The Aero Electric Sun Flyer Rolls Out In Denver

On Wednesday, May 11, at Centennial Airport in Denver, Colorado, Aero Electric Aircraft Corporation (AEAC) rolled out its proof-of-concept Sun Flyer electric airplane. The plane is a very sleek and pretty-looking two-seat, side-by-side, tricycle-gear model intended expressly for the training market. The ceremony was attended by a number of aviation figures who are central to the drive to put electrics into the training environment. George Bye, founder of AEAC, was joined by company president Charlie Johnson and Peter Harris, CEO of Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, which announced an order for an additional five Sun Flyers, bringing its total to 25 for the school. Jerry Gregoire of Redbird Flight, was there, as well. Redbird is developing the training syllabus for the Sun Flyer.

The airplane that AEAC rolled out is merely a proof-of-concept model, one that the company, said Bye, will use to develop a conforming prototype for FAA certification. In the world of piston-powered flight, the proof-of-concept phase typically would signal a three- or four-year lead-in to certification if all goes well. But with this program, there are two big wild cards. The first is that the FAA has never granted type or production certification to an electric airplane before. The other big unknown is that the Part 23 rewrite is working its way through the FAA's channels as we speak, and the current form of the proposed regulations would allow for easier certification, in general, and with special acknowledgment of the need not to penalize developers who try out-of-the-box solutions, like electric power.

Regardless of what winds up happening, even the skeptics would agree that at least something is happening. We'll start angling for the first flight.

Learn more at SunFlyer.com.