Santa Monica Airport To Host Eco-Aviation Foundation Launch

The Santa Monica Airport will host the launch reception for Eco-Aviation Foundation International on July 12, 2019, at the Museum of Flying at 5:00 p.m.

The reception will feature keynote presentations from two prominent leaders in the field of electric aircraft manufacture and development. First, George Bye, CEO of Bye Aerospace, which presumes to be on track to certify its eFlyer as an all-electric airplane. The company is also developing the Solesa, a mid-altitude, long-range, solar-powered aircraft.

Kevin Noertker, CEO of Los Angeles-based Ampaire, will give the second keynote. Ampaire recently began flights of its Cessna 337 Skymaster retrofitted with an electric motor replacing the rear engine on the inline-thrust twin.

Scott Burgess, president of Eco-Aviation, will introduce the initiative’s mission. He notes, "The Foundation’s activities will be worldwide, especially in connecting distant eco airports together similar to 'sister cities.' We started off with a presence in Washington, DC, to further this initiative. Santa Monica as our HQ makes sense, as it is one of the leading cities promoting sustainability and anything 'eco.' The residents neighboring SMO will greatly benefit from the quietness and cleanness of aviation going green.

The evening is also hosted in part by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, with Laurel Rosen, President/CEO of the chamber, welcoming Eco-Aviation to the city—which has shown a mixed track record regarding aerospace development in the past. According to Burgess, "Santa Monica and Venice Beach have even been rebranded as 'Silicon Beach,' due to the large number of innovating tech companies and VC’s that have moved in."