This article is within the scope of the Aviation WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see lists of open tasks and task forces. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.AviationWikipedia:WikiProject AviationTemplate:WikiProject Aviationaviation articles
This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
I'd like to request some edits as I have updated our current Bye Aerospace (BA) and Sun Flyer websites to reflect new pricing, specs, etc. This will be quite a hefty make-over as a lot of the current content is outdated. A few things to note are this: the Sun Flyer program is no longer run by the AEAC (Aero Electric Aircraft Corporation), as the two companies (Bye Aerospace and AEAC) are merging currently and we want to reflect this merge honestly. There has been no media of the merge, but all information on the AEAC have been removed from both the Bye Aerospace and the Sun Flyer website. A mention of this is listed here https://www.byeaerospace.com/projects/ in the first paragraph.
Also, some information that I've noticed is out-of-date is that under Operators there is Bloomington Corporation. I know this information is cited, but that organization actually does not hold 30 deposits and my CEO doesn't know why that was even published. I can't remove it without a cite, but I can truly say that information is false and needs to be removed.
Done AVweb doesn't always get everything right. If you say they don't, then that is good enough for me to remove it. - Ahunt (talk) 16:50, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Alrighty, here are the edits that I would like to make:
-"...under development by Bye Aerospace, Inc. of Denver, Colorado." instead of "...under development by Aero Electric Aircraft Corporation." (https://www.byeaerospace.com/projects/)
-"...intended to be certified under FAR 23 and..." instead of "...intended to be certified in the Primary Category and..." (https://www.byeaerospace.com/projects/)
-"Role: Electric Training Aircraft" instead of "Electric aircraft" (https://www.byeaerospace.com/ under LEADER AND INNOVATOR OF SOLAR ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT)
-"...powered by up to six lithium ion battery packs." instead of "...powered by up to five quick-change Lithium-Ion battery packs." (http://sunflyer.com/specifications/)
Another thing that I'd like to edit but I cannot cite is "The wings mount solar cells for in-flight recharging of the batteries and that will be able to provide about 15-20% of low-power cruise power requirements.". That sentence is actually deemed untrue by our CEO. The Sun Flyer is not a solar-electric airplane, it is strictly electric. Our UAV, StratoAirNet, has solar cells on the wings but the Sun Flyer was not configured that way nor do we want those interested in learning more about our Sun Flyer to think this is true. How can I go about removing this?
Done That was from AVweb as well, Perhaps they confused the Sun Flyer and UAV models? No probme, I have removed it. - Ahunt (talk) 17:09, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
-"...aircraft has a gross weight of 1,900 lbs (864 kg)." instead of "...aircraft has a gross weight of 2,700 lb (1,200 kg)." (http://sunflyer.com/specifications/)
-"..take-off noise profile is expected to be much less than conventional combustion training aircraft, such as the Cessna 172." instead of "... take-off noise profile is expected to be 55 dB." (http://sunflyer.com/specifications/ in Environmentally Friendly image slide in slideshow)
-"In March 2018 the company had 105 deposits for the Sun Flyer 2, and 16 deposits for the larger Sun Flyer 4" instead of "In April 2016 the company had 65 deposits for the aircraft." (https://www.byeaerospace.com/projects/)
-"Powerplant: 1 x electric motor with six lithium ion battery packs" instead of "Powerplant: 1 x electric motor with up to five lithium-ion battery packs." (http://sunflyer.com/specifications/)
That's it! One thing I'm also curious about adding is a section about the newer Sun Flyer 4. It is mentioned some in the information that I've added but I think it would be a good idea to have a section on both versions of the aircraft. Beekachu (talk) 16:12, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for all your work listing this here and getting the refs all set up like that. I'll tackle the changes one at a time and check them off above as each one is done. I'll drop a note here at the bottom when they are all done, too.
As far as the Sun Flyer 4 goes, since this will be a bigger, four-seat design, I think we should have a new page on it. Do we have refs for the specs? - Ahunt (talk) 16:42, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Okay I think I fixed everything you asked for there and updated the refs. Let me know if I missed anything. I found the refs for the Sun Flyer 4, so I will write a fresh article about that later on today. I'll put a link in this article and a note here when it is done. Thanks for getting all the specs posted on the company website, that was the biggest thing we needed! - Ahunt (talk) 17:19, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you so much, Ahunt!! I appreciate your help immensely. And yes, a fresh article would be best. Please let me know if you think any more information would help on the Sun Flyer 4 page and I'll see of getting them for you! - Beekachu (talk) 17:25, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
The only thing I noticed that needs to be fixed is under Design and Development it still says three-hour duration when it should be 3.5. Otherwise, that's it! - Beekachu (talk) 17:28, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I'll fix that! Okay, glad that looks good otherwise. Let me know if anything needs updating. You can alsways post news here as things change (first flight, certification, performance updates, new customers, etc) and I'll add it.
I agree, it would be easier to distinguish the two if they had their own pages. Plus we can always link back to the other aircraft on said pages. Good idea - Beekachu (talk) 17:52, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Also, is there a way to add an image to the page? I'd love for people to be able to see what the Sun Flyer 2 looks like without having to hunt down an image for it. - Beekachu (talk) 17:31, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
A photo of the plane would be really good. You can upload one at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Upload the only complication is that it needs to be under a free licence (that page explains the licences). Your Wikipedia sign-in should automatically sign you into commons, hopefully. If you have one that can be released that way and upload it then just post the link to the photo back here and I'll add it to the article. - Ahunt (talk) 17:36, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
All images of the Sun Flyer 4 are 3D renderings where I do not know the author so I cannot upload it to the Commons just yet until I have the name of the person who made them. I will update this when I have it. -Beekachu (talk) 19:13, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, no problem,. Hard to get photos if it isn't finished yet! One question: has the prototype sun Flyer 2 actually had its first flight yet? There seem to be no announcement that it has, even though someone put in a category at the bottom of the article indicting it had flown in 2016. - Ahunt (talk) 19:17, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
There is the Sun Flyer and the Sun Flyer 2. The Sun Flyer that has flown was also called Elecktra One and was an electric-converted Cessna 172 aircraft. It flew, but was merely a prototype. Then, we moved forward and created the Sun Flyer 2 (which is what we are currently accepting deposits for and what the information I've added is regarding) that is the electric training aircraft. To answer your question, we are working currently to achieve first flight for the Sun Flyer 2 and it should be happening pretty soon (although we don't have definite dates yet). We are planning on the 'first' first flight to be more of a developmental/test flight and then after we have successfully got her up a few times then we will move forward with a public first flight. When we do have the public first flight I will add it to the website and in turn request it to be added here :) -Beekachu (talk) 19:30, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Super that would be great if you can do a press release or similar and then we can link to it here and mention the first flight. I am thinking we should move this article title to Bye Aerospace Sun Flyer 2. What do you think? - Ahunt (talk) 22:02, 20 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
You are amazing!! And yes, I'll find an old release of the original Sun Flyer and link it for you so you can have content on the Sun Flyer page. I will speak to George about making some sort of press release about our first test flight, but George and I have spoken about it before and he's trying to keep things more under-wraps until the test flight(s) is completed and we can move on to the public first flight. I will discuss it with him and let you know what I find out. - Beekachu (talk) 15:07, 21 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the links and the photo of the original Sun Flyer. The refs indicate it was a modified Electra One. It certainly isn't based on the Cessna 172, although Bye did a conversion to electric power on a 172 as well. Images that you didn't take yourself are an issue here on Wikipedia, because we are so careful about copyrights. You can upload them under WP:OTRS, though, which is a way of showing permission to use someone else's image. The info you have provided should be enough to get me started on the original Sun Flyer. Just for consistency I will start it over at Bye Aerospace Sun Flyer. - Ahunt (talk) 16:32, 21 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you Ahunt. I've only been with the company for 6 months and I am learning my planes still, I thought it was a Cessna 172! My apologies. And so with the Sun Flyer 4 images, since they aren't photographs (rather artistic renders) and the company, Bye Aerospace, owns all rights to them, could I not post it? - Beekachu (talk) 18:21, 21 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
No sweat, I'll fix the image name. If the images aren't your work then you would need permission to post them under a free licence. That does mean anyone else can use them as the licence allows. The WP:OTRS system allows unloading images that aren't your own work, but which you have written permission to use, you just have to supply the permissions. Or we can just wait until the aircraft is completed and you can take your own photos of it and upload them as your own work. It is nice to have photos of course, but not mandatory. Of course if it is under construction then you could always take photos of that, it can help to show the structure, etc. - Ahunt (talk) 18:34, 21 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
I will just wait until I can take a photo of the actual plane. Thank you so much for all of your help! George doesn't want to release info on the test flight on Wikipedia and would rather wait until a press release on the public first flight has been released. When I have it I will post it to the website as well as link it here to update. Thanks again! - Beekachu (talk) 15:02, 22 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Makes sense to me. The company should make the first flight announcement in a press release on the company website and then we can add it here using the press release as a cited ref. Just drop a note when the press release is up and I can add it. Glad this has all been helpful. We are just trying to build the best encyclopedia possible. You have been great to work with. Collaboration works! - Ahunt (talk) 15:23, 22 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
We have just announced via a press release on www.sunflyer.com and www.byeaerospace.com that we had a successful first flight of our Sun Flyer 2 prototype on April 10th!!! In the press releases there are also images of the Sun Flyer 2 in flight. If you need me to link the images directly please let me know. Beekachu (talk) 22:25, 11 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Super, thanks for letting us know and congratulations on the first flight. I have added the info to the article. Done - Ahunt (talk) 22:34, 11 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]
according to sources listed on the Bye Aerospace "News" page[1][2], the Sun Flyer 2 has been re-named eFlyer 2. Elsewhere on the website, however, the plane is still referred to as the Sun Flyer.
Should the name of the aircraft be updated, or left as is?