Bye Aerospace has has expanded its engineering and operations departments to a larger hangar at Centennial Airport near Denver, Colorado.
The new hangar will house Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer and StratoAirNet prototypes and has space for assembling future prototypes. In addition, the facility houses the engineering and operations team for the eFlyer program.
The 2-seat eFlyer 2, which was formerly known as the Sun Flyer, is currently undergoing a flight test and certification program. Bye aims for the aircraft to be the first FAA Part 23-certified electric training airplane in the world.
The company received venture capital funding last November and has double the number of employees compared to a year ago.
George E Bye, CEO and founder of Bye Aerospace, said, “2018 was the breakout year for Bye Aerospace, and this year we are focused on flight testing and certification efforts for eFlyer 2.
“The prototype eFlyer 2 that flew for the first time with the new Siemens electric propulsion motor in February will be completing the initial phase of flight tests soon. Then, the airplane will be upgraded to the final production version of the motor that will also go on the future FAA-certified production-conforming versions of the eFlyer 2.”
Bye added that the eFlyer, equipped with the current Siemens motor, has completed a dozen successful flight tests, validating predicted flight efficiency and energy use since its initial flight a few weeks ago.
