But... Company Refuses To Enumerate How Many Hours And Flights Have Thus Far Been Conducted

Bye Aerospace tells ANN it has begun the next phase of its flight test program for its two-seat all-electric eFlyer 2 technology demonstrator... but not much else. When questioned about specifics of the flight test program to this date, asking specific questions about accumulated flight hours and number of flights, the company refused to answer.

George Bye, CEO of Bye Aerospace, said the flight test program is focused on collecting flight envelope engineering data for the three propellers being considered for the FAA-certified production version of eFlyer 2. The criteria for selecting the confidential propeller finalists included the propeller's light-weight requirement along with the propeller's aerodynamic design evaluated against the eFlyer 2's flight training mission.
 
"Data from these flight tests will help our engineering team determine the most efficient propeller that will maximize the overall efficiency for the typical flight training syllabus requirement," Bye said.

"The prototype Rolls Royce electric motor currently on the eFlyer 2 technology demonstrator has varying torque and a large RPM range with a relatively small size and cross-section compared to a conventional internal combustion engine. Therefore, more of the propeller length is available to provide thrust across a broad range of RPM. So we will be conducting flight tests with the various propellers over the summer against these beneficial and unique electric propulsion criteria."
 
In addition to return to flight testing, Bye said the Critical Design Review for eFlyer 2, a significant milestone in the FAA Part-23 certification process, was completed June 5.

FMI: www.ByeAerospace.com