back to article US Army funds hydrogen-fuelled drone aircraft

Fuelled by a seemingly inexhaustible stream of federal military/security research cash, the US flying-robot industry seems to produce fresh wonders every day. We've seen Terminator-esque Flying HKs, droid gunships, and self-piloting special-forces whisper-copters. Today's robot-related news reveals yet another new twist: the …

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  1. david wilson

    Problems of hydrogen boiling off?

    Presumably, the fuel consumption with an aircraft like this is pretty constant, except maybe when taking off?

    It could be fuelled immediately before take-off, and as long as its fuel consumption when cruising was higher than the natural boil-off rate, there wouldn't *be* much of a problem.

    It's not like having a hydrogen-powered car, where having the fuel boil off in under a week would rather be a drawback, if not a bit of a safety issue.

  2. Remy Redert

    Fuel consumption

    It does seem obvious that, between the low temperature and pressure and the aircraft's fuel consumption, boil-off shouldn't be a problem, since hydrogen gas will rise to the top of the tank where you would be drawing hydrogen from the in the first place, using the hottest material first since it's easiest to burn.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not much

    Boys and their toys!

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