Apparatus, system and method for storage of hydrogen on board a hydrogen-fueled aircraft

An aircraft, the aircraft comprising:

• a) a fuselage, the fuselage defining a forward direction and an aft direction;
• b) a tail boom containing a fuel tank, the tail boom having a tail boom first end and a tail boom second end, the tail boom first end being attached to the fuselage, the tail boom second end extending in the aft direction from the fuselage, the tail boom second end supporting an empennage, a tail rotor, a propeller, a convertible thruster, a ducted fan or a vectored thruster, the fuel tank being configured to contain a pressurized hydrogen, wherein the fuel tank includes a fuel tank wall, the fuel tank wall being configured to contain the pressurized hydrogen and being in contact with the pressurized hydrogen during flight of the aircraft, the fuel tank wall being attached to the fuselage and being attached to the empennage, the tail rotor, the propeller, the convertible thruster, the ducted fan or the vectored thruster, the fuel tank wall having a configuration to support the tail boom second end and to support the empennage, the tail rotor, the propeller, the convertible thruster, the ducted fan or the vectored thruster;
• c) a main rotor or a propeller configured to provide aerodynamic lift to the aircraft or to propel the aircraft through the air;
• d) a fuel cell stack, the fuel cell stack being configured to use the pressurized hydrogen contained within the fuel tank to generate an electrical power;
• e) an electrical motor, the electrical motor being configured to rotate the main rotor or the propeller to generate aerodynamic lift, wherein the aircraft has an aircraft center of lift and the fuel tank having a fuel tank center of gravity, the fuel tank center of gravity being located aft of the aircraft center of lift, the aircraft center of lift and the fuel tank center of gravity having a spaced-apart relation such that the aircraft would not have an adequate control authority to maintain a coordinated flight when the fuel tank was full of a conventional liquid fuel, but that the aircraft would have the adequate control authority to maintain the coordinated flight when the fuel tank was both full of the pressurized hydrogen.