WASHINGTON, DC, February 27, 2003 – Testifying today before the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) President & CEO Ed Bolen called for better coordination among the federal agencies involved in aerospace research. He also identified specific NASA research programs that are important to the entire aviation industry including the general aviation segment.

Bolen said that aerospace is too important to the future of the United States for aerospace research to be determined on an ad hoc basis by a patchwork of federal agencies. To make the point, Bolen said that the Air Force plans to close its climatic center at Eglin Air Force Base despite the fact that it is a critical research facility for civil airplane manufacturers.

“We can no longer afford to have federal agencies making decisions in a vacuum,” Bolen said. “We have to find a way for us to determine—as a nation—what our research needs are and how we can best meet them.”

According to Bolen, more federal research is needed in areas like software certification, weather sensors, air traffic modeling, vehicle-enabling technologies, supersonic travel, and future air traffic management systems. Bolen also called for more federal spending on quiet aircraft research saying, “Today, the United States spends tens of millions of dollars on aircraft noise research but hundreds of millions of dollars soundproofing homes around airports. That is like spending money buying mops instead of figuring out how to plug a leak.”