UK flight school Skyborne Airline Academy has ordered six of Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer 2 fixed-wing electric aircraft and four of the larger eFlyer 4 model. The deal, announced on July 24, took the total number of deposit-backed reservations for the aircraft to 360.
Denver-based Bye Aerospace is working to certify the eFlyers under the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s FAR Part 23 rules. First deliveries of the two-seat eFlyer 2 are anticipated in late 2021, with the first of the four-seat eFlyer 4s to follow by the end of 2022.
According to Skyborne Airline Academy CEO Lee Woodward, the Gloucestershire-based company chose the eFlyers in an effort to reduce carbon emissions from its flight training activity. He added that he also expects the trainers to be more economical to operate than gasoline-fueled light aircraft.
Bye has pledged that the eFlyers will deliver a five-fold improvement in operating costs. Based on the number of aircraft already on order with several other flight training organizations, it also claims that use of the aircraft will eliminate the release of around five million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
The eFlyers are powered by a single 120-hp electric motor with power stored in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Bye is working with UK company Oxis Energy to develop more efficient lithium-sulfur batteries as a replacement.
The eFlyer’s cockpit is fitted with Garmin’s G3X touchscreen avionics suite. Bye also expects the aircraft to be used for air taxi operations.
