologies.
- It introduced a digital twin framework—a fluid-dynamic, thermal, and structural model calibrated with real flight data—to support future digitalized certification pathways for hydrogen technologies.
By focusing on rapid knowledge acquisition through real-world flight testing, the project sought to dramatically reduce the time-to-market for revolutionary hydrogen storage systems.
The fLHYing Tank project was designed to deliver strategic impact by:
- Supporting the Clean Aviation Programme’s Phase 1 goals.
- Contributing to the REPowerEU and Fit for 55 packages by enabling hydrogen-powered flight.
- Providing a scalable and certifiable LH2 storage solution for future zero-emission aircraft.
Although the project was ultimately terminated due to the unavailability of a suitable tank development partner—a result of budget and timeline constraints—it remains a highly relevant and strategically aligned initiative.
