From the latest wonderboxes to the tools that highly-trained specialists use to troubleshoot and fix them, chances are that if it has a circuit board it’s at the Aircraft Electronics Association annual meeting in Orlando. The show opened Thursday and AVweb‘s Editorial Director Paul Bertorelli is on the convention floor. Hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of registrants are in Orlando for the show, which AEA says will include the introduction of at least 30 new products and critical updates on regulatory issues. Guest speakers include FAA administrator Randy Babbitt and Jeff Skiles, the first officer of US Airways Flight 1549.
AEA also uses the event to honor its best and brightest and foster the future of the industry. The organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award is going to Dan Walker, a longtime employee of first King Radio and then Goodrich. He joined King as one of the first employees in 1966 and retired from Goodrich in the late 1990s. He flew himself to most appointments and amassed 7,000 hours doing so. AEA is also handing out Training Excellence Awards to 72 shops and $100,000 in scholarships to 27 young people training to become avionics specialists.
