Boeing Testing Ford Ranger Engines Running on Liquid Hydrogen

Boeing is currently testing a Ford Motor Co. turbo-charged 2.3 liter four-cylinder engines that has been modified to run on liquid hydrogen, two of which will eventually be fitted to the Phantom Eye.

At this point in the testing process, Boeing engineers have attached the power plant and a propeller to a test bed they call an iron wing. "It allows us all to run the engine as if it were sitting on the wing of the airplane," said Bill Norby, hydrogen systems manager for the Phantom Eye programme.

Engines like the ones on the Phantom Eye are used in Ford's Ranger and Fusion vehicles. The company began working on hydrogen fuel cells about the middle of last decade. Ford didn't have much to say about the Boeing programme or its role in pushing the envelope of aviation "We provided the engines to Boeing and they did the did the modifications," said company spokesman Richard Truett.

Source: Los Angeles Daily News