for the PA-890. Modifications for the CoAX 2D will include removing the piston engine and replacing it with an electrical propulsion system while finding room for all the fuel cells and tanks. While retrofitting an existing aircraft with hydrogen fuel


cells will always present integration constraints, Piasecki will have more flexibility to optimize the results when designing the PA-890 to use hydrogen from the outset. Key design issues to be addressed are fuel cell integration, thermal management, tankage, and carriage and storage of hydrogen on board.


Meeting Market Demands John Piasecki and his brother Fred, the company’s chairman and chief technology officer, are following in the footsteps of their father, Frank, who founded Piasecki Helicopter Corp. in the 1940s (see “Founding Father,” p. 44). In 1960, Boeing bought Piasecki Helicopter, which at that point went by the name Vertol Corp. Frank Piasecki continued on an indepen- dent path to research and develop advanced rotorcraft technology, founding Piasecki Aircraft Corp. Today, John manages Piasecki Aircraft’s strategy, programs,


and business aspects while Fred heads engineering devel- opment, fabrication, ground and flight testing, and airwor- thiness certification. “[Our father] was always a forward-looking man, and he


let the customer, or the need, drive the solution,” says John, who notes that the evolution of the hydrogen-powered helicopter is similar to that of the piston-powered helicopter. “Te development of the tandem helicopter was critical


because it took what little power was available for the weight of a piston engine and made the most of it,” he says. “Te efficiency of tandem rotors then opened the door for broader helicopter operations. “Single-rotor helicopters were, in many respects, saved


by the turbine engine, which provides ample power in a small weight budget. Te problem is, turbine engines are expensive to operate, [which] has limited vertical lift to [more expensive] niche markets that can afford them,” John adds. “Frank Piasecki would say that electrification and hydrogen


fuel cell propulsion can address the fundamental issue of cost—that is, getting the cost of vertical flight down so more people can use it.”


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