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Hydrogen has powered aircraft since the 1950s

Hydrogen has powered aircraft since the 1950s, demonstrating its potential as an aviation fuel for several decades. One of the earliest instances was the U.S. Air Force's experiment with the Martin B-57 Canberra, which used liquid hydrogen as a fuel in 1956. The initial attempts were unsuccessful, but the Air Force did eventually complete successful test runs of the aircraft. The project was eventually abandoned because it was deemed unnecessary.1

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Footnotes​

  1. Finlay, M. (2022, March 5). How The Martin B-57B Made Hydrogen-Powered Flights In The 1950s. Simple Flying. https://simpleflying.com/martin-b-57b-hydrogen-powered-flights-1950s/ ↩