A little sanity ...

[rb1957]

from flight (on Friday) ...
Airbus pushes back ZEROe timeline and ditches A380 fuel cell flight-test plan
8 Feb 2025

Airbus has delayed the service-entry target for a hydrogen-powered aircraft developed under its ZEROe project by up to 10 years and axed plans to flight-test hydrogen propulsion systems,

 

[SWComposites]

Airbus has also cancelled their eVTOL project.

 

[3DDave]

Optimism is sometimes overcome by reality. The battery tech and hydrogen economy didn't happen. Sometimes things that are doubling in capacity over a short time, stop.

 

[rb1957]

and today ...

ATR delays Evo launch after technology ‘reality check’
12 Feb 2025

ATR has followed the lead of 50% owner Airbus and pushed back the service-entry target of its next-generation low-emission aircraft, citing technology maturity issues.

 

[jaceb]

finally....

 

[Sparweb]

citing technology maturity issues

Airbus pushes back ZEROe timeline and ditches A380 fuel cell flight-test plan

I wonder who held the line.
Was it a decision made internally by Airbus as their research unfolded?
Was it an external consultant who had access to decision makers?
Was it the vendor of these technologies that over-promised and under-delivered?
Was it the regulator who challenged Airbus to demonstrate reliability of these fuels?

 

[GregLocock]

Aviation Leak wittering about it https://aviationweek.com/podcasts/check-6/podcast-aviation-pulls-back-innovation

 

[SWComposites]

Was it a decision made internally by Airbus as their research unfolded?

Knowing Airbus, this is likely.

 

[SWComposites]

cripe, most of those fools on the AW podcast are just clueless.

 

[GregLocock]

Aye 1. to chatter or babble pointlessly or at unnecessary length

 

[rb1957]

maybe they're like the "aviation expert" the press wheeled out after the crash in Toronto ... the plane is designed for wings to break off.

and yes, I think there is something in than (not to leak fuel on a hard landing), it could very well be that the expert said one thing and the press wrote something different.