Aviation H2 opens to investors with promise of first hydrogen-fuelled plane in 18 months

Australian-owned hydrogen aviation aspirant Aviation H2 has opened to investors this week with an aim to raise initial capital of $300,000 to fund lead engineer and company director Dr Helmut Mayer’s goal of seeing the company’s first hydrogen-powered plane in the sky in the next 18 months.

Industrial design engineer Mayer was brought on board late last year when Aviation H2 engaged a team of engineers led by Mayer and brother Christof Mayer, who together say they have 60 years of combined experience in large-scale machine design for industrial purposes.

At the time that the brothers Mayer were contracted by Aviation H2, Dr Mayer was said to believe “a carbon-free aircraft can be in the air in the next 18 months by modifying existing aeroplanes to be powered by hydrogen-based technologies, which are already transforming the motor vehicle industry.”

Fast-forward three months, and Aviation H2 has taken the next step towards launching a hydrogen-fuelled plane, as it opened to investors through the online trading platform VCEX.

According to the company’s press release, Aviation H2 engineers are comparing design approaches based on reliability, environmental impact, efficiency, and weight. Once initial tests are completed in March, the team will then present their recommendation on the most commercially viable model to begin constructing a prototype.

Despite the lack of immediate specifics – either published, or seemingly in-house – Dr Helmut Mayer nevertheless believes that the company will have its first plane in the sky in the next 18 months.

“We have commenced our journey by evaluating all of the existing technologies available to us and taking a close look at the uncertainties and what risks and opportunities these present,” he said. “This will give us sound information for making decisions into the next phase of the project.”