Future Flight: Electric flight training aircraft?
Bye Aerospace may be first to gain FAA certification
The company is pursuing FAA certification of the two-seater for flight training, and the four-seat version with air taxi service in mind. The two-seat eFlyer 2 will come equipped with a full complement of Garmin’s G3X Touch avionics. The package includes VFR and IFR capability, an ADAHRS (air data, attitude, and heading reference system), GPS, transponders, and standby instruments.
“Bye Aerospace continues to mature the integration of the G3X avionics with the next-generation instrument panel and electric propulsion system displays for the eFlyer 2,” said George Bye. “We are working closely with Garmin to produce the safest, most reliable, and most innovative electric pilot training aircraft ever produced.”
Bye noted that the company expects the current list of 711 eFlyer purchase agreements will continue to grow, “and we must continue forward at a high-tempo pace to meet the demands of aviation enthusiasts worldwide who have been waiting years for all-electric airplanes to come to market.”
Bye hopes to be the first to achieve FAA certification of an electric aircraft, a development that will reduce carbon emissions from the aircraft to zero and cut hourly operating costs dramatically. The company revealed its airframe parachute selection in August 2020, after announcing in July that venture capital investment is in place to complete the eFlyer 2 production-conforming prototype.
