Cash-strapped hydrogen aircraft developer Apus Zero Emission remains upbeat on the prospects for its Apus i-2 aircraft as the search for new investors enters its second month.
A four-seat general aviation aircraft powered by twin fuel cell propulsion systems, the Apus i-2 was closing in on first flight when the company entered provisional administration in early March.
Court-appointed provisional administrator Sebastian Laboga described the firm as encountering a “financial bottleneck” due to pressures in the sector and lacking a “strong partner”.
Speaking at the Aero Hydrogen & Battery Summit in Friedrichshafen on 8 April, Philipp Schildt, head of propulsion system engineering at Apus, said that although the company “is not in the best situation at the moment”, it is “still very optimistic that we will find new finance and we will be able to get the Apus i-2 into the air”.
Work on the Apus i-2 continues in parallel with the search for a new investor – a process that needs to be concluded by early June.
Schildt says the company is “confident” that a new backer can be found, adding: “We are having some good conversations right now.”
Based in Strausberg near Berlin, the company has incorporated numerous technical innovations in the Apus i-2’s design, for instance using hydrogen storage tanks to form part of the wing structure, says Schildt.
Designed to deliver peak output of 135kW, the powertrain also incorporates small high-voltage battery packs to handle transient power demands and provide a boost at take-off “without over-currenting the fuel cell system”.
Tests of the battery packs were recently completed at the Strausberg site, including of the thermal protection system.
Roll-out of the completed prototype took place last autumn and was followed this year by ground runs in the hangar at full power.
Schildt says that if the company’s financial future can be secured, first flight could be achieved “somewhere this summer”.
“The aircraft can fly – we have proved it on the ground,” he says.
