The General Aviation Manufacturers Association announced this week that it has created a new “associate membership” category for manufacturers of electric and hybrid propulsion aircraft. The association said it hopes to “better enable the worldwide development, growth, and airworthiness certification of electric and hybrid propulsion technology to benefit the future of general aviation.” GAMA noted that its “core expertise” is working with policymakers and regulatory authorities around the world to bring new products to market. “Our goal with this associate membership is to allow these new technology companies to tap into our resources and expertise,” GAMA President Pete Bunce told AVweb on Tuesday.
“We’re very excited about this new emerging technology sector,” Bunce said. “The companies working on this now don’t qualify for regular membership, because they don’t have certified aircraft, or they might not even have products yet.” The new membership category will enable them to access GAMA expertise to help with certification and other issues, at a “very low barrier to entry,” he said, with lower dues than for regular members. GAMA committees now are working to create all the paperwork needed, and Bunce said they will announce “probably about a dozen or so” associate members early next year.
A number of projects using electric and hybrid propulsion are in the works by manufacturers including Airbus, Pipistrel, and Aero Electric Corp.;and NASA has been funding research to explore the technology’s potential. The GAMA news release states that these new technologies are potentially “very safe, highly reliable, and may dramatically lower the operational costs of flying.”
