eFlight Journal 02-2020

Cover News Story
Bye Aerospace received 10 million USD new investment
Bye Aerospace, developer of the all-electric eFlyer family
of FAA Part 23-certified aircraft, announced completion
of a $5 million strategic investment by a venture capital
group earlier this year. The successful investment was
soon followed by the completion of a $5 million venture
raise. Bye noted that although the two financial transactions
successfully closed during coronavirus restrictions,
much of the due diligence and planning was completed
before the Covid-19 pandemic escalated. George E.
Bye, CEO, of Bye Aerospace, said the investments have
allowed Bye Aerospace to begin work on “Serial #001,”
the first production-conforming prototype of its two-seat
eFlyer 2 aircraft. Chrysanthe Gussis, a Bay Area green
tech investor, finance expert and a member of Bye Aerospace’s
strategic advisory board, said, “Electric flight
is the future of air travel, and even more so now following
the coronavirus outbreak, especially as the demand
for affordable, smaller, greener aircraft increases. We
are seeing more investors recognize the vision of Bye
Aerospace as a leader in this sector.” Previously, in late
2018 Bye Aerospace completed a major investment by
SUBARU-SBI Innovation Fund.
Former Airbus Vahana team members founded eSTOL project
The former chief strategy
officer of Airbus Vahana
eVTOL demonstrator
project, Marc
Ausman, led four core
technical members of
the Vahana project to
establish an electric aircraft
startup company
named “Airflow”. It
is an electric short-distance
take-off and landing
model (eSTOL). The
goal is to target the urban air transportation market, including
logistics and passenger transportation. The design
specifications of the aircraft are single pilot, 500
pounds’ payload (227 kg), 150 feet take-off and landing
distance (45 meters), 250 miles range (400 kilometers),
90 cubic feet of cargo space (2.5 cubic meters).The com-
pany will utilize three key technologies: electric distributed
propulsion (DEP) to significantly reduce the takeoff
and landing distance, computer-aided flight control
to reduce the work load of the pilot, and fleet management
system.
10 e Flight Journal
2 / 2020