Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer 2 electric aircraft will feature the Soteria whole aircraft recovery parachute made by Aviation Safety Resources (ASR). Under an agreement announced by the two U.S. companies on August 10, ASR will develop a version of the recovery system specifically for the two-seat aircraft, which has already logged numerous orders from flight-training organizations.
According to ASR, its ballistic parachutes can allow an aircraft to land safely from as low as just 100 feet. The system uses the company’s patent-pending Xtreme Rapid Deployment technology, with a two-stage deployment process with an “extraction rocket” that takes just 0.49 seconds to deploy the three recovery parachutes. According to the company, three smaller parachutes inflate faster than one large parachute and also deliver weight and volume savings.
For the eFlyer 2 application, the Soteria system will be manually deployed by a T-shaped handle on the aircraft’s dashboard. ASR president Larry Williams explained to FutureFlight that the handle will generally take between 30 to 70 pounds of force. As per the ASTM F3408 specification for an aircraft emergency parachute recovery system, this means it can be activated by a female pilot in the 10th percentile in terms of body strength.
ASR believes that its lightweight parachute recovery system is especially well-suited to the needs of new electric aircraft, including those intended to be used for so-called advanced air mobility applications. Its system is designed for aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of up to 3,800 pounds and will need to be “repacked” only every 15 years. The company says that rival equipment must be repacked more than twice as often.
Previously, Transcend Air has selected the ballistic parachute system developed by BRS Aerospace for its Vy 400 eVTOL aircraft. The use of parachute recovery systems for general aviation was pioneered by Cirrus for its light aircraft.
As of July 24, 2020, Bye Aerospace held deposit-backed reservations for 360 of the eFlyer 2 aircraft and also for the four-seat eFlyer 4. Most of the customers so far are flight schools.
