Redbird, King Schools, Cessna, Others Found Redbird Skyport In
San Marcos, TX
A group of well-known aviation companies held a news conference
Friday at AirVenture to announce the construction of a
multi-faceted aviation research and development laboratory, located
in San Marcos, TX. The new facility, designated Redbird
Skyport, is scheduled to open on November 8, 2011. The facility is
the culmination of the efforts of Redbird Flight Simulations and
King Schools and is supported by GAMA, AOPA, Cessna, Avemco and
other industry partners. Skyport will be a first step in developing
solutions to the challenges of a shrinking pilot population,
staggering student drop-out rate and the ever increasing cost of
flight training. The innovative aviation laboratory will include a
full service FBO, flight school, and aviation experience center.
All aspects of the project will provide a test bed for innovative
hardware, software, business processes and ideas with the goal of
revitalizing general aviation. The grand opening event will be
attended by John and Martha King of King Schools, Craig Fuller of
AOPA, Pete Bunce of GAMA, Mark Paolucci of Cessna and other
industry leaders. .
Skyport will be an open laboratory where new ideas are fostered
and innovative solutions are tested. “We have committed to
building an R&D facility in the form of a working, for profit,
flight school at an airport in San Marcos,Texas. The work product
of that institution will be available to and benefit everyone in
the industry and we, and our development partners, are looking
forward with great anticipation to its opening in the fall of 2011.
As a step toward fixing the problems with flight training, it's a
drop in the bucket, but it's a start” said Jerry Gregoire,
Chairman of the Board of Directors for Redbird Flight
Simulations.
The idea for an R&D laboratory came from the need for
quantifiable data regarding the use of simulation in general
aviation training. “We have always believed that our systems
could be a catalyst for improvements in the way pilots are trained
and we needed a platform to test our ideas" Gregoire said. Skyport
has grown to encompass every aspect of General Aviation.
“Early on in the process we recognized that the only way to
affect meaningful change was to look at all the pieces of the
puzzle,” he continued “we are building this project
from the ground up to redefine the status quo.”
“Solving the two major problems in general aviation, the
student dropout rate and the fatality rate, requires this
fundamental change in the way flight training is conducted,”
said John King. “And this program is designed to
demonstrate how it will work. The goal is that by using
scenario-based training that makes abnormal situations realistic,
we will produce pilots truly ready to be pilot-in-command."
The ProFlight Academy development laboratory will be a Cessna
Pilot Center and will utilize a simulator-centric flight training
curriculum that integrates knowledge and flight training, together
with affordable, full-motion, visual flight simulation”
Martha King commented. “By utilizing Redbird full-motion
simulators with +200°, wrap-around visual systems,
pilot’s will be able to practice all VFR private pilot
maneuvers right in the simulator. This will make the time in the
airplane more efficient since the customer will be simply
demonstrating what they have already learned in a practical
scenario-based situation."
Martha And John King
Directly following the Grand Opening, Skyport will host a flight
training symposium in conjunction with the Cessna Pilot Center
Program that will feature presenters from Redbird, King Schools,
Avemco, Cessna Aircraft and many others. The symposium will focus
on solutions that a flight training organization could implement in
the short term to help their business, including assisting schools
in reaching the market with a targeted message and offering a
valuable, cost effective product.
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