Bye Aerospace electric training plane completes first test flight

Bye Aerospace's two-seat electric trainer, the eFlyer 2, completed its first test flight near Denver, moving the full-scale prototype into flight testing. The company said the five-minute flight let its pilot begin evaluating handling, aerodynamics and system performance. The aircraft uses a 125-kilowatt motor and a battery pack of roughly 90 kilowatt-hours. Bye Aerospace says the plane could cut flight-training costs by as much as 80% compared with combustion-engine trainers, but the initial flight did not establish that saving. The company projects endurance of over two hours and charging in under 30 minutes. Certification and customer deliveries remain ahead; its earlier target of certification by the end of 2022 has already passed.