The General Aviation Manufacturers Association has established an associate member category for electrically powered and hybrid-propulsion aircraft. The reason behind this move is to “facilitate the coordination of the associate members’ technical expertise and GAMA’s collective policy experience to better enable the worldwide development, growth, and airworthiness certification of electric and hybrid propulsion technology to benefit the future of general aviation.”
This action by the GAMA Board of Directors is a first, and helps further the cause of electric and hybrid gas-electric aviation. To a large extent, it confers legitimacy to an emerging, ecologically friendly technology that many have attempted to marginalize.
GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said, “…We see this aerodynamically innovative emerging propulsion technology facilitating totally new aircraft designs that remain very safe, highly reliable, and may dramatically lower the operational costs of flying. GAMA’s core expertise is in working with policymakers and regulatory authorities around the globe to speed innovation and introduction of new products to the market. Our goal with this associate membership is to allow many of these new technology companies to tap into this expertise.”
