Blue Spirit Aero wants to produce hundreds of small hydrogen planes near Toulouse
Toulouse had never experienced such excitement around low-carbon aviation. Airbus caused a stir two years ago with its ambition to fly a hydrogen-powered regional plane by 2035bringing in its wake the emergence of a multitude of electric, hybrid or hydrogen aircraft projects.
Olivier Savin is a pioneer in this field. As early as the 1990s, this Supaero graduate worked for Honeywell in the United States replacing the space shuttle’s fuel cell, but also on solar-powered aircraft projects. Back in France in the early 2000s, he joined the Dassault Aviation group, where he again led several hydrogen projects. An expertise that leads him to become President of the international working group on the standardization of fuel cell and hydrogen solutions.
Four seats, twelve engines and three hours of autonomy
In 2020, he left Dassault to create Blue Spirit Aero, a young company which has the ambition to fly a four-seater aircraft using only hydrogen by 2026.
The Blue Spirit Aero aircraft will have twelve engines distributed over the two wings of the aircraft (Credits: Blue Spirit Aero).
“My 25 years of experience allowed me to imagine the ideal aircraft. Instead of having a single electric motor powered by a large fuel cell that receives hydrogen, I preferred to distribute my power propulsion immediately in the form of twelve small motors dispatched to the two wings of the aircraft. This design reinforces the robustness of the device against failure. The aircraft can continue to fly with up to eight out of twelve engines failed. Then, the advantage of the fuel cell is to provide three times more energy than a battery. This will allow our device to fly 700 kilometers at 230 km/h with in other words nearly three hours of autonomy, which is much more than small electric planes powered by batteries,” explains Olivier Savin.
Another advantage of hydrogen over an electric system, he adds, ” the plane will not have to recharge on the electrical grid but will do so via a hydrogen refueling station, an operation that will take only 5 to 10 minutes”.
Digital twin and trials in Toulouse
Although its head office is located in the Paris region, the heart of Blue Spirit Aero’s development is managed from Toulouse. In the summer of 2021, the young company took up residence in the B612, a totem building for innovative aeronautical and space projects in the Pink City. Now, there are about fifteen of them imagining the future aircraft, half of whom are young graduates from Isae-Supaéro but also senior engineers who have worked for the big names in aeronautics and who bring their expertise to the project.
” The heart of the activity is the creation of a digital twin, in other words a completely faithful representation of the plane on computer. This is a computer work based on 3D models to translate aircraft behavior so as to validate a whole series of hypotheses. The other major activity carried out in Toulouse consisted in accompanying the demonstrations to come »says Olivier Savin.
Before the first flight of the future plane scheduled for the end of 2024, Blue Spirit Aero will test the different characteristics of the device. The company will fly its fuel cell on a Basque voltage plane Aéro Mécanic’s with the support of the Occitanie Region. ” The fuel cell will not participate in the operation of the plane but will be on board as a passenger to observe its behavior according to the severe maneuvers that the plane will undergo”describes the entrepreneur.
Tests are also carried out in the wind tunnel to characterize the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft’s wing. Finally, by the end of the year, Blue Spirit Aero should fly a reduced-scale model with a wingspan of three meters and remotely piloted via a partnership with the dronist Delair. The start-up has also forged links for its tests with the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and Onera. Dassault Systèmes software is used in particular for digital twins.
A strong need for renewal in flying clubs
It is near Toulouse that the future planes of Blue Spirit Aero will be manufactured. The company will integrate the future hydrogen campus which will be integrated into the heart of Francazal airport.
“This location will host our first production line to manufacture the demonstration aircraft. Then, we are expanding to have a production capacity of around ten aircraft per year in 2025 and reach up to 150 to 200 aircraft per year by 2030,” explains Olivier Savin.
Ambitious figures but which translate according to the founder of Blue Spirit Aero the strong demand to come for small more economical planes.
” Our four-seater plane is intended to contribute to the renewal of the fleet of planes that equip flying clubs. Of the 250,000 existing aircraft in this range, we estimate that there will be a need for renewal of 1,500 to 2,000 aircraft per year. They are aircraft who are on average 45 years old, they have been kept operational by patching them up as they go along. But today, it costs more to fly a plane than what it pays in terms of location.
There is also a need for new-generation aircraft, which do not rely on oil and which generate less noise pollution for local residents. And then there is a gigantic pilot deficit. Over the next 20 years, we must train 600,000 new pilots, flight schools are in the process of equipping themselves with dozens of planes to meet this need. »he completes.
Blue Spirit Aero is about to complete a first funding round with business angels and should complete with a fundraising in the first quarter of 2023.