Bye Aerospace

Bye Aerospace
Privately held company
Industry Aerospace
Founder George E. Bye
Headquarters Englewood, Colorado, United States
Key people
 CEO: George E. Bye
President: Charlie Johnson
Products Electric aircraft
Subsidiaries Aero Electric Aircraft Corporation
Website www.byeaerospace.com

Bye Aerospace is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Englewood, Colorado. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of electric aircraft, including unmanned aircraft for geospatial role and light aircraft for the flight training role.[1] The company was founded by George E. Bye, who remains the CEO. Charlie Johnson is the president.[2]

History

In July 2010, Cessna developed a proof-of-concept electrically powered Cessna 172 in partnership with Bye Energy.[3] Bye Energy changed its name to Beyond Aviation at the time that the prototype commenced taxi tests in July 2011.[4] The aircraft first flew in 2012.[5] The R&D project was not pursued for production and the company is currently dormant.[6]

The company developed the Bye Aerospace "Sun Flyer", a modified PC-Aero Elektra One, as a prototype electric aircraft in 2015.[7][8]

The development of the Sun Flyer 2 was originally carried out by a Bye Aerospace subsidiary, called the Aero Electric Aircraft Corporation.[9][10] As of March 2018, it was being merged into the parent company.

Bye Aerospace Sun Flyer 2 prototype

The company is developing the Sun Flyer 2, a two-seat electric-powered aircraft for the flight training role, the prototype for which was delivered in 2016, and first flown on 10 April 2018. The derivative Sun Flyer 4 is a four-seat design, yet to be completed. Both aircraft are low-wing designs, with bubble canopies, made from composite materials, predominately carbon fibre. Both are powered by lithium-ion batteries.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

The launch customer for both the Sun Flyer 2 and 4 is the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology which will employ both for flight training.[15][16] By September 2018, the company had 130 deposits for the two-seat Sun Flyer 2 and 27 deposits for the larger, four-seat Sun Flyer 4.[11]

On July 31, 2018, Bye Aerospace flew a piloted prototype of its solar-powered unmanned StratoAirNet and manned Solesa from the Northern Colorado Regional Airport. Based on a carbon fiber composite competition sailplane, it has a 15 m (49.2 ft) wing span and thin-film photovoltaic cells from SolAero Technologies. The low-cost, long-endurance commercial and government surveillance aircraft could be used for patrol, mapping, precision agriculture or search-and-rescue and has low infrared and acoustic signatures.[18]

Also under development, in conjunction with the XTI Aircraft Company, is the TriFan 600, a hybrid-electric VTOL business aircraft. Previously, the company developed the Silent Falcon UAV for Silent Falcon UAS Technologies.

Aircraft

Summary of aircraft built by Bye Aerospace:

References

  1. ↑ Bye Aerospace. "Contact". byeaerospace.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Bye Aerospace. "About". byeaerospace.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Grady, Mary (October 2010). "Electric 172 May Fly Early Next Year". AVweb. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  4. ↑ Grady, Mary (July 2011). "Electric Cessna 172 Starts Taxi Tests". AVweb. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  5. ↑ "Electric Cessna Makes Multiple Flights on Lithium Batteries". evworld.com. 19 Oct 2012.
  6. ↑ "Beyond Aviation Archive Project". www.beyond-aviation.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  7. ↑ William Garvey (Apr 1, 2015). "Questions for George Bye". Aviation Week Network.
  8. ↑ "AEAC's Sun Flyer Aims to Be The Next Generation Flight Training Aircraft". AviationPros. Jul 16, 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Sun Flyer Promises Three-Hour Flight Time". AvWeb. July 23, 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Sun Flyer Proof-Of-Concept Model Rolls Out". AvWeb. May 11, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Bye Aerospace. "Projects". byeaerospace.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "Sun Flyer Prototype Readying For Final Tests". avweb.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "Sun Flyer Prototype On Assembly Line". avweb.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  14. ↑ Kauh, Elaine (17 November 2016). "Sun Flyer Begins Ground, Taxi Tests". AVweb. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  15. 1 2 Huber, Mark (July 26, 2017). "Electric Sun Flyer Plans Fall First Flight". AIN Online. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  16. 1 2 Cobb, Alyssa J. (July 24, 2017). "Four-Seat Sun Flyer in the Works". AOPA. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  17. ↑ Grady, Mary (11 April 2018). "First Flight For Sun Flyer 2". AVweb. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  18. ↑ Graham Warwick (Aug 27, 2018). "The Week In Technology, Sept. 3-7, 2018". Aviation Week & Space Technology.
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