The all-electric pilot-training aircraft is powered by a Safran ENGINeUS motor.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted US start-up Bye Aerospace an approval allowing it to begin flight testing its two-seat all-electric eFlyer 2, an aircraft marketed for pilot training.
Bye said on 9 September that the regulator granted a special airworthiness certificate to its first eFlyer 2 following an inspection of that aircraft at the company’s Centennial airport facility near Denver.
Receiving that document “represents a significant step toward first flight, confirming the aircraft is airworthy and authorised to begin flight testing”, Bye says. “The FAA meticulously reviewed eFlyer 2’s airframe, electric propulsion system, instruments and other functional systems to confirm the aircraft’s safety for operation.”
Bye is “now focused on final aircraft inspections, operational readiness activities and is preparing to launch a phased flight-test programme,” it adds.
The company says it expects to complete the first flight “soon” but is not more specific.
Bye has been working on the aircraft for years, having submitted a design and certification plan for the aircraft to the FAA in 2018. It then flew a proof-of-concept demonstrator some 100 times.
The two-seater will compete with traditional pilot-training aircraft like Cessna 172s and Piper Archers, and with new all-electric types like Textron-owned Pipistrel’s already certificated Velis Electro and Czech firm BRM Aero’s in-development Bristell B23 Energic.
The eFlyer 2’s power comes from a 125kW (167hp) Safran ENGINeUS 100B1 electric motor – a powerplant already certificated in Europe. Bye has said it aims for the eFlyer 2 to have 2h of flight endurance, plus a 30min reserve.
The firm’s chief executive Roderick Zastrow previously told FlightGlobal that two possible certification pathways exist for the eFlyer 2.
One is approval under Amendment 64 of FAA Part 23 rules, which apply to aircraft with 19 or fewer seats and maximum gross take-off weights not exceeding 8,618kg (19,000lb). The FAA finalised Amendment 64, which replaced prescriptive rules with performance-based standards, in 2016 to streamline small-aircraft certifications.
But another option is now available: certification under the FAA’s new Part 22 rule for “light-sport aircraft”, which took effect on 24 July and allows manufacturers to themselves confirm that their designs meet regulatory requirements.
Under Part 22, manufacturers can “certify the aircraft organically and make a statement of certification”, Zastrow said.
The post Bye Aerospace steps closer to eFlyer 2 first flight with FAA approval first appeared on FlightGlobal.