A prototype of Natilus’ wing-body fusion “Kona” cargo plane is being tested in California as a quarter-scale model.

According to officials, the Kona is currently being built to full size and is planned to be the world’s largest commercial drone, with a wingspan of 85 feet (26 meters), designed to take off from runways as short as 800 meters, carry a 3.8-ton payload with fuel engines and have a range of 1,305 miles (1,667 kilometers). With a range of 1,035 miles (1,667 kilometers), it is expected to begin flying in 2024.

▲ Photo source Natilus official website

Nautilus claims that the aircraft, with its large internal capacity and lift-generating fuselage shape, will radically reduce the cost of flying cargo short distances, carrying 60 percent more cargo than a conventional aircraft of the same size, thereby reducing the cost per pound of cargo and cargo emissions by about half.

With Zeroavia joining the Kona aircraft development program, an additional zero-emissions version of the Kona aircraft will be added, and as part of the partnership, Zeroavia will offer a new version called the As part of the partnership, Zeroavia will provide a hydrogen-electric power system called the “ZA-600” (note: this means the power system is 600 kilowatts).

For clean flight, an aircraft with a hydrogen power system is lighter than current “purely electric” aircraft, but the hydrogen power system means it takes up more space, making it more suitable for such aircraft with “greater use of space” for wing-body fusion.

Zeroavia has already tested the power system on one side of a 19-seat Dornier 228, the largest hydrogen-powered aircraft to take off for the first time, and Zeroavia says it aims to have it certified and powered for clean commercial flight by 2025.

The post World’s largest commercial drone to fly in 2024: hydrogen-powered zero emissions appeared first on TechGoing.