Story ID: 
Bye Aerospace eFlyer Approaches 300 Orders
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: The orderbook is growing as Bye Aerospace rebrands the Sun Flyer line to the eFlyer and begins flight tests.
Word Count: 277
Bye Aerospace, which rebranded its Sun Flyer electric aircraft line to eFlyer, is now nearing 300 commitments for the family with a recent agreement from Norwegian flight school OSM Aviation Academy for up to 60 two-place eFlyer 2s. The Denver-based company unveiled the eFlyer brand during last week’s Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany to better reflect the aircraft’s all-electric propulsion system, said company founder and CEO George Bye.

“We originally thought solar cells would be standard on the airplane’s wings,” Bye said. “However, with eFlyer’s primary markets being flight training and air-taxi services, it makes more sense to make the price of the airplane as reasonable as possible.”

Powered by a Siemens propulsion system, including a 57-pound SP70D electric motor with 90kW peak rating (120 hp) and continuous power setting of up to 70kW (94 hp), the eFlyer 2 began flight testing on February 8 at Denver Centennial Airport. Bye Aerospace is hoping to bring the first Part 23 FAA-certified all-electric aircraft to the flight training market.

“It is important that the airline industry steps up to the challenge of developing more environmentally friendly transportation," said OSM CEO Espen Høiby, in announcing the agreement with Bye Aerospace.

Norwegian partner Elfly AS also placed 10 new eFlyer deposits, boosting its tally for eFlyers to 18. Elfly CEO Eric Lithun called the new family a “game changer of aviation for small airplanes. The Bye Aerospace eFlyer will be the Tesla of the general aviation industry.”

Along with the SP70D motor, Bye Aerospace is fitting the aircraft with the G3X integrated flight display. Complementing the eFlyer 2 is the four-place eFlyer 4.