Washington, DC—The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) today congratulated the FAA on its selection of two senior executives, Marke “Hoot” Gibson and Earl Lawrence, to lead the agency’s efforts to safely integrate Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) into the U.S. airspace system.

“I’ve known both Hoot Gibson and Earl Lawrence for decades, working closely with them in my current role at GAMA and in prior positions,” GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said. “The FAA could not have picked two better individuals to facilitate the safe development of standards for the production and operations of unmanned systems.

“Hoot and I served as instructor pilots 35 years ago at Reese Air Force Base and our fighter pilot careers crossed paths many times during our Air Force careers,” Bunce continued. “Late in his military career, Hoot was very successful in using his tactical expertise to help the Air Force field unmanned systems and capabilities to support combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. More recently, in my role as Co-Chair of the NextGen Institute’s Industry Management Council, Hoot worked closely with GAMA on the Equip 2020 efforts to remove hurdles for the adoption of ADS-B in unmanned and manned aircraft by the year 2020.

“While at the Experimental Aircraft Association, Earl was the driving force behind the establishment of the light sport category of aircraft,” Bunce noted. “Additionally, in 2007, Earl was our partner when the GA associations launched the effort to rewrite the rules for certifying Part 23 aircraft. In his more recent FAA career, Earl has done an awesome job as head of the Small Airplane Directorate. He has been a leading force behind the removal of regulatory barriers to speed the installation of safety-enhancing technologies that is already saving lives. Earl’s intimate knowledge of certification and consensus standard processes will have significant impact on the safe and efficient fielding of unmanned vehicles.

“The appointment of these excellent public servants is not only good for the UAS industry and its growing role in general aviation, but good for the global aviation community that is being drastically challenged by the need to allow operations of these machines in airspace where deconfliction with manned aircraft is of paramount concern,” Bunce concluded.