Bye Aerospace’s first electric plane takes off
Bye Aerospace, or better, Hi electric flying, as the start-up’s Sun Flyer 2 has successfully managed its maiden flight. The two-seater electric plane runs on Li-ion batteries by LG Chem and is said to be capable to stay airborne for up to 3.5 hours.
++ Kindly find an update of this article below. ++
The Bye Aerospace Sun Flyer 2 took off from Denver albeit for a short test flight. The testing programme is set up to gradually progress to increased speed, altitude and endurance capabilities.
Bye Aerospace aims at aviation trainees. Says George Bye, Founder and CEO of Bye Aerospace: “Lower operating costs are key to solving the student pilot drop-out rate, which is curtailing the successful attainment of badly needed airline pilots. The Sun Flyer 2’s $3 hourly operating costs are 10 times lower than traditional piston-engine flight trainers, with no carbon emissions and significantly reduced noise.”
The battery system as a whole has been provided by EP Systems with battery cells from LG Chem with a 260 Wh/kg energy density. Also Bye Aerospace will soon announce who its electric motor partner will be for the family of FAA-certified Sun Flyer aircraft, and also hopes to launch and ultimately certify the 4-seater version of the Sun Flyer as well.
Update 16.02.2019: Bye Aerospace has announced the engine partner for its Sun Flyer 2 electric aircraft: Siemens will supply electric motors with a continuous output of up to 70 kW and a peak output of 90 kW. The first official test flight with the Siemens engine was completed on February 8, 2019.
0 Comments