Oshkosh og el. treningsfly - AIN

Bye Aero Racks Up Commitments for All-electric eFlyer

Bye Aerospace said yesterday at EAA AirVenture that it has received 624 “customer commitments” for its series of all-electric eFlyer training aircraft: 170 deposits, 318 memoranda of understanding (MOUs), and 136 MOU options. Major new orders include a commitment for 60 eFlyer2 two-seat aircraft from Norway’s OSM Group and 100 eFlyer4 models from BlackBird air taxi.

CEO George Bye said that the company’s technology demonstrator aircraft recently began flying with a 20 percent more powerful Rolls-Royce Siemens SB70 V10 motor that can deliver speeds of up to 90 knots while consuming 35 kilowatts of power and the ability to carry 450 pounds of passenger payload for flight durations up to three hours. Other planned aircraft features include a new three-blade propeller, Garmin G3X avionics, and a BRS emergency parachute system. 

According to Bye, the market for both the two-seat eFlyer2 and larger eFlyer4 could be up to 60,000 units, though the company had set a target of 20,000 aircraft. Direct operating costs for both aircraft were $23 and $30 per hour, respectively.

He said the company is focused on selling into the aircraft training market where much of the fleet is populated by aircraft that are 50 years old and the cost of training—more than $150,000 for airline pilot candidates—discourages many students. “Pilot training is our top priority,” Bye said.