Mon, Nov 14, 2011
The Redbird Skyport's 'birthday' of November 8th, 2011 may
be a date to remember... for the first time in a LONG time,
aviation industry luminaries gathered together to celebrate the
start of something "REALLY DIFFERENT."
A multi-faceted aviation research and development laboratory,
located in San Marcos, TX, the Redbird Skyport is the culmination
of the efforts of Redbird Flight Simulations and King Schools and
is supported by a growing number of industry partners.
Skyport is designed to be the 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.
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,”
noted 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,” explained
Gregoire. 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,” continued Jerry Gregoire, “we are
building this project from the ground up to redefine the status
quo.”
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