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Bye Aerospace has started building series production examples of its two-seat, all-electric <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/aircraft-program/eflyer">eFlyer 2</a> aircraft. The U.S. company said that the first three production aircraft will be used to support the completion of the final stages of FAA Part 23 type certification.
On January 26, Colorado-based Bye Aerospace also announced that it has signed a contract with Composites Universal Group covering assembly of the eFlyer 2’s fuselage. The Oregon-based company has more than 26 years of experience in making components and assemblies for experimental aircraft, as well as for a wide variety of aerospace, transportation, marine, and industrial products. It made the fuselage for Airbus’s Vahana eVTOL technology demonstrator and is also involved in manufacturing unmanned aircraft.
Bye said it expects&nbsp;to complete type certification by the end of 2022, with approval for the four-seat eFlyer 4 aircraft to follow around 12 months later. However, during this week’s Vertical Flight Society Electric VTOL Symposium, Jay Merkle, executive director of the FAA’s UAS Integration Office, indicated that some new electric aircraft may achieve certification before the end of 2021. The front runners are likely to include fixed-wing designs that can be certificated under existing rules, such as Part 23.
“We continue to make advances in the certification process,” said Bye Aerospace CEO George Bye. “These activities commence production of the first conforming eFlyer 2, the first of three conforming eFlyer 2 aircraft that will be used to help complete final FAA certification.”
According to Bye, the company has completed the critical design review and is now completing agreements for system-specific certification plans with FAA officials. He said that plans for high-rate production ramp-up will be announced later this year, with final assembly to be conducted at its headquarters near Denver.&nbsp;
The eFlyer 2 is primarily intended for applications such as flight training. Bye has purchase agreements covering more than 700 of the aircraft, which will be powered by Safran’s ENGINeUS 100 electric motors, which will be certified under FAA's Part 33 rules.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

Bye Starts Production for eFlyer Electric Aircraft, Closing in on FAA Certification

South Korea's Aerospace9 group and U.S. electric aircraft pioneer Bye Aerospace have signed a strategic partnership that includes an undisclosed investment by the Seoul-based company and a purchase agreement covering 300 aircraft, nearly doubling Bye's order book in the process. Aerospace9 has agreed to acquire 150 of Bye's two-seat eFlyer2s, plus 148 of the four-seat eFlyer4s, as well as a couple of a new larger model called the Envoy.&nbsp;It&nbsp;also holds options for a further 100 unspecified aircraft.
Bye has said very little about the Envoy, apart from that it will be powered by two electric motors and will seat up to nine people. In a statement on November 2, the Colorado-based company said that it intends to make a further announcement about the Envoy soon.&nbsp;
"We are finishing agreements with several key tier one suppliers and initial customers, but expect a public announcement to launch Envoy before year-end," Bye Aerospace CEO George Bye told&nbsp;FutureFlight.
The role that&nbsp;Aerospace9 will play in Bye's future is very unclear and the new company was recently founded by information technology entrepreneur Seunghyuk Cha. The company, which claims to be "building a team of highly experienced aerospace veterans," has not said what it intends to do with the 300 aircraft it now has on order. According to Bye's statement, "Aerospace9 will challenge the new-generation aviation industry based on information technology as it develops and sells various industry products to Asian markets."
Bye is in the process of obtaining FAA certification for both the eFlyer aircraft, which are intended for a variety of roles including flight training, air taxi service, and personal use. The company now holds commitments for a total of 711 aircraft, with other prospective customers including Quantum XYZ, FlexAir, OSM Aviation Academy and Skyborne Airline Academy.
Flight testing and engineering work for the eFlyer program has been somewhat disrupted by Covid-19 complications. Bye now estimates that the process will be complete with FAA by the end of 2022.
As part of its claimed value proposition, Bye says its aircraft will deliver&nbsp;offer five-fold savings in terms of&nbsp;operating costs, no carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and significantly decreased noise. The company noted that the eFlyer family has the potential to eliminate millions of metric tons of CO2 emissions generated each year by flight training operations alone. 
“This investment is not just a purchase contract, it is a very meaningful contract that creates an amazing opportunity for Asia,” explained Aerospace9 chairman Seunghyuk Cha. “Our company has a very important responsibility in the aviation industry as a new strategic partner of Bye Aerospace.”
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Senior Editor

Curt Epstein

Korean Company Invests in Bye Aerospace and New Envoy Aircraft

UK flight school Skyborne Airline Academy has ordered six of Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer 2 fixed-wing electric aircraft and four of the larger eFlyer 4 model. The deal, announced on July 24, took the total number of deposit-backed reservations for the aircraft to 360.
Denver-based Bye Aerospace is working to certify&nbsp;the eFlyers under the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s FAR Part 23 rules. First deliveries of the two-seat eFlyer 2 are anticipated in late 2021, with the first of the four-seat eFlyer 4s to follow by the end of 2022.
According to Skyborne Airline Academy CEO Lee Woodward, the Gloucestershire-based company chose the eFlyers in an&nbsp;effort to reduce carbon emissions from its flight training activity. He added that he also expects the trainers to be more economical to operate than gasoline-fueled light aircraft.
Bye has pledged that the eFlyers will deliver a five-fold improvement in operating costs. Based on the number of aircraft already on order with several other flight training organizations, it also claims that use of the aircraft will eliminate the release of around five million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. 
The eFlyers are powered by a single 120-hp electric motor with power stored in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Bye is working with UK company Oxis Energy to develop more efficient lithium-sulfur batteries as a replacement.
The eFlyer’s cockpit is fitted with Garmin’s G3X touchscreen avionics suite. Bye also expects the aircraft to be used for air taxi operations.

UK Flight School Takes Order Book for Bye's eFlyer Family to 360 Units

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Bye Aerospace aims to have its two-seat eFlyer all-electric aircraft ready to enter service in 2021, followed by the four-seat eFlyer 4. 

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Mark Huber

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

Bye Aerospace

News

Bye Starts Production for eFlyer Electric Aircraft, Closing in on FAA Certification

Korean Company Invests in Bye Aerospace and New Envoy Aircraft

UK Flight School Takes Order Book for Bye's eFlyer Family to 360 Units

Electric Aircraft Maker Bye Raises $10M for eFlyers

Quantum Air Orders Bye eFlyers for LA-based Air-taxi Ops

Bye Aero Racks Up Commitments for All-electric eFlyer

Bye and BlackBird Agree on Electric Airplane Buy

Bye Aerospace Sun Flyer Targets Charter Market

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