Tag: FAA certification

Faradair Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Aims to Fly by 2022

12 May 2019 || 3 min read

For the last five years, Faradair has been designing an 18-seat hybrid-electric aircraft at its headquarters in the UK. Just earlier this year at the Revolution.Aero Europe show, Faradair revealed its prototype and plans for the Bio Electric Hybrid Aircraft (BEHA). The company announced its intention to fly by 2022 and be to certified and ready for commercial operations by 2025. The...

Faradair Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Aims to Fly by 2022

12 May 2019 || 3 min read

For the last five years, Faradair has been designing an 18-seat hybrid-electric aircraft at its headquarters in the UK.

Just earlier this year at the Revolution.Aero Europe show, Faradair revealed its prototype and plans for the Bio Electric Hybrid Aircraft (BEHA). The company announced its intention to fly by 2022 and be to certified and ready for commercial operations by 2025. The aircraft is being designed for both passenger and cargo transport, and is capable of being transformed between the two arrangements in as short as 15 minutes. This is an important feature of the company’s prototype as they attempt to minimize the total time in transit for regional travel – it implies shorter turnaround times and enables passengers to board their flight with shorter average wait times.

The aircraft is also predicted to fill a gap in what current transportation systems are able to offer, as it plans to be a faster alternative to current methods, while being environmentally friendly and cost-effective. For example, London to Manchester could be flown in just 42 minutes at a cruise speed of 230mph – the fastest commercial alternative is a 1 hour and 8 minute transit.

In order to achieve an efficient and sustainable design, the Faradair engineers have employed a unique synthesis of design features. The hallmark is its patented ‘Triple Box Wing’ for high lift and Very Short Take-Off and Landing (VSTOL). Faradair’s BEHA will also feature an all-composite fuselage configuration, contra-rotating propfans with ducting designed for low noise and increased efficiency, and over 1000 nm range depending on the configuration. This will all come at a predicted price tag of $4 million for those looking to invest in the state-of-the-art technology.

For more technical specifications regarding the Faradair BEHA, visit their website.

Why it’s important: As the Faradair BEHA is a ‘VSTOL’ aircraft, it is still certifiable to existing Part23 FAA standards. More importantly, it is both able to operate from existing airfields and integrate within existing air networks. With its low barrier to entry into commercial operation, and its predicted edge on the existing transportation methods with regards to speed, the Faradair BEHA is a practical engineering solution that has a place in the sky.

Sources // Flying Mag; Faradair

Drone Package Delivery in the US: Google’s Wing is First

05 May 2019 || 3 min read

Alphabet’s Wing Aviation is the first company to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to operate as an airline for drone delivery in the United States. Alphabet, parent company of Google, took in Wing Aviation as an independent subsidiary as of July 2018. Since then, Wing has been closely working with FAA regulatory officials to submit evidence and demonstrate that...

Drone Package Delivery in the US: Google’s Wing is First

05 May 2019 || 3 min read

Wing has worked for six years to build a small, lightweight aircraft and navigational system that can safely deliver small packages on demand to specific destinations in only a few minutes. The company has since flown over 70,000 test flights, and more than 3,000 deliveries to doorsteps, driveways and backyards of customers in Australia. To achieve this, the aircraft employs a hover propellor used to reduce noise, wings designed for efficient horizontal flight, a retractable tether for raising and lowering packages, and many other technical features.

A Virginia family receives a delivery as part of a Wing test flight in conjunction with the FAA.

Throughout the testing, safety has been emphasized as Wing Aviation’s number one priority. Additionally, the company has highlighted other the potential for the air delivery service to bolster local business, minimize carbon emissions and relieve road congestion, all while maintaining community and customer privacy.

Wing Aviation has also been working closely with the Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program (UAS IPP), which was created by the FAA. They have utilized this working relationship with the FAA to also be allocated a flight testing area near Virginia Tech, where flights have been conducted since 2016. With its new Air Carrier Certification in hand, the company says it hopes to expand deliveries in southwest Virginia, recruiting businesses and potential customers in the Blacksburg and Christiansburg areas who want to try out the delivery system.

Why it’s important: In order to make low-altitude airspace viable for drone transit, Wing Aviation plans to continue working closely with regulators and the aviation community in general. For the time being, the Air Carrier Certification is an important step that will ultimately allow Wing to create air delivery services for communities in the United States. Their service is enabling busy consumers to focus more time on the things that matter by providing access to goods such as food or medicine.

Sources // Wing, JustHelicopters

OSM Aviation Academy Orders 60 Bye Aerospace eFlyers

21 April 2019 || 3 min read

Bye Aerospace is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Englewood, Colorado, and for the past 12 years has specialized in the design and manufacture of electric aircraft, including unmanned aircraft for geospatial role and light aircraft for the flight training role. CEO George E. Bye founded the company to apply electric configurations along with aerodynamic advances to “design, build and...

OSM Aviation Academy Orders 60 Bye Aerospace eFlyers

21 April 2019 || 3 min read

The centerpiece of Bye Aerospace’s recent innovative efforts is the eFlyer, an all-electric general aviation aircraft that will have zero CO2 emissions and drastically reduce operation costs due to the lack of need for fuel. The eFlyer has a two-seat and four-seat configuration which are both powered by a Siemens propulsion system. The eFlyer 2 began flight testing on February 8 at Denver Centennial Airport with the goal of being the first Part 23 FAA-certified all-electric aircraft to the flight training market. Check out the first flight of the eFlyer (previously named Sun Flyer) below:

In a recent interview documented by AINonline, CEO Bye stated that the “eFlyer’s primary markets [are] flight training and air-taxi services, [so] it makes more sense to make the price of the airplane as reasonable as possible.” This was after the announcement at Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany that solar cells would no longer be standard on the eFlyer wings.

It is evident that the Bye’s recent development and testing of the eFlyer has caught the eye of many operators, as nearly 300 orders have already been placed for the two-seat configuration. Up to 60 of the aircraft orders have come from Norwegian flight school OSM Aviation Academy, while another 18 orders have come from Norwegian partner Elfly AS. Elfly CEO Eric Lithun went as far as to say that the eFlyer will be the “Tesla of the general aviation industry.” OSM Aviation Academy is committed to the development and operation of more environmentally friendly transportation, and urges the airline industry to do the same.

Siemens and Bye Aerospace agree to collaborate on an all-electric propulsion system for the eFlyer [ Photo // Bye Aerospace ]

Why its important: While the Bye Aerospace eFlyer has a traditional aircraft configuration and is not capable of vertical takeoff and landing, its electric powerplant may enable shorter range flights with quicker turnaround times. In addition to flight training schools, Bye is targeting air-taxi operators as a potential customer of its new all-electric aircraft, where the company may have a competitive advantage to other electric-aircraft manufacturers if it succeeds in being the first Part 23 FAA-certified all-electric aircraft.

Sources // AINonline; Bye Aerospace

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Tag: FAA certification

Faradair Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Aims to Fly by 2022

Faradair Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Aims to Fly by 2022

For the last five years, Faradair has been designing an 18-seat hybrid-electric aircraft at its headquarters in the UK.

Drone Package Delivery in the US: Google’s Wing is First

Drone Package Delivery in the US: Google’s Wing is First

OSM Aviation Academy Orders 60 Bye Aerospace eFlyers

OSM Aviation Academy Orders 60 Bye Aerospace eFlyers

Faradair Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Aims to Fly by 2022

For the last five years, Faradair has been designing an 18-seat hybrid-electric aircraft at its headquarters in the UK.

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Drone Package Delivery in the US: Google’s Wing is First

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OSM Aviation Academy Orders 60 Bye Aerospace eFlyers

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