For the last year or so, Bye Aerospace has grown a burgeoning order book, with over 700 aircraft on call, but only one or two real-world examples flying. That’s changing now, with a new motor from Safran and Composites Universal Group (CUG) assembling an actual production eFlyer 2 fuselage. Parts of the video may seem like comparing apples and bananas, or even cumquats, with aircraft of different missions and levels of development (the Airbus eFan having left the building years ago), but several points of interest remain. Where are 92 kilowatt-hours of battery hiding in the 662 kilogram – 1,459 pound airframe (empty weight)? That’s equivalent to the energy of an early Tesla S and probably a significant chunk of the total aircraft weight. A New Motor Bye has been busy formulating the design of is two- and four-seat aircraft, dropping its original plan to bedeck its wings with solar panels, and running though a gamut of available power plants. …
